The findings of an investigation looking into allegations that Meghan Markle bullied royal aides will remain private, a palace official announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
The press conference concerned the release of the Sovereign Grant report, which tracks the British monarchy’s public spending. It was thought that the conference would also touch on the bullying allegations levied against Meghan Markle last year since Buckingham Palace had financed an investigation into the claims.
“I know many of you will want to know if our report contains any information into the review of the historic allegations of bullying that we announced in March 2021. There is nothing on this in the report,” Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens said in reference to the Sovereign Grant report on Wednesday, Newsweek reported.
Stevens said the investigation into the bullying allegations was “aimed at enabling the royal households to consider potential improvements to HR policies and procedures” and that “the review has been completed and recommendations on our policies and procedures have been taken forward, but we will not be commenting further.”
A source told CNN that the palace wouldn’t be releasing the investigation’s findings to protect the anonymity of those who participated. CNN’s Max Foster also said that since the investigation was privately funded, Buckingham Palace wasn’t necessarily obligated to publish its findings.
And yet, considering the palace made its unprecedented investigation into the claims so publicly known, many people assumed that the findings would also be published.
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Roya Nikkhah, royal editor for the Sunday Times, was the first to report on June 19 that the probe’s findings were “buried.” Some of the people who took part in the investigation told Nikkhah that even they were not informed of its conclusions.
The investigation, commissioned by Buckingham Palace and carried out by an independent law firm, was spurred after the Times of London claimed in March 2021 that Meghan had reportedly “humiliated” and “bullied” staff, according to a complaint filed in 2018.
The Times of London article was released just days before the Sussexes’ sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey aired, in which Harry and Meghan aired their own grievances about palace life.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement shared with HuffPost at the time that it was “very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex” and that its human resources team would be looking into them.
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A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell organization denied the allegations at the time in a statement to HuffPost, calling the claims the “latest attack on [Meghan’s] character.”
“Let’s just call this what it is — a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation,” the spokesperson said, adding they were “disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of The Duchess of Sussex given credibility by a media outlet.”