Duchess Meghan
Lawyer counters allegations of bullying in BBC documentary
Duchess Meghan lived in the UK until early 2020.
© imago / PA Images
Duchess Meghan is said to have bullied palace employees. Her lawyer rejects this accusation in the BBC documentary “The Princes and The Press”.
in the second part of the BBC documentary “The Princes and The Press” about the relationship between Prince William (39) and Prince Harry (37) to the media, which was broadcast on Monday evening, was also the focus of Duchess Meghan (40).
The lawyer of Prince Harry’s wife, Jenny Afia, spoke on the show about the allegations that Meghan had “bullied” some of her palace employees. The allegations were made public in March of this year and were referred to as a “calculated smear campaign” by the Sussex couple, who vehemently deny any wrongdoing. Buckingham Palace is currently investigating the allegations.
“That is absolutely not the case”
On the BBC show, when asked by host Amol Rajan whether the story that first appeared in The Times was correct, Jenny Afia replied: “The general claim was that the Duchess of Sussex was guilty of bullying. That is absolutely not the case, “said the lawyer. “First of all, you have to be clear about what bullying is. Bullying means deliberately and repeatedly abusing your power to harm someone, physically or emotionally,” she sums up. And adds that the Duchess of Sussex “absolutely denied” ever doing that. “Still, she doesn’t want to deny anyone’s personal experience,” Afia said.
When asked if she had any evidence to refute the allegations, the lawyer added, “It’s really hard to prove otherwise. So if you haven’t bullied anyone, how can you prove you haven’t.” she asked. “Simply denying the allegation doesn’t solve the real problem that the allegation was made.”
Legal action against the BBC documentary?
The second part of the documentary was broadcast after reports that the royal family is not ruling out legal action against the BBC. The reason: In the first part, which was broadcast last week, it was claimed that negative stories about Meghan were passed on by courtiers and that there was a real competition between the respective households of William and Harry.
The Mail on Sunday reported that the royals will take legal action if they conclude that the BBC has broken the rules of accuracy and impartiality and has not given them a fair right to respond.
Declaration by the royal family
In a joint statement that was shown at the end of the documentary both this week and last week, Buckingham Palace (Queen), Kensington Palace (William and Kate) and Clarence House (Charles and Camilla) stated:
“A free, responsible and open press is vital to a healthy democracy. However, all too often exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims from unknown sources are presented as facts and it is disappointing when anyone, including the BBC, gives them credibility.”
The Sussexes live in the United States
The British Prince Harry and the American Meghan Markle married in May 2018 at Windsor Castle. A year later, son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born. In 2020 Harry and Meghan resigned as senior royals. Since then, the family has lived in Montecito, California, after stays in Canada and Los Angeles. In June 2021, the Sussexes announced the birth of their daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.