Prince Harry and Meghan announced to the world on January 8, 2020, that they would step down as senior working members of the British royal family in a move popularly dubbed “Megxit.” By spring of 2020, the transition was complete, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were no longer performing royal duties.

Harry and Meghan opened up about the circumstances that led to their decision in a controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Their frank discussion of the difficulties and challenges they faced has been met with criticism and anger by many people, especially after the death of Prince Philip shortly after the interview aired.

Since then, they have lived in the United States with Meghan’s mother and their two children. Although he and Meghan stepped down from their duties as senior royals, they have not shunned the spotlight, appearing at public charity events and pursuing their own creative and philanthropic ventures, many under their brand, Archewell Foundation.

Since stepping down from their positions, the couple has been plagued with controversies, including allegations about Meghan’s bullying behavior toward staff members and other key people inside the palace.

While the issue has been mum for quite some time, on April 24, 2024, the late Queen Elizabeth’s former press secretary, Samantha Cohen, broke her silence to The Herald Sun and spoke up about the many allegations pertaining to Meghan’s alleged behavior. Read on to learn more about the allegations thrown at Meghan and Harry and what Cohen had to say about the high staff turnover when the Sussexes were still senior working royals of the British Royal Family.

Harry and Meghan talked to Oprah Winfrey about how some family members worried about the color of their then-unborn son’s skin, Harry’s estrangement from his father, and Meghan’s very dark, depressing thoughts.

The Duke of Sussex touched more on the racism his wife has faced and how similar it was to what his late mother and her Egyptian boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, experienced in the 1990s. He said that “history was repeating itself,” as per The Independent.

In the interview, Meghan also spoke about how she was badly treated as a senior working royal at the time.

“I went to one of the most senior people to get help. And I share this because there are so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help, and I know how hard it is to not just voice it but to be told no,” Meghan recalled, noting that she went to the Palace’s Human Resources team to tell them that she “need help.”

After Meghan’s bombshell revelations, The Times reported that some of Meghan’s staff members and other Palace employees had approached the publication, claiming that one of Meghan’s former aids had filed a bullying complaint against her.

“I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights,” then-acting Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauff said in a statement. “She is bullying (name removed) and seeking to undermine her confidence.”

Shortly after, Knauff resigned, and the Palace investigated the complaints. Harry and Meghan denied the allegations and described them as a “wholly false narrative.”

In 2022, author Valentine Low released the book “Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crow” and claimed that Meghan screamed at ex-staff members and verbally attacked them on several occasions.

“There were a lot of broken people. Young women were broken by their behaviour,” a former aid shared with Low. “Every 10 minutes I had to go outside to be screamed at by her and Harry. It was, ‘I can’t believe you’ve done this. You’ve let me down. What were you thinking? It went on for a couple of hours.”

Harry touched on the bullying allegations in his equally controversial memoir, “Spare.” He claimed that “rivalry, jealousy, and competing agendas” “poisoned the atmosphere.”

“It didn’t help that everyone was working around the clock. There were so many demands from the press, such a constant stream of errors that needed clearing up, and we didn’t have nearly enough people or resources,” Harry wrote in his memoir.

In June 2024, Cohen, the late Queen’s former press secretary, opened up to The Herald Sun and spoke about her experience working with the Sussexes, revealing that the couple’s team had “high staff turnover.”

“I was only supposed to stay for six months but stayed for 18 — 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,” Cohen revealed.

Cohen was also featured in Low’s book, describing what it feels like working with the controversial couple.

“Sam always made clear that it was like working for a couple of teenagers. They were impossible and pushed her to the limit. She was miserable,” Low wrote. “She was constantly having to battle on Harry and Meghan’s behalf, while taking all this abuse from them.”