Harry and Meghan’s 25-page rebuttal of bullying claims: Prince rails against royal staff ‘lies’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have issued a 25-page report to refute claims that he has bullied members of the royal household staff.

The Sussexes responded strongly to allegations that Meghan had thrown two assistants out of their jobs with her behaviour, with staff accusing the Duchess of yelling at them and contacting them on her nights off.

The allegations, which were initially reported to human resources by Prince Harry and Prince Williams’ joint press secretary, prompted a review by Buckingham Palace.

Now Harry has used his new memoir, Spare, to blast the claims, calling them a “lie” and saying he and Meghan provided a report “packed with evidence” to prove it.

The Palace’s final report was kept private to protect the participants, but Harry makes reference to it being part of a media agenda against him and his wife.

He Telegraph he reports writing in a section of the book: “It was so outrageous that even though Meg and I proved his lie with a 25-page report to human resources full of evidence, it was going to be very hard for me to ignore.” ‘

The claims were made in 2018 when press secretary Jason Knauf emailed his boss Simon Case stating that Meghan’s treatment of a member of staff was “totally unacceptable”.

The times reported telling Case, who was Prince Williams’ private secretary and is now cabinet secretary: “I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to intimidate two PAs out of the house last year.” X*’s treatment was totally unacceptable.’

He added: ‘The Duchess seems determined to always have someone in her sights. She is harassing Y and trying to undermine her trust. We have received report after report of people witnessing unacceptable behavior towards Y.’

Knauf spent seven years working for the royal family, including his time as press officer to the Princes, special adviser to William and Kate and chief executive of the Royal Foundation.

He was made a lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in New Year Honours, something that probably did not go down well with the Sussexes.

In his book, which was published in Spain almost a week before its official publication date, Harry claims that his wife was unfairly described as a “tyrant”.

The duke claimed that the personal offices of the princes made it easy for the press to attack them, and that when he tried to explain his point of view to William, the conversation turned into a discussion about his interview with Oprah.

In their Netflix documentary released in December, the Sussexes said claims that Meghan had sometimes brought royal staff to tears were part of a “calculated smear campaign” in response to the interview.

James Holt, chief executive of Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation, told Netflix: “The moment of the bullying story has even been admitted by the journalist who wrote it that it was done explicitly because of the Oprah interview.”

Valentine Low, who broke the story for the Timeshe said that victims of the alleged harassment “wanted to tell their story before the Oprah interview” otherwise “their complaints would be lost in the noise.”

In an interview to publicize his memoir, Harry told CBS’s Anderson Cooper that he believed the people at the Palace had been “betraying” him and his wife by “planting stories” about them in the press.

In a preview of the interview, which will air tonight in the United States, the Duke of Sussex defended himself against public criticism over his decision to publicly criticize the royal family.

He insisted that he “tried to do this in private,” but that “every time I tried to do it in private, there were briefings, leaks, and seeding of stories against me and my wife.”

In the memoir, Harry claims while discussing the Oprah interview that his brother “pounced” on him and grabbed him by the shirt, before invoking the memory of their mother, Diana.

The duke said William got hot during a walk after his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.

Harry claims he was trying to address the bullying allegations against Meghan, but his father and brother “were not listening”.

The California-based royal went on to claim that William was “really fuming” and grabbed him when he tried to walk away.

I waved a hand in disgust, but he lunged and grabbed my shirt. “Listen to me, Harold,” Harry wrote in his book, according to The Sun.

I pulled away, refusing to meet his eyes. She forced me to look into his eyes. Listen to me, Harold, listen! I love you Harold! I want you to be happy.”

Harry claims that he replied: ‘I love you too… but your stubbornness is extraordinary!’

The duke reportedly tried to walk away, but William allegedly “grabbed him again” and “twisted” him so the pair could maintain eye contact.

William then evoked the brother’s so-called ‘secret code’ and swore on Princess Diana’s life that his intentions were genuine, Harry wrote.

He writes that William said, ‘Harold, you must listen to me! I just want you to be happy, Harold. I swear, I swear on the life of mom.

Harry continued: ‘He stopped. I stopped. Dad stopped. He had gone there.

He had used the secret code, the universal password. Since we were children, those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis.

The Duke claimed that his brother was “not quite ready to accept defeat” and claimed to be “suitably sick and ill” from the tensions between the couple.

William allegedly reiterated: “I swear now on the life of Mommy that I just want you to be happy.”

Harry claims that his ‘voice cracked’ and he said ‘softly’ to William: ‘I really don’t think you do’.

The older brother reportedly hugged Harry and said, ‘I love you.’

MailOnline has approached representatives for William and Harry for comment.