Meghan Markle is returning to her blogger roots with American Riviera Orchard, but her resurfaced bullying scandal could negatively impact the brand's rollout.
Recently, Kensington Palace's email correspondence was leaked, with staffers claiming they were "bullied out of the household," presumably by Meghan, who was then "targeting female members of staff."
One of these aides went on to claim that the idea of coming into work with Meghan made her "feel sick."
"Where there’s smoke, there’s fire," British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told an outlet. "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 of the mom-of-three. "He was [later] invited to her wedding to Prince William in Westminster Abbey. An amazing track record indeed."
Aside from the email being shared, private secretary Samantha Cohen admitted the Sussexes' had a high turnover in a recent interview.
"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 told an outlet.
Author Christopher Andersen was annoyed the accusations are resurfacing, especially now that she's no longer part of the royal family.
"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."
The royal expert later attributed Meghan's struggle to adjust to royal life to her American demeanor.
"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."
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Meghan admitted in her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey that she didn't know what to expect when transitioning into life behind palace gates.
"They are accustomed to getting their own way and not having their authority questioned," the royal expert stated. "There was plenty of blame to go around and lots of bruised feelings on both sides. But I think most of it could be chalked up to Meghan's naïveté and the palace's hidebound intransigence."
Meghan previously denied the accusations. “Let's just call this what it is — a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation,” a statement from the Sussexes’ spokesperson released in March 2021 read. “We are disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of the Duchess of Sussex given credibility by a media outlet. It's no coincidence that distorted several-year-old accusations aimed at undermining the duchess are being briefed to the British media shortly before she and the duke are due to speak openly and honestly about their experience of recent years.”
Experts spoke to Fox News Digital.
