With her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, in its early launch stages, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, is starting a new chapter – becoming an entirely new version of herself from the unhappy former Royal who left the UK amidst a media storm four years ago.

And yet, tales from her time as a working member of the Royal family are still plaguing the 42-year-old, with the latest headlines referencing the claims of bullying which were aimed at the Duchess by members of Palace staff in 2020.

At the time, Meghan and Prince Harry’s communications manager Jason Knauf was forced to compile a dossier of the complaints made by anonymous members of staff. The Times reported at the time that Knauf’s email to the palace’s HR department claimed that Markle drove two PAs ‘out of the household’. Royal biographer Tom Bower wrote in his book about the couple, called Revenge, that one staffer felt ‘sick’ after facing Markle, while others expressed, ‘I can’t stop shaking. I feel terrified.’

Reps for the Duchess and Prince Harry rejected the bullying allegations, saying this was just the ‘latest attack on her character.’ They added that it was unfair when the duchess had been the ‘target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma’.

Bower noted of the ensuing investigation, ‘The final report by the Palace was kept private to protect those taking part, but there is no doubt that there was a growing mood of concern — or that the row was becoming personal.’

Now, however, that investigation has been brought back into the spotlight after former senior Palace private secretary Samantha Cohen confirmed in an interview with a newspaper that she had been questioned about the Duchess’s behaviour. Five years after leaving her role, Cohen has now confirmed that she was in fact one of a number of courtiers who had been interviewed following the bullying complaint raised by Knauf, in 2018 – and later revealed by The Times in 2020.

Cohen – who also worked as a private secretary for the Queen – added that she had stayed in her role with Harry and Meghan for longer than she had intended. The Herald Sun quotes Cohen as saying: ‘I was only supposed to stay for six months but stayed for 18 – we couldn’t find a replacement for me and when we did, we took them on tour to Africa with Harry and Meghan to show them the ropes but they left as well while in Africa.’

According to Valentine Low’s book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown, Cohen complained, behind the scenes, that she felt she’d been ‘treated harshly’ and likened the job to ‘working with teenagers’.

Speaking on the subject in his explosive memoir Spare, which topped best-seller charts at the start of last year, Harry referred to the claims, saying that it was ‘outrageous’, and that he and Meghan had provided human resources with a 25-page report full of their own evidence.

Since moving to California three years ago, the former Royals haven’t exactly escaped further staffing issues, with what had been described as an ‘exodus’ amongst their senior employees. Many of the key players from their Archewell production team have left for pastures new over the past few months. This includes Bennett Levine, a senior manager who announced his departure in January, following the likes of Ben Browning, the internal content head and former Oscar-nominated producer, Rebecca Sananes, head of audio and responsible for Meghan’s now-cancelled Spotify podcast, and Mandana Dayani who left as president of Archewell last year, with Harry and Meghan taking on full control.

This week a further Archewell shake up has been announced – with new additions to their communications team. New executives in both this country and the US after their former Director of Global Communication, Miranda Barbot was promoted from Director of Global Communications to Vice President of Programs and Media Operations. The new hires are Charlie Gipson, who previously worked with sweets company HARIBO, as well as Instagram and Samsung, will be acting as the couple’s press contact in Europe in his new role of Director of Communications. Meanwhile Kyle Boulia will be handling communications for the Sussexes at home in Los Angeles as he serves as Harry, 39, and Meghan’s Deputy Press Secretary and Director of Communications for US media.

The couple will be hoping for a period of stability as they try and build a solid team around them in order to grow both their Archewell production company (with new docu-series in the works for Netflix as well as a movie adaptation of best-selling novel Meet Me At The Lake) and their charitable foundation, and Meghan focuses on American Riviera Orchard. Her team soft launched the brand this month, sending out 50 jars of strawberry jam to Meghan’s closest friends ahead of the official launch this spring.
For now, Meghan will surely be hoping that the renewed focus on historic bullying claims will die down so she can focus on her new chapter.