Since Meghan, Duchess of Sussex quit life as a working royal, allegations and rumours that she isn’t the easiest person to work with have continued to abound – but Prince Harry has a totally different take

Rumours that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex can be a difficult boss have plagued her since she was a working royal.

And in a scathing new report by Vanity Fair, staff members who worked with her at Spotify have added their voices, claiming they found their time with the Duchess to be challenging. Meghan has strongly denied claims that she “bullied” her staff members, pushing back on what her spokesperson previously called a ‘calculated smear campaign’.

Equally, there have been many other former staff members who have come forward to publicly disagree with these assessments, insisting they found her to be a great boss.

Prince Harry, Meghan’s husband, also opened up about his view on the way Meghan dealt with her staff in his memoir Spare, and while he has not spoken publicly about the new allegations that have surfaced, it’s clear that he has a different take on why emotions often ran high in the royal offices.

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The first allegations that Meghan had “bullied” two royal aides emerged in 2021 – around the time of the couple’s bombshell sit-down with Oprah Winfrey where they explained the reasons behind their shock exit from the UK. The incidents are reported to have occurred as early as 2018, with two PAs leaving their roles in the royal household quickly after the couple’s fairytale royal wedding in Windsor.

Harry and Meghan got married in 2018 in Windsor ( 
Image:
PA)

Two PAs left their jobs shortly after the couple’s wedding ( 
Image:
PA)
The Times reported in 2021 that Jason Knauff, former communication secretary for the couple, made a complaint about what he perceived to be “bullying” behaviour from Meghan towards royal staff, writing to Prince William’s private secretary about his worries on the matter: “I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights”.

The newspaper also quoted multiple sources that used the term “bullies” to describe Meghan and Harry, with one claiming that another member of the team was left “completely destroyed”, and another alleging they were “humiliated” by the Duchess while others were apparently left in tears. In her defence, Meghan is said to have stated that it was not her “job to coddle people”.

Jason Knauff left his position shortly after making the complaint, but by Harry’s own admission, there were tears and incredibly high tensions amongst the staff that year. However, he made it clear in Spare that in his view, none of the blame for that lay at Meghan’s door.

Jason Knauf was the couple’s comms secretary, and complained about Meghan’s behaviour towards staff in 2018 ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
Instead, Harry wrote that it was the growing tension between himself, Meghan, his elder brother Prince William, and sister-in-law Kate – alongside the huge demands the press team was facing without enough staff to meet them – that was to blame for the “poisoned atmosphere” in the office.

“There was frequent bickering around the office,” Harry wrote, “Sides were taken. Team Cambridge versus Team Sussex. Rivalry, jealousy, competing agendas, it all poisoned the atmosphere.

“It didn’t help that everyone was working around the clock. There were so many demands from the press, such a constant stream of errors that needed clearing up, and we didn’t have nearly enough people or resources. At best we were able to address 10 percent of what was out there.”

Harry blamed his feud with William for the mounting tensions ( 
ImageThe atmosphere, from Harry’s description, got pretty toxic, and meant that what he perceived as “constructive criticism” towards staff ended up leaving them upset or offended instead, he claimed. “Nerves were shattering, people were sniping. In such a climate there was no such thing as constructive criticism. All feedback was seen as an affront, an insult. More than once a staff member slumped behind their desk and wept.”

He added that William laid the blame solely at Meghan’s door and made this clear repeatedly, leaving the Duke of Sussex furious. In contradiction, Harry painted a picture of his wife as an ideal boss, who went above and beyond for her staff members – and that he never witnessed her speaking rudely to anyone who worked for them. Instead, she “spread kindness. She sent out handwritten thank you notes, checked on staff who were ill, sent baskets of food and flowers or goodies to anyone struggling, depressed or off sick.”

Not only that, Harry claimed, but she also personally funded amenities for the office like electric heaters, and threw socials for her staff.

There have been two major reports over the last few months negatively depicting Meghan’s style as an employer – one in the Hollywood Reporter that describe Meghan as a ‘dictator’ and claimed she had “reduced grown men to tears”. And another in Vanity Fair, alleging that one member of staff who worked with Meghan at Spotify needed “long term therapy” after their experience with the Duchess, while others took “extended breaks” from their jobs.

However, some employees speaking to Vanity Fair had nothing but glowing praise for the Duchess, and several members of staff – both current and former – went on the record with Us Weekly recently describing their incredibly positive experiences of working with Meghan, and reiterating the claim that she goes above and beyond, regularly handing out freebies and gifts to her staff.