Meghan accuses palace of 'perpetuating
falsehoods' in new Oprah clip
Duchess of Sussex criticises ‘the firm’ in latest
excerpt ahead of broadcast of full Oprah Winfrey interview
Caroline
Davies and Helen Sullivan
Thu 4 Mar
2021 09.47 GMT
The Duchess
of Sussex has said she cannot be expected to remain silent about her
experiences of palace life if the royal family is “perpetuating falsehoods”
about her and Prince Harry.
Dismissing
the consequences of speaking out, Meghan said a lot had “been lost already”.
In a second
trailer for the couple’s much anticipated interview, the US chatshow host Oprah
Winfrey asks the duchess: “How do you feel about the palace hearing you speak
your truth today?”
In the
30-second clip, released by CBS ahead of the interview, to be broadcast on
Sunday, Meghan replies: “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.”
She adds:
“And, if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, I … there is a lot that
has been lost already.”
In the
clip, the duchess refers to “the firm”, which is shorthand for the institution
of the royal family.
The interview was recorded before claims were
published in the Times this week that the duchess had allegedly bullied former
royal staff, leaving some of them in tears and driving two of them out of their
palace roles.
The claims centred on an email which was sent by the
couple’s former communications chief, Jason Knauf, in October 2018 – five
months after the couple’s wedding – reportedly in an attempt to force
Buckingham Palace to protect staff, the Times reported.
Buckingham Palace has ordered an unprecedented
investigation into the claims, believed to be the first such inquiry into the
alleged actions of a senior royal, and stressed it does not tolerate bullying.
Past and
present employees will be invited to speak in confidence about their
experiences of working for Meghan, after it was alleged she “humiliated” staff
on several occasions, and “destroyed” one while another was left in tears.
Harry and
Meghan will not be part of the process as they are not staff. The palace hopes
to start the investigation as soon as possible, and will report any changes to
procedures that might result at a later time.
The
couple’s spokesperson has said that Meghan is “saddened by this latest attack
on her character”, and as a target of bullying herself, was “deeply committed
to those who have experienced pain and trauma”.
Sources
close to the couple suggested that the emergence of the bullying allegations
had been timed to undermine the couple’s interview with Winfrey.
Lawyers for
the couple told the Times it was “being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a
wholly false narrative based on misleading and harmful misinformation”.
The
newspaper had claimed several sources said Meghan had craved rejection, and
that she wanted to be a victim, so her “unbearable experience” would convince
Harry they had to leave the UK, which her lawyers have denied.
The
Sussexes believed their staff were comfortable and happy, their lawyers said.
Sources are
said to have approached the newspaper over concerns that the picture painted of
Meghan in the Winfrey interview would not be a complete one.
Knauf sent
the email to Simon Case, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s former private
secretary, now the cabinet secretary, after conversations with Samantha
Carruthers, the head of human resources, the paper claimed.
In it,
Knauf reportedly wrote of his concerns Meghan was “able to bully two PAs out of
the household”, that the treatment of one was “totally unacceptable” and that
the duchess “seems intent on always having someone in her sights”.
The duchess
is alleged to have said: “It’s not my job to coddle people” when her alleged
treatment of staff was reportedly raised by a senior aide at a meeting said to
have been attended by Harry. A source told the newspaper Harry begged his
senior aide not to take the matter further, which was denied by the couple’s
lawyer, who said he would not have interfered with staff matters.
There was
also concern, the paper reported, that the complaint was not progressed: “The
institution just protected Meghan constantly. All the men in grey suits who she
hates have a lot to answer for because they did absolutely nothing to protect
people”, one source was quoted saying.
Knauf left
some months after making his allegations and is now a close aide to William,
working as the chief executive of the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation.
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