Head of legal at Schillings said that she believes Meghan Markle was not guilty of bullying and there are “massive inaccuracies” in the story.
Meghan Markle is an American member of the British royal family and a former actress. She retired from acting upon her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018 and became known as the Duchess of Sussex.
Markle’s lawyers have slammed allegations that the duchess bullied staff members of the palace during her time as a senior royal and she added that the former actress “wouldn’t want to negate anyone’s personal experience”.
These allegations were made earlier this year when the Duchess of Sussex’s former communications secretary Jason Knauf told The Times that she had driven “two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third staff member” way back in 2018.
In light of these allegations, Meghan and her husband Prince Harry made a statement to people saying: “The Duchess of Sussex’s is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma.point 406 |
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“She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good,” they added.
Following the complaint, Buckingham Palace launched an official investigation and said that the allegations were being investigated back in March and the royal household will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.
Meghan’s lawyer, Jenny Afia, head of legal Schillings, has shut down the allegations made against her, despite the investigations, which are being carried out by an independent law firm, being delayed with those findings to be released in the public until 2022.
Appearing on the BBC’s controversial The Princes and the Press documentary, Afia said there were “massive, massive inaccuracies in that story”.
She said: “The overall allegation was that the Duchess of Sussex was guilty of bullying, not.” Although, she emphasized that Meghan “wouldn’t want to negate anyone’s personal experiences.”
“I think the first thing is to be clear about what bullying is. What bullying actually means is improperly using power, repeatedly and deliberately to hurt someone, physically or emotionally. The Duchess of Sussex has absolutely denied doing that,” she added.
Afia pointed out how difficult it would be to prove that Markle had not done so. She questioned: “It’s really hard to prove a negative. If you haven’t bullied someone, how do you show that you haven’t?”
“Just denying an allegation “I didn’t beat my wife” doesn’t address the underlying problem that the allegation has been made,” she added.
The documentary, which explores the relationship between the media and the three main royal households Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, and Clarence House slammed the broadcaster for overblown and unfounded claims.
In light of the documentary, Buckingham Palace has threatened to boycott future programming with the BBC, and reportedly “haven’t ruled out” taking legal action against the broadcaster.