Palace telling lies about us, Meghan says in Oprah show

AFP

Prince Harry’s wife Meghan has accused Buckingham Palace of “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and her spouse, saying they would not be silent in telling their story.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made the comments to American talk show host Oprah Winfrey in an interview about why they quit their royal roles.

An advance excerpt of the interview was released on Wednesday, hours after Buckingham Palace said it was “very concerned” about reports in the Times newspaper that assistants working for Meghan two years ago had been bullied by her.

Harry and Meghan issued a statement denying that she had bullied anyone.

“How do you feel about the Palace hearing you speak your truth today?” Winfrey asks.

Meghan responded: “I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent, if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.” The Firm is the name that royal family sometimes uses to describe itself.

“And if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, there’s a lot that’s been lost already,” Meghan added.

The interview was recorded before The Times newspaper ran a report citing unnamed sources as saying an aide to Harry and Meghan had raised a complaint in October 2018 alleging she had reduced some of her assistants to tears and treated others so badly they quit.

The Times said it had been contacted by former staff who wanted the public to gain insight before the Winfrey interview aired — and that lawyers for the couple had labeled the allegations a smear orchestrated by the Palace.

“We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

The Royal Household “does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.”