Meghan Markle accuses Buckingham Palace of perpetuating falsehoods. (FILE)
London:
Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan, accused Buckingham Palace of “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and her partner, and said the royal couple would not be silent in telling their story.
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made comments to American presenter Oprah Winfrey in an interview about why they left their royal roles to be aired on American television on Sunday.
An earlier excerpt from the interview was published Wednesday, hours after Buckingham Palace said it was “very concerned” by reports in the Times that attendees working for Meghan two years ago had been harassed by her.
Harry and Meghan issued a statement denying that anyone had harassed them.
“How do you feel about the Palace hearing you tell your truth today?” Winfrey asks Meghan in the excerpt.
Meghan replied, “I don’t know how they could expect that after all this time we would still be silent, if there is an active role that The Firm is playing to perpetuate falsehoods about us.” The signature is the name the British royal family sometimes uses to describe themselves.
“And if that carries the risk of losing things, I mean, there are a lot of things that have already been lost,” Meghan added.
The interview was recorded before The Times published a report citing anonymous sources claiming that an aide to Harry and Meghan had filed a complaint in October 2018 alleging that Meghan had reduced to crying some of her helpers and that he had treated others so badly that they had stopped smoking.
The newspaper said Harry had urged the assistant, who has now left his staff, to leave the complaint and never moved forward.
The Times said he had been contacted by former staff members who wanted the public to obtain information before Winfrey’s interview was aired, and that the couple’s lawyers had labeled the allegations as a smear orchestrated by the Palace.
Reuters was unable to verify the report independently.
“We are clearly very concerned about the Times’ complaints following the claims of the former staff of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, ”Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
The Royal House “does not tolerate and will not tolerate harassment or harassment in the workplace,” he added.
He said his human resources team would examine the allegations and that staff members involved at the time would be invited to participate.
“SAD FOR ATTACK”
A spokeswoman for Meghan said earlier that she was “saddened by this latest attack on her character, especially as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma.”
Meghan and Harry, who married in May 2018, stepped back from their official duties in March last year to forge new careers and an economically independent life in California.
This decision was confirmed last month, when they also handed over all their royal sponsorships. They said his movement was fueled in part by an intense press intrusion.
However, Meghan had also previously indicated that she felt she did not have the full support of the royal family.
In court documents filed Sunday as part of her successful privacy action against the mass mailing Mail, her lawyers said she had felt “unprotected” while she was pregnant with her son Archie.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)