In light of a Vanity Fair investigation that added fuel to a simmering fire of longstanding bullying claims against Meghan Markle, should a 2021 independent investigation into allegations against the Duchess of Sussex that was kept hush-hush by Queen Elizabeth be released?

Meghan Markle investigated for bullying claims by Queen Elizabeth

In 2021, just ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, The Times printed an expose about Meghan that addressed claims of mistreatment. It suggested members of Meghan’s staff were bullied by the duchess. Some were subsequently reduced to tears.

One year later, The Times reported that Queen Elizabeth’s independent inquiries had been buried. The article explained, “Findings from the highly sensitive inquiry, which was paid for privately by the Queen and conducted by an independent law firm, will never be published. It is understood they will be kept under wraps to protect the privacy of those who took part and to limit tensions between the Sussexes and the palace.”

The Times, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, and most recently, Vanity Fair, all shared claims of mistreatment by Meghan to her staffers. This is why Daniela Eliser of News.com.au, believes this is the time the queen’s findings should be released.

Elser writes, “There is a certain Groundhog Day-like quality to this mess. There is another strange puzzler in all of this. Why doesn’t Meghan say sorry?”

She continues, ” I’m not suggesting for a second that there is any credence or truth to the negative claims about her management style or that she has done anything that warrants her apologizing.”

“Like any organization or boss in the world, there are always going to be disgruntled staffers or employees who take issue with management’s style. However, the sorts of claims like the ones aired by Vanity Fair have kept popping up for years now. Why not try and find a way to deal with them once and for all?”

Will the report ever be released?

Meghan Markle speaks onstage during 2024 SXSW conference and festival | Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images

An inquiry into allegations Meghan Markle bullied palace staffers was first reported in March 2021. At the time, Meghan denied any such behavior.

Vanity Fair shared a statement from Meghan’s lawyer. It read, “Let’s just call this what it is — a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation. We are disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of the Duchess of Sussex given credibility by a media outlet.”

It continued, “It’s no coincidence that distorted several-year-old accusations aimed at undermining the duchess are being briefed to the British media shortly before she and the duke are due to speak openly and honestly about their experience of recent years.”

Will Queen Elizabeth’s inquiry ever be released? Right now, there are no plans to go against the late monarch’s wishes for it to remain out of sight.

But Daniela Elser believes there is no better time for details of the inquiry to be shared publicly in light of Vanity Fair’s article. “It is against today’s tense backdrop of raised temperatures that we need to return to the question of the palace’s Meghan report, which just might be under several feet of dirt in the Palace’s back lawn. There could be no more charged moment for its contents to come out than right now.”

Prince Harry addressed Meghan Markle’s bullying claims

In Spare, Prince Harry discussed how he and Meghan Markle were treated by the royal family after a 2018 tour. Adding to the excitement was the news that Meghan was pregnant for the first time.

Shortly after returning to the United Kingdom, stories about Meghan began appearing in the British tabloids. She was called “Duchess Difficult.”

Harry wrote in Spare, “Then a work of fiction about Meg making her staff miserable. Driving them too hard, committing the unpardonable sin of emailing people early in the morning.”

“She was also said to have driven our assistant to quit. In fact that assistant was asked to resign by Palace HR after we showed them evidence she’d traded on her position with Meg to get freebies. But because we couldn’t speak publicly about the reasons for the assistant’s departure, rumors filled the void. In many ways that was the true start of all the troubles.”

Harry concluded, “Shortly thereafter, the ‘Duchess Difficult’ narrative began appearing in all the papers. Meg was apparently a bully—that was the latest vicious campaign they’d helped orchestrate.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not commented on any of the magazine articles about her alleged bullying of staff. The couple no longer works directly for the royal family. They live in Montecito, California.