Duchess Difficult: The Buried Bullying Allegations at Kensington Palace

Junior employees at Kensington Palace in the summer of 2018 were becoming all too familiar with dawn emails and texts from the newly married Duchess of Sussex.

Palace officials offered reassurance, claiming that part of Meghan's working day meant connecting with contacts in the US and that she had to be at her desk because of the time difference, hence the early messages to staff.

However, this explanation seemed increasingly threadbare over time.

By October, insiders were openly describing Meghan as “Duchess difficult” due to her sharp, adversarial manner.

Stories began to circulate of secretaries being reduced to tears, and the word “bully” was being murmured about the Duchess's behavior.

Buckingham Palace promised to publish its report into how the historic allegations of bullying were handled by officials.

However, instead of disclosing the steps taken to protect victims of the allegations, a curtain has been drawn over them.

The report is buried, and the changes to palace protocols unexplained.

The suspicion is that the promise of transparency has been sacrificed to placate the couple at the heart of the sorry saga, Harry and Meghan.

Working for the Royals has never been for the faint-hearted.

The hours are long, the pay poor, and the requirements of the job have put many a domestic relationship under pressure.

At the same time, one person's bully is another person's demanding boss.

The developments took a sensational turn when Jason Knauf, the couple's communications secretary at the time, submitted a formal complaint about the claims in an apparent bid to protect his staff.

As the man in charge of the couple's public image, Jason Knauf was so alarmed by what he had heard that he set it down in an email.

He expressed concern about the stress experienced by Samantha Cohen, the couple's private secretary, a veteran of the Queen's office and a highly regarded palace operator.

For two and a half years, the bullying details remained secret.

It was only after Harry and Meghan had quit royal life and moved to California that the allegations were made public.

They were published in the Times just days before the couple sat down for their tell-all interview with America's TV Queen, Oprah Winfrey.

In response, representatives for the Duchess said that it was being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative based on misleading and harmful misinformation.

Signs that anything might be amiss first came when the Daily Mail revealed in 2018 that Meghan's personal assistant had left.

A few days later, the assistant was named as Melissa Tuabti, who had previously worked for the former Take That singer Robbie Williams and the businesswoman Amanda Stavely.

Miss Tuabti, in fact, was not the first member of staff to leave.

Another PA, also a young woman who had been employed before Meghan and Harry married, had also suddenly quit.

Both personal assistants signed non-disclosure agreements, standard practice for royal staff, and there is no suggestion that the Duchess tried to prevent them from speaking.

All the same, the relaxed, easygoing atmosphere that many had found working for the Bachelor Prince had rapidly changed.

Behind the scenes, senior officials were extremely concerned.

Cohen and Knauf's intervention changed everything.

Fast forward to June 2022, and now the sound of derision is becoming uncomfortably loud.

Fifteen months after the matter became public and a little short of four years since the bullying claims were first privately raised, it is clear that the allegations are still being buried.

Miss Cohen, nicknamed Samantha the Panther for her feisty attitude, used to be one of the Queen's most trusted aides before moving to work for Meghan and Harry.

Confirmation that she is leaving, revealed by the source, comes just weeks after another aide suddenly resigned amid rumors that the Duchess is difficult to work for.

The situation raises questions about the transparency of the Royal Family and the palace's handling of bullying allegations.

It also highlights the challenges of working for the Royals, where the demands of the job are high, and the scrutiny is intense.

Ultimately, the allegations of bullying at Kensington Palace have left a stain on Meghan's reputation, and the palace's response has done little to dispel the accusations.

The case serves as a reminder that even the most glamorous jobs can come with a dark side, and that the treatment of employees should always be taken seriously.