DAN WOOTTON (pictured)
Perhaps the greatest irony in the Sussexes’ campaign to portray themselves as “silenced” by the monarchy is that the very people who have the receipts to prove what really happened have themselves been silenced by law will.
The Sussex Survivor Squad, as they now call themselves, is the group of once-loyal collaborators who made a Herculean attempt to make Meghan Markle happy as a new member of the British royal family, only to see their efforts burned down time and time again of the American actress and her deeply unhappy husband Prince Harry.
It’s easy to see why many of the formerly devoted courtiers are now convinced that the couple were on a self-destruct mission from day one, looking for minor, offensive, or blatant discrimination to use against the institution that worked so hard to to appease them, to use them as weapons.
These staff, many of whom have had personally devastating resignations from the Sussexes’ employment, have been unable to speak publicly, even to correct records, constrained by draconian confidentiality rules governing work for the royal family, including the official Secrets Act.
But over the last three days, their stories have been the focus of the latest round of the royal family standing up to the Sussexes, thanks to a bombshell book from the highly respected royal correspondent for The Times Valentine Low, who has been diligent in reporting on the monarchy for a quarter of a century.
While I’ve long been aware of the acrimony behind the scenes, it’s still shocking to read the words of the staff who were once willing to dedicate much of their lives to serving the Sussexes.
Pictured: Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan on the CBS Primetime Special
The most damning conclusion is that Meghan is a “narcissistic sociopath” who “played” her former advisors, but that’s just the beginning of the devastating claims.
During a tour of Fiji, Meghan reportedly said, “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.”
It was like “working for a couple of teenagers,” in the reported words of Samantha Cohen, her highly regarded private secretary, recommended by the Queen after years of loyal service.
And Meghan’s behavior had apparently been difficult and demanding from the start, including when she is said to have threatened to dump Harry unless he released his first statement eviscerating the media and confirming their relationship.
A source told Low: “She said, ‘If you don’t provide a statement confirming that I’m your girlfriend, I will break up with you.’
In fact, he reports, “keeping Meghan happy – and in turn keeping Harry happy, has been a constant challenge.”
Pictured: Prince William, left, Kate, Princess of Wales, second left, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, right pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II
Six months before their engagement was announced, Low claims Meghan ominously told one of Harry’s courtiers: “I think we both know that I’m going to be one of your bosses soon.”
As preparations for the wedding began, Meghan’s demeanor seemed to take a turn for the worse. I was the first journalist to publish the story of Tiaragate, where Harry was warned by the Queen about the way Meghan spoke to close advisers and the fact that Kate went through with her sister-in-law about the treatment of staff Meghan had argued at Kensington Palace.
Low’s book recounts one occasion when Meghan was particularly horrible to a young co-worker at a meeting, telling her, “Don’t worry. If there was literally someone else I could ask, I would ask them instead of you.
When the courtier was later assured by Prince William that she was “doing a really good job,” Low says she burst into tears.
Meghan regularly called staff throughout the night, and one told Low of a Friday night dinner: “Every ten minutes I had to go outside to be yelled at by her and Harry. It was, “I can’t believe you did that. You have disappointed me. What were you thinking?” It went on like this for a few hours. You couldn’t escape them. There were no lines or borders – it was last night, first thing in the morning.’
Meghan Markle, pictured above with Prince Harry at Kensington Palace in 2017, told a palace insider “thought she was going to be the Beyonce of the UK” when she married Harry
A staffer branded Harry and Meghan “outrageous bullies” to another colleague when they considered quitting, who replied: “This is so horrible. And they are tyrants.’
During their time in the royal family, a multitude of employees left Harry and Meghan’s employment.
They included private secretaries Samantha Cohen and Amy Pickerill, two PAs including Melissa Touabti, and two nannies.
At least ten former staff members of the formal inquiry into how the Palace was handling complaints about Meghan’s alleged bullying, the findings of which were covered up by Buckingham Palace, were reportedly willing to testify. Once again, it is the courtiers who are “silenced.”
That’s not the case with Meghan, who described the bullying allegations as a “calculated smear campaign.”
Her attorney, Jenny Afia, added: “What bullying really means is the repeated and intentional abuse of power to hurt someone physically or emotionally. The Duchess of Sussex absolutely denies ever having done so. Knowing her, I can’t believe she would ever do that. It just doesn’t fit my experience with her at all.’
It was like “working for a bunch of teenagers,” in the reported words of Samantha Cohen, her highly respected private secretary, Low, who had been recommended by Queen Elizabeth after years of loyal service (pictured above in June this year).
I think this book is an endorsement of years of reporting by myself and other high profile royal correspondents who have completely unfairly branded us both as racists and bullies by the Sussex Squad social media trolls simply for ignoring the reality of the behaviour by Harry and Meghan, culminating in me notifying Megxit of her decision in January 2020.
In retrospect, such a decision was now inevitable.
Low’s book reveals that Harry was afraid of becoming “a follower” when his nephew Prince George turned 18 and stole the Thunder from him.
Meghan, on the other hand, according to a Palace insider, “thought she was going to be the Beyonce of the UK.”
Such a toxic combination was a recipe for disaster.
The staff were treated so badly because they were the messengers who had to try to keep their aggrieved royals happy while adhering to the royal family’s stifling rules. In the end it turned out to be an impossible task.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II (accompanied by Samantha Cohen (c), private secretary to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex pictured in Widnes, England in June 2018
But I don’t think Meghan really wanted that to work.
In the months leading up to Megxit, I revealed that her Hollywood team was already negotiating commercial deals, including for her children’s book.
As a former staffer told Low, “Everyone knew the institution would be judged on its luck. The mistake they made was thinking that she wanted to be happy. She wanted to be rejected because she was obsessed with this narrative from day one.
As we’ve seen so many times, just because it’s the tale of Harry and Meghan doesn’t mean it’s true.
The truly silenced parties in this cheesy tale of the Sussexes vs. the royal family have now been heard by the world – and it sounds a lot more candid than what the couple told Oprah Winfrey.
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