A former royal aide’s claims have cast a dark shadow over Meghan Markle’s latest business venture.
Samantha Cohen, who was a Buckingham Palace staffer nearly 20 years, confirmed she was questioned during an investigation into claims of bullying made against the Duchess of Sussex. Cohen, who spoke to the Australian newspaper the Herald Sun, left in 2019.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “There have been too many examples of the ‘Sussex Survivors Club’ for the allegations not to be true. … In contrast, not even one such report has ever been raised regarding Kate Middleton. Ask her family’s butcher from when she was a little girl growing up.
She was [described] as a polite little girl,” Fordwich shared. “He was [later] invited to her wedding to Prince William in Westminster Abbey. An amazing track record indeed.”
While Cohen didn’t directly speak about the investigation, she revealed the palace was unable to find a replacement aide for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex due to 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,” she said.
A representative for the former American actress didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Buckingham Palace launched the investigation in March 2021 after reports alleged that Markle, 42, had driven out two personal assistants and that staff had been “humiliated” on several occasions during her time living in Kensington Palace.
The claims were published by The Times of London, days before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down with Oprah Winfrey for their televised interview.
Markle’s lawyers denied the bullying allegations when they were made. At the time, a spokesperson for the duchess said the claims were just the “latest attack on her character.”
Cohen’s latest claims came shortly after the former American actress launched the first product from her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.
On April 15, fashion designer Tracy Robbins and Delfina Blaquier, a photographer and wife of polo star Nacho Figueras, were among the first to share a photo of the brand’s first product, strawberry jam, on Instagram.
Christopher Andersen, author of “The King,” told Fox News Digital the palace has more important things to be concerned about, such as King Charles III and Middleton both battling cancer.
“Once again, we are left to try and divine the truth based on leaks from the palace and the occasional nugget offered up by former employees of The Crown,” Andersen explained. “The monarchy has always been very secretive, and that continues. This code of silence routine has got to stop since all it does is spawn gossip, rumors and wild conspiracy theories. We’ve seen this repeatedly. And it’s all to the monarchy’s detriment.
“But why rehash this bullying business at all?” he continued. “It’s fairly well established that there was a huge clash of cultures between Meghan and the monarchy, full stop. Meghan woefully miscalculated just how much power over her own life she’d be allowed to retain and how easily those inside the palace can become flustered. Frankly, an offhand comment that would roll off the back of an American can send some of these royal hand-holders running to the loo in tears.
