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A former royal aide’s claims have cast a dark shadow over Meghan Markle’s latest business venture.
Samantha Cohen,who wasa Buckingham Palace staffer nearly 20 years, confirmedshe was questionedduring an investigation into claims of bullying made against the Duchess of Sussex.Cohen, who spoke tothe 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 onesuch report has everbeen raisedregarding Kate Middleton. Ask her family’s butcher from when she was a little girlgrowing up.
MEGHAN MARKLE LIFESTYLE BRAND LAUNCH WITH SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS SKEWERED BY ROYAL WATCHERS
Samantha Cohen (right) is seen here accompanying Meghan Markle in 2018. She left her role in 2019. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“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 thepalacewas unable tofind 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,andwhen 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.
Samantha Cohen attends the royal wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry May 19, 2018, in Windsor, England. (Pool/Max Mumby/Getty Images)
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.
Theclaims were published by The Times of London,days before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down with Oprah Winfrey for their televised interview.
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Oprah Winfrey interviewed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for a special in 2021, and they revealed their struggles with royal life. (Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese via Getty Images)
Markle’s lawyers denied the bullying allegations when theywere made. At the time, a spokesperson for the duchess said the claims were just the “latest attack on her character.”
Cohen’s latest claims cameshortlyafter 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.
Meghan Markle revealed her new venture, American Rivera Orchard, on the brand’s new Instagram grid. (American Riviera Orchard Instagram)
Christopher Andersen, author of “The King,” told Fox News Digital thepalacehas more important things to be concerned about, such as King Charles III and Middletonbothbattling cancer.
“Onceagain,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 hasgotto 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’sfairlywell established that there was ahugeclash of cultures between Meghan and the monarchy, full stop.Meghan woefully miscalculatedjusthow much power over her own life she’d be allowed toretain and how easily those inside thepalacecan 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.
Meghan Markle, who starred in the legal drama “Suits,” became the Duchess of Sussex when she married Britain’s Prince Harry. (Andrew Milligan/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“Theyare accustomedto getting their ownwayand not having their authority questioned.There was plenty of blameto goaroundand lots of bruised feelings on both sides. But I thinkmost of it could be chalked upto Meghan’s naïveté and thepalace’shidebound intransigence.”
In June 2023, Buckingham Palace announced it had investigated how the staffhadhandled allegations of bullyingmadeagainst the former “Suits” star.
According to palace officials, the details of the independent review were notbeingreleasedto protect the confidentiality of those who took part. Following the review, officials saidthepalace’shuman resources policy had been updated, but thepalacedeclined to say what the changes were.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex live in California with son Prince Archie and daughter Princess Lilibet. (Victoria Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
The Duke and Duchess of Sussexhave seemingly chosento keep calm andcarry on.People magazine reported that Charlie Gipson and Kyle Bouliahavejoined the couple as communications executives. Gipson,whoisbasedin the U.K., will serve as a point contact for European media outlets.
Miranda Barbot, the couple’s rep, has been promoted tothe role ofvice president of programs and media operations, the outlet revealed.
“This is a smart, albeit overdue, move for Meghan and Harry,” Doug Eldridge, an agent, celeb branding and marketing expertandthe founder of Achilles PR, told Fox News Digital.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have added two new people to their office. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“It’s not just that Meghan wasn’t generating positive coverage and publicity. It’sthat she was consistently on the receiving end of incessantly negative coverage, which tends to have a compounding effect, like interest,” he explained. “Her new comms team will first need to stop the negative trend line ofcoverage;get back to zero, then begin building into the positive.
“It’s akin to taking over a once profitable company, which was horribly mismanaged and has crippling debt. You must put a tourniquet on the bleeding, salvage the limbs and only then …can you start the positive rehabilitation process.Thisis more complicated and time-consuming than you might imagine.”
“Harry and Meghan aren’t about to overlook the European market for their new lifestyle brand,” Andersen said. “It makes perfect sense that they would hire someone with experience based in the U.K. to handle all that. …Harry and Meghan are still mega-celebrities,and,as such,have the media clout to hype their wares abroad.”
Private secretary Samantha Cohen during Prince Harry and Meghan’s visit to Nyanga Township Sept. 23, 2019, in Cape Town, South Africa. (Karwai Tang/WireImage)
“I, for one, am still waiting to see how much they’re going to charge for their jams and jellies,” Andersen added.
It’s unclear if more ex-aides will come forward with their alleged accounts of working for the duchess. Royal expert Tom Bower wrote in the Daily Mail, “I have no doubt that more will now emerge. The trickle of information will, soon enough, become a stream.”
Valentine Low, author of “Courtiers: Intrigue, Ambition, and the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor,” was the reporter who broke the story about palace aides alleging they were bullied by the Duchess of Sussex before the couple made their exit in 2020.
A spokesperson for Meghan Markle denied the bullying allegations. (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
According to Low’s book, one source alleged that working with the Sussexes was “like working for a couple of teenagers.”
“That’s what they were like,” Low previously claimed to Fox News Digital. “They werekind ofstubborn. They were difficult. They were uncontrollable and incredibly willful. You look atall the thingsthat Meghan and Harry did – for instance, private jets.
“There was a time during the summer of 2019 when they took several jets in a shortspace oftime,” Low said. “And this was despite all the advice theywere given. You know, ‘Don’t do that because you’ve been lecturing the world about saving the environment, and then you’re on a private jet.’Which was so bad in terms of carbon emissions.But they wouldn’t listen to reason.And,ofcourse, when the media found out about it, Harry got severely criticized.But they were just difficult to deal with.”
Britain’s Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, kiss as she presents his polo team with the trophy for winning the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge to Benefit Sentebale April 12, 2024, in Wellington, Fla. (AP Images)
Another former palace insider alleged to Low that Markle “thought she was going to be the Beyoncé of the U.K.” after marrying Harry, 39.
“I think they felt she wanted the stardom, she wanted the adulation,” said Low.
He alleged that she was “less interested in cutting ribbons, opening hospitals and doing all the frankly boring things that members of the royal family often have to do.”
“[But] she liked the stardom,” he claimed. “She liked the attention.”
MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY PONDER POLITICS, DARE TO ‘VOICE OPINIONS’ ON WORLD STAGE: EXPERT
Valentine Low previously told Fox News Digital he was sticking by his report. (Irsty O’Connor/Pool/AFP )
Reps for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time about Low’s book. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace previously told Fox News Digital they generally do not comment “on such books.”
Fox News Digital’s Christina Dugan Ramirez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.
