Will we find out the ‘results’ of the palace’s bullying investigation this year?

This week was the one-year anniversary of Kensington Palace launching a desperate character assassination on the Duchess of Sussex, just days before the Sussexes’ Oprah interview aired. As we now know, Jason Knauf enjoyed leaking sh-t to the media about Meghan, and wouldn’t you know, the Times of London got leaked emails from Knauf to Simon Case, in which Knauf described – with remarkably little detail – his concerns about Meghan “bullying” staffers at Kensington Palace. The bullying claims involved “Meghan undermined a white woman’s confidence” and “someone cried when Meghan looked at her.” Buckingham Palace joined in the clownery, announcing a big, splashy in-house investigation into Meghan’s alleged bullying. Following the Oprah interview, BP had to change it up though – they hired an outside law firm to do the bullying inquiry.

After BP threw the investigation over to an outside law firm, nothing much has happened. Meghan and her lawyer clearly want to know what exactly Meghan is being accused of, and as of yet, no one at the palace is cooperating (because it was a desperate, ham-fisted, eleventh-hour smear). Every few months, the Daily Mail has published some cryptic “aides fear that the bullying investigation is going nowhere” story. Now Newsweek wonders if the palace is going to release the “results” of the investigation in the middle of the Queen’s Jubbly.

In the aftermath, Buckingham Palace announced its HR department would “look into” the accusations on March 3, 2021, with findings expected to be published in the Sovereign Grant report, an annual document which covers royal finances.

The palace said it would not rush the probe and it was not ready at the time of last year’s report, meaning it could be contained in this year’s.

The timing, however, may be awkward as it ordinarily comes towards the end of June, the same month Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations will take place over four days.

A military parade, a pageant and star studded concert at the palace will be just a few of the events celebrating her 70 years on the throne from June 2 to June 5.

[From Newsweek]

Yeah, for the record, I believed the reporting that Buckingham Palace’s HR department didn’t want this and that’s why outside lawyers were brought in. BP didn’t want this on their plate in any way, especially post-Oprah interview. I think the Queen’s courtiers possibly felt like they’d been played by Jason Knauf and the Cambridges’ hair-brained scheme to assassinate Meghan’s character. I also believe – and I have nothing to back this up other than a hunch – that the lawyers didn’t find anything that rose to the level of workplace harassment or bullying, and that’s why the “report” keeps getting kicked down the road. Even if there are aides telling their stories of woe, and willing to do so on the record, they must have huge credibility issues.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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75 Responses to “Will we find out the ‘results’ of the palace’s bullying investigation this year?”

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  1. lanne says:

    Any report is going to look ridiculous, hypocritical, racist and petty next to Teddy Bear Gate. No investigation has been authorized there, has it? I hope Meghan’s lawyers don’t let this drop, but make the royals retract this and issue an apology. There’s no way this can go well for the royals if they double down.

    • atorontogal says:

      Exactly. If a maid can recall being screamed at by PA years ago, then I’m sure whomever endured the alleged abuse Meghan supposedly spewed can surely recall a couple of years back.

      • Jais says:

        I’d be very surprised if anyone described Meghan as shouting or screaming. The alleged victims, however, might go into detail about her tone of voice. Gleefully describing that tone while having no idea that they’re actually painting themselves as racists.

    • Amy Bee says:

      @lanne: I suspect either Meghan’s lawyers will release a statement or Meghan will talk about her experience at KP/BP after the investigation report comes out.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      Buckingham Palace has a big problem than when the report is released as, no matter what it says, there will be a call (BM & public) to investigate the bullying accusations against Prince Andrew. Buckingham Palace DOES NOT want any further investigation, of any type for any reason, of Prince Andrew.

      I do not believe the “outside lawyers” have found anything on Meghan or we would have heard all about by now.

    • Lorelei says:

      We always knew there wasn’t going to be any sort of substantive report because Meghan is not a bully. They were so desperate for ANYTHING pre-Oprah, so they hastily threw this out there a few days before it aired to make Meghan look…idk, untrustworthy? It never made any sense— and then they hoped everyone would just forget about it. But once again, they underestimated Meghan and her determination to protect her reputation so here we are.

      Besides, isn’t the palace in charge of releasing this so-called report? So why are they “afraid” it will drop right in the middle of the Jubbly? As if it’s out of their control? Morons.

      (Also lmfao that my spellcheck doesn’t even bother to try and correct “Jubbly” anymore 😂)

  2. C says:

    It is my understanding that they wanted to drop all of this after Meghan’s lawyers demanded itemized proof and asked her, and she and her lawyers (rightfully) have refused.
    KP and BP don’t get to cover it up the manure pile. An acknowledgement and apology should come out. Of course, they’ll do whatever they can to avoid that.

    • Harper says:

      Any acknowledgment or apology has to be in the same size type, column inches devoted to the topic and above the fold placement by The Times, which broke the story. Too much damage was done to Meghan by this story which went world-wide. It’s very easy for an apology to be hidden or released on a holiday or when there is a bigger story. The Times and the palace are probably waiting for the Queen to die to correct it, when it’ll be lost in the commotion.

    • Charm says:

      Yes they wanted M to allow it to drop and just write it off as: pregnancy hormones and culture diff. Rmbr the desperate stories from a couple of (male) “royal experts.”

  3. Louise177 says:

    It says a lot that there isn’t really any details about the bullying. If the worst they can say is Meghan sent 5am texts and emails they got major problems.

    • T3PO says:

      If she did send 5am texts I can see not enjoying that but the next professional step is to discuss expected work hours. At my company my manager says no messages on the weekends and reminds people of that. It seems of there was an issue they could have handled it like adults and choose not to.

      • C says:

        In my case, my boss sends 5 am messages all the time but never expects a response till working hours.

      • Becks1 says:

        I think the one thing we saw about the 5 am emails was an email that Meghan sent to Jason at an off time (like super early in the AM or something) and then apologized for the time difference (I think he was in New Zealand at the time). So if that’s all they have – one email, maybe a few, that were sent at off times when someone was traveling……that’s not a lot.

      • MissMarirose says:

        Yeah, I agree. My boss sends emails at odd hours because she is a single mom and puts in odd hours to work around her kid’s schedule. But we understand that we need not respond until we’re on duty during regular business hours. At worst, this seems like a communication issue, not real bullying.

      • Amy Bee says:

        No sane person would be expected to reply to emails at 5 am. Unless, they were on call, they would be expected to answer them when they got into office. Those staff members who complained about those emails were being unprofessional and immature. The problem was that they weren’t accustomed to their principals emailing them and being interested in actually working.

      • Harper says:

        Good luck to the palace and The Times’ lawyers trying to prove that a 5 am email constitutes a repeated act of aggression, which is one definition of bullying.

      • The Hench says:

        Ironically the texts that Jason had displayed in court revealed Meghan to be the opposite of bullying. She was polite, almost deferential to Jason himself and considerate.

      • Likeyoucare says:

        The 5a.m email is about her concern of her mother safety.
        If i was her i will send email repeatedly till i get an answer.

      • Lorelei says:

        @T3PO, if they simply sent a reminder to people that staff should only be receiving work-related emails during working hours (which is ridiculous in the year 2019, but whatever), then they wouldn’t have been able to keep trashing Meghan over it. They WANTED reasons to gossip snarkily about her in KP’s office, especially when Jason was at the helm. And they have the nerve to call Meghan unprofessional.

      • BeanieBean says:

        As a supervisor, I made sure at our weekly meetings to let everyone know that although they may send me emails at 1130PM or 2AM, not to expect an answer from me until working hours. Everybody was fine with that, it was just that during the pandemic when everybody was working from home, they’d sometimes find themselves awake at odd hours & decided to read/send some emails. And as stated by others, that’s simply something you discuss at work–it’s a simple easy discussion to have, too.

      • equality says:

        Still makes them look inept because it is exceedingly easy to shut off notifications of text or e-mails for certain hours.

      • Kathleen Williams says:

        The only way you will see 5am email is if you are at your desk and on your phone or computer. Normally, that early email will not be seen until you log on for work. How the hell is that disturbing you? I got work emails from halfway around the world while I slept. They were dealt with the next day. That is routine.

    • kirk says:

      If anyone’s worried about how their crazy hour emails are perceived, you can set Outlook to not send the message < 8am, or other time-based setting, but needs connection for follow-thru.

  4. The Duchess says:

    Nope because the bullying never happened. It was a calculated smear that backfired spectacularly for them. You can’t fix stupid.

  5. Becks1 says:

    My guess is that Charles and the Queen are both mad as hell at William for this – because this drop right before the Oprah interview was clearly from him – the bullying, the Saudi jewels, the UN story that went nowhere – it was such a desperate and obvious drop and after The Interview, for BP to actually pursue the bullying claims would have looked stupid.

    My guess is that there will be one of three outcomes here:

    1) an acknowledgement that there were some cultural differences that were “misinterpreted” but there were no ill intentions and that’s why nothing was ever pursued via HR (I think this is most likely, except that then you have to explain why Jason Knauf was the one who was trying to email and follow through with these accusations and he’s American, so if anything he should have been aware of the “cultural differences” at play.)

    2) an acknowledgement that there was no bullying and no ill intentions and that KP staff was just caught off guard at the different expectations (cough Meghan thought they should work cough)

    or

    3) we will hear nothing, the “results” will just keep getting pushed back (this is highly unlikely with the Sussex lawyers following up).

    I think (1) is the most likely bc they can use a blanket term like “cultural differences” to try to explain away the racism and xenophobia that was happening. And that also sort of encompasses #2 right – the culture at KP is to not work, Meghan expected that they should work (remember Omid’s quote in that one interview, about how having a daily or weekly meeting seems like a lot when you were only meeting once a month or every few months before.)

    so all that to say what we are NOT going to hear is that Meghan was a bully and she treated staff horribly. KP wanted that to be the story but BP stepped in and now we have this investigation etc.

    In general though this could be a good opportunity for the royals to consider their HR processes and their staff policies etc to ensure that if a staff member does feel that they are being mistreated or asked to do things that are outside the scope of employment (cough teddy bears cough) they have a clear path to address that.

    • Teddy says:

      Ditto with all sorts of crazy hours that work emails get sent, but no expectation of them being addressed until working hours. You’re a delicate flower if just knowing that your boss wrote an email at 5 am feels like being bullied.

      I wonder if anyone else here follows royals coverage in Town and Country? They used to cover Meghan and Harry all the time but have now frozen them out. Not a mention any more, ever. It’s all Bill and Cathy now. It’s strange.

      • Polo says:

        I just read an article last week from town and country about Harry and Meghan and all the recent ones I’ve read have been positive…unless it was a different website. Doesnt victory Murphy write for them mostly?

      • Teddy says:

        @polo: Yes the T&C coverage is very even-handed. But they ignored the NAACP award and while they lauded Will and Kate’s pro-Ukraine statement they had nothing about the Sussexes, who led the way on that. Not a huge deal, except that a positive approach in a respected outlet helps a tiny bit to balance the abuse H and M get.

      • kirk says:

        Not too surprising that The Tory and Country chooses to focus on working royals for royalist readers.

    • L84Tea says:

      I think they are waiting out the queen’s death. Once she goes, they will try to nonchalantly back off of it citing some, “with the queen gone and a new king stepping up, we have more pressing matters to tend to, therefore we’ve opted to drop this.”

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        That sounds likely L84Tea. I believe BP announcing they were hiring an outside law firm to “investigate”(March 14th/15th) after Janina Gavankar was on ITV (March 10th) and said an investigation was a good thing (Meghan has receipts) was a way to start distancing the palace from an investigation. It’s all a bunch of bs to begin with.

      • Lorelei says:

        They must have all soiled themselves upon hearing from Janina that Meghan welcomed an investigation because she had receipts.

        They just do everything so piss-poorly; so impulsively without thinking things through. KP was so desperate to trash Meghan before Oprah aired, and imo they WAY underestimated the global support that H&M received after the interview aired. So once it was over, they immediately went into damage-control regarding what was said IN the interview, completely forgetting about the fact that they’d allegedly just launched this huge “bullying investigation.” They never think long-term.

    • Nancy says:

      I do wonder though, if they will say anything. Any “cultural differences” or implications invites Meghan to elaborate in detail about the working environment from her perspective. They already know she is not afraid to speak her truth.

    • halo says:

      No matter what option the Royal Family chooses, afterwards they will send out anonymous “high” level sources to smear Meghan and make excuses for the investigation’s failure to label her a bully. They’ll claim something stupid and obviously fake, like pretending that the royal family is trying to be diplomatic and protect those staffers who were supposedly (and clearly not) bullied from the Sussexes’ litigation team. It will be total BS, but we’ve seen them operate in this slimy, backhanded way time and again. And this, too, will be just another way the royals and the british media bully Meghan.

      • Isabella says:

        Indeed, the bullying gets mentioned all the time, dropped into stores about Andrew for instance, Used as if it’s a proven fact. Well, Meghan …

        That will continue because they have nothing else. She hasn’t worked there in ages, nor will she ever again.

  6. equality says:

    Interesting with the timing. So is it to get H&M to come back because they are going to admit no bullying by her or is it to be at a time that will prevent them returning for the jubbly? You would think somebody in the palace would realize that H&M at the jubbly would get it more attention. Or do the big egos override good sense?

    • one of the Marys says:

      the big egos absolutely override good sense and this is the most succinct analysis of the Royals I’ve ever read, well done

    • Lorelei says:

      @Equality I agree with you about the timing but they’re too stupid and too arrogant to realize this. Plus, they might be more eager to drop the investigation report if in fact it showed all sorts of wrongdoing and poor behavior on Meghan’s, but we know it doesn’t. Which is exactly why they’re panicking right now.

      How are these people PR professionals??

  7. Amy Bee says:

    When BP hastily announced that there would be an investigation, they said that the results would have been in last year’s Sovereign Grant Report. If I’m not mistaken, because Meghan’s lawyers got involved they were forced to delay its publication. It should not be in the Sovereign Grant Report but the Palace hopes that adding the investigation report will distract from the Palace’s egregious spending. That the investigation has taken so long, tells me that there’s not enough evidence to accuse Meghan of bullying, there was perhaps evidence of Meghan being bullied and that the Palace also didn’t follow proper procedures. If there was evidence of bullying that report would have been released a long time ago.

  8. s808 says:

    I knew this was going nowhere when we found out that the aides that complained wanted the reports taken back when they found out they’d been filed without their knowledge. They KNOW that woman was not a bully. They were just pissed she *gasp* wanted them to do their jobs.

    They especially look stupid with the reports of Andrew’s abhorrent behavior with ACTUAL victims coming forward names, faces and all. But no investigation. I hope Meghan’s lawyers keep pushing for answers. Either publish some results or apologize for trying to assassinate her character.

  9. Zebz says:

    It’s funny how there is NO examples in the press of Meghan bullying people, but lot of examples of the staff and family bullying Meghan. They openly mocked her on video.

    • lanne says:

      There are staff members openly calling her a “degree wife” to Tatler. Meghan’s lawyers could subpena the writers of Tatler, Jason Knauf, that Melissa assistant who was sacked for incompetence, even tabloid ratchets who wrote terrible things about her (Boris Johnson’s sister who gave us the “exotic DNA”). There are lots of examples of palace officials bullying Meghan. Heck, subpena Kate as well and get to the bottom of tights-gate and teargate as well.

    • Rennie says:

      There have been reports from the Australia & Fijji tours & wedding dress fitting.

      • Isabella says:

        What reports?

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        @Isabella, Imaginary/made up reports!

      • Nic919 says:

        This is a deranger talking point with zero evidence of it existing. There isn’t even a UK tabloid article that mentions these alleged incidents and we know that they were prepared to print everything under the sun that was critical of meghan.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Rennie, there was a report of an incident at a wedding dress fitting? I hadn’t heard about that…could you elaborate?

  10. Harla says:

    I have long said that when BP invited former/current employees to come forward, they did but with complaints about other royals like Andrew, William and Charles. Now BP is stuck with this “investigation” and it’s not turning out the way they wanted it to and Meghan’s lawyers aren’t about to let BP release lies.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      “BP is stuck with this “investigation” and it’s not turning out the way they wanted”

      Agree with you 100%.

      See my comment above at (1.

  11. Polo says:

    Yeah post Andrew it will be hard for them to get away with their fake Meghan was a bully blah blah.
    They did change it to say they were investigating their HR practices versus Meghan…so we already know where this is going.
    I also think they tried to settle it quietly with Meghan and Harry but they said nah. There was an article around Christmas with some aids complaining that Meghan just wouldn’t give up. Lol

    So I think they wanted to buy her silence on this. Wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to make a deal with their security for them letting this investigation go to be honest.
    Either way I hope Meghan gets justice and be allowed to move on in peace.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Polo, it’s so obvious that this is their first time dealing with someone as intelligent, determined, and organized as Meghan is. They probably thought if they never mentioned it again, it would just go away, but surprise! Javanka drops that Meghan has receipts and is looking forward to defending herself.

      It’s actually very funny to watch them flailing about now, trying to figure out how to save face.

  12. Cessily says:

    If they had anything at all this report would have been issued and spread across every rag for months as vindication that the rags had some moral high ground. They have nothing and will continue to delay and deflect forever if not pushed.

    • ABritGuest says:

      Angela Levin said something a few weeks ago about how Meghan isn’t a team player & just wants to win. That told me that the palace probably wanted to brush the review under the carpet but Meghan isn’t letting them & wants name cleared. I wonder if they will wait until Harry’s book to drop something or if the review will just involve some update to their dignity at work policy& then they would brief anonymously about how horrible Meghan was but they’ve agreed to let things go because of the jubbly.

  13. Over it says:

    Black woman ask white woman to do her job= she bullied me

    • Jaded says:

      This!

    • lanne says:

      Nothing new there. If this story goes on, perhaps it will open a discussion about misogynoir in the UK. I’m sure lots of WOC in the UK have stories to tell.

  14. Nic919 says:

    I find it hard to believe that a former KP staff member has not sold their story to a Uk tabloid with more details about the alleged bullying. This suggests there is not much to say. New already heard about the 5 am emails and that meghan undermined someone’s confidence, of course with no context around that.

    • Jay says:

      Exactly this – “well-placed sources” within the palace seem to have plenty of detail when it comes to breathlessly describing the Cambridge’s hands on parenting style. Nobody that worked for Meghan has come forward with their story, even anonymously, and you can bet there would be ample rewards if they did.

      I think part of it is the “bullying” was always a semi-coded way for palace staff to complain internally about Meghan, how she was asking “too much” from them and didn’t ” know her proper place”.

      Dumbass Jason overreached by putting their racist dog whistling into print. Still, you might expect that some lowly staffer would try to sell a photo or text or tell their story anonymously to GB news or something. I think the palace is trying to make it all disappear if they can.

  15. aquarius64 says:

    Calling it…..the Palace will state cultural differences and throw Jason Knauff under the bus.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Aquarius ITA this is likely, but this will only make them look more ridiculous since Jason is an American! These people, SMH.

  16. Zut Alors says:

    “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”, comes to mind.

  17. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    The damage is already done. The haters/racists will continue to use the word “bully” no matter the outcome of the investigation, in sentences like “Meghan, who has long been perceived as a bully, . . . ” so that they can call her a bully without actually saying she *is* a bully. A “no finding” outcome will not end this, the Palace needs to provide a clear, unequivocal, apology to Meghan and demand that the press do the same.

  18. Jaded says:

    I wonder if Harry will address this *bullying* bullshite in his book? In my experience as an HR professional for a large media company, complaints of bullying and other unacceptable behaviours (sexist, racist comments, touching, etc.) are addressed IMMEDIATELY, either through a mediator or a lawyer. They’re not left to languish while everyone tries to cover their a$$es, retract statements or disappear into the woodwork. I’m sure Harry can corroborate many instances of staffers not responding in a timely fashion, ignoring Meghan’s requests and spinning lies behind her back to undermine the biracial American actress and put her in her place. Both Meghan and Harry must have a ton of backup over this because the bullying claim has gone nowhere and is basically spinning in the wind while the Firm scratches their heads and tries desperately to come up with proof other than ThE fIvE aM E-mAiLz!!!.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Jaded, the closer it gets, the more curious I become about what the tone of Harry’s book will be. It was never going to be a Kitty-Kelley-style, salacious tell-all about the BRF, but considering the fact that both the family and the British media have continued to provoke Harry EVERY SINGLE DAY since the memoir was announced…idk. The way they continue to bitch about the house even though H&M repaid every penny of Frogmore, the appalling way they treated the Sussexes when Lilibet’s name was announced, now this BS about not wanting to give his family security…everyone has a limit and at some point they’re going to push Harry over his.

      I hope that he does address the bullying nonsense, if only to point out that the palace rushed that story out right before Oprah aired— such an obvious preemptive strike — and that more than a year later, there’s been zero evidence, and not only that, but Meghan’s friend said she actually welcomed the investigation since she had tangible proof to rebut it.

      IDK, no one really has any idea what will be in the book, and we have to remember that his deal was for three, so even if some of us (me) are disappointed that there isn’t more ‘defending Meghan” (simply by telling the truth) in it, Harry’s still got two more books coming, and Gam Gam will likely be gone by the time the second one is published, so he could always go scorched earth later on if the family continues to treat all of the Sussexes like disposable trash.

      I read somewhere that the publication date of his book has been pushed from this spring until next fall? But I don’t remember where I saw that or how accurate it is. At least we have Tina Brown’s in April to look forward to, no matter what (:

      • Poke says:

        Those were tabloid lies. Harry and his team already dubunked the 3 book deal thing that came from Rebecca English of the daily mail.
        Also it was a Royal Reporter who made up the thing about Harry’s book being pushed back in hopes of not overshadowing the jubilee. All we know is the book might come out later this year that’s it.

        People need to be careful about what you read in regards to Harry and Meghan especially when it’s coming from British Media and just being funneled to gossip magazines in the US.
        It’s like when they made up the lie about Meghan working with Kate and Harry and Meghan doing reality tv doc with Netflix. All lies

        Also Tina brown has not been nice to Meghan. I don’t expect her book to be any different to the rest.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        Right @ Poke. That multiple book deal was put out by the Fail and then regurgitated through other tabloids. Late 2022 was always the tentative publishing date per Penguin Random House’s statement from July 19, 2021.

      • Tessa says:

        I think Tina Brown won’t be kind to Meghan in her book either.

  19. L4Frimaire says:

    What about the leaks from staff like the Tatler article where staff was quoted as calling Meghan degree wife and Me-gain, or referring to her as damaged goods and Harry a hostage. Cameltoe was quoted in the New Yorker as saying staff thought it was beneath them to work for a “ cable show actress” and who does she think she is. If Meghan’s lawyer gets those emails and sees a pattern of leaks of confidential information, like her mental health issues, could that be grounds for her to counter sue? I don’t think her legal team will just let them get away with putting out any old nonsense just to smear her, and they will want documentation and statements. The palace seemed really surprised when Meghan’s lawyer appeared in that documentary and she was addressing the allegations. They really shouldn’t throw just anything out there.

  20. Tessa says:

    what happened to the outrage about how Andrew treated his household help?

  21. ElleE says:

    Buckingham Palace HR hired a law firm to investigate a member of the royal family? A family member that was senior royal and not an employee? And the firn has not deposed the family member being investigated?
    These are awesome lawyers!

  22. Charm says:

    Harry’s bk was only ever sceduled for Nov. 2022. Dont know where ur getting ur “pushed bk from spring to fall” from.
    Also, there is one memoir…not 3 bks.

  23. JessD says:

    I want to see proof that she’s a bully. Until I see proof it’s just hot air to smear her.

  24. Sour Pasoa says:

    When pigs fly. Is that this year?