‘Lessons learned’, but no details on royal review of Meghan’s allegations of bullying

LONDON (Reuters) – Lessons have been learned after reviewing allegations of bullying by royal staff against Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, Buckingham Palace said, although it declined to elaborate on the report’s conclusions.

The HR review was announced by the palace last March after The Times reported that allegations were made against Meghan, the American wife of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince Harry, including that she reduced some of her aides to tears and treated others so badly that they quit.

The couple released a statement in response denying that she had bullied anyone, and in an interview with Oprah Winfrey shortly thereafter, she accused minors of “perpetuating lies.”

Michael Stephens, the Queen’s Treasurer known as the Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the privately funded review, conducted by an independent law firm, was set up to examine the handling of allegations and improve practices around the world. royal families.

“The review has been completed and recommendations on our policies and procedures are moving forward,” Stevens told reporters. “But we will not comment further.”

The Times report said that a top aide to Harry and Meghan filed a complaint in October 2018 alleging that the Duchess had intimidated some of her aides, and that the prince urged the aide to drop the case, which then did not come forward.

The palace ordered a review, saying it was “extremely concerned”, and all participants, including current and former employees, were informed of its findings. Royal sources declined to reveal whether the duchess herself was involved.

“I think the goals have been achieved because the lessons have been learned,” said a senior royal source.

spend

Stevens was speaking as he provided details of the annual report on the Queen’s taxpayer-financed spending and income, known as the Sovereign Grant, published Thursday.

This showed official spending for 2021-22 was around £102m ($124m), up from the 86m earmarked for the royal family’s official travel, property maintenance and running costs for the 96-year-old Queen’s family.

Since 2017, the Queen has received additional public funds to pay £369m over a 10-year period to renovate Buckingham Palace to replace old and dangerous electric wiring and boilers, and Stevens said the royal family would benefit from reserves set aside in previous years to cover additional expenses.

Another blow to the royal finances – which the palace says costs every Briton £1.29 a year – has been the drop in extra money made mainly from ticket sales to visit the royal palaces, down 50% at £10m compared to before the COVID pandemic. -19 .

Overall, travel costs were just under £2.5 million, with the biggest cost being Prince William and his wife Kate’s £226,383 tour of the Caribbean.

“We are realistic that there will always be tension between travel related to fulfilling the role of head of state and head of the nation, and meeting our environmental aspirations,” Stevens said. (dollar = 0.8231 pounds)

Michael Holden reports. Editing by Alex Richardson

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