Meghan Markle's former royal staff labeled her a "complete narcissist," according to the London Times royal correspondent Valentine Low.
In Low's book, Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, staff members accused Meghan and Harry of bullying them and creating a climate of fear. They reportedly said on many occasions, "We were played."
Highlights
- Former royal staff labeled Meghan Markle a "narcissistic sociopath," according to royal correspondent Valentine Low.
- Staff accused Meghan and Harry of bullying them and creating a climate of fear.
- Meghan denied bullying claims, calling them a "calculated smear campaign based on misleading information."
Their experience working with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was so negative that they would later refer to themselves as the "Sussex Survivors Club," the royal correspondent writes.
Image credits: Chris Jackson/Getty
Its core members were private secretary Samantha Cohen, communications chief Sara Latham, and assistant press secretary Marnie Gaffney.
Samantha Cohen, who was a Buckingham Palace staffer for nearly 20 years, recently revealed that the palace was unable to find a replacement aide for the Sussexes due to high staff turnover.
"We couldn't find a replacement for me, and when we did, we took them on tour to Africa with Harry and Meghan to show them the ropes, but they left (quit) as well while in Africa," she said.
Meghan has always denied the bullying claims, referring to them as a "calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful information."
A group of former royal staffers said they formed the "Sussex Survivors Club" following their negative experiences with Meghan and Harry
Image credits: Robin L Marshall/FilmMagic
Former staff told Low that Meghan created a narrative where she portrayed herself as being rejected by palace aides. This narrative was crafted to support the victim role she would play when she and Harry stepped down as working royals in 2020, they suggested.
"Everyone knew that the institution would be judged by her happiness," they said.
"The mistake they made was thinking that she wanted to be happy. She wanted to be rejected because she was obsessed with that narrative from day one."
The "institution" refers to the institution of monarchy, which includes palace aides, private secretaries, a communications team that handles the press, and royal household workers, who oversee the day-to-day running of the monarchy.
They claimed that Meghan "wanted to be rejected" because she was "obsessed" with the victim narrative
The staff members "came to be so disillusioned that they began to suspect that even her most heartfelt pleas for help were part of a deliberate strategy that had one end in sight: her departure from the royal family," Low writes.
In his book Battle of the Brothers, historian and biographer Robert Lacey quotes a Kensington Palace courtier as saying, "Meghan portrayed herself as the victim, but she was the bully. People felt run over by her. They thought she was a complete narcissist and sociopath — basically unhinged," as per The Mirror.
During her famous sit-down interview with Oprah in March 2021, Meghan revealed that she had suicidal thoughts after becoming the target of constant attacks following the birth of the couple's son, Archie.
"I just didn't see a solution; I would sit up at night," and at one point, "I just didn't want to be alive anymore," she explained, adding that this was a "very clear and frightening and constant thought."
She also claimed that the palace denied her professional help when she was struggling with mental health issues.
Meghan went to one of "the most senior members" of "the institution" for help but was told she didn't have that option, as it would create bad press for the palace.