Queen 'scolded' Meghan after 'tense exchange' with wedding menu caterer
According to reports, Meghan Markle, like many brides before her, was an anxious bride before her big day in 2018.
With the world's eyes on her and her husband Prince Harry, with a fairytale wedding to plan, tensions ran high, including alleged clashes with caterers and Meghan's sister-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales (then Duchess of Cambridge), over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress.
But the drama didn't stop there. According to royal biographer Katie Nicholl, Meghan found herself in a tense moment with a staff member during a menu tasting at Windsor Castle, the Daily Mail reports. During the tasting, Meghan reportedly got upset after being able to taste egg in what was thought to be a vegan dish.
One source told Nicholl in her book The New Royals, 'She got quite upset, saying that the dish was meant to be vegan and macrobiotic.' However, Meghan's American directness didn't go unnoticed by the late Queen, who intervened right away.
Nicholls' source claims, 'Suddenly the Queen walked in and said: 'Meghan, in this family we don't speak to people like that.'' It wasn't the only time her treatment of staff reportedly came to the attention of the late Queen.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers has claimed that while Meghan and Harry were living at Frogmore Cottage, another complaint was made. According to Vickers, the Duchess had been so dismissive towards an under-gardener that it prompted the senior staff member to speak directly to the Queen.
However, the stories about Meghan being an alleged bully kept on coming. In the years since Meghan has left the Royal life behind, multiple reports have emerged about Meghan's strained relationship with palace staff. The phrase 'Sussex Survivors Club' began circulating, in reference to a group of former employees who'd worked closely with the couple and come out on the other side.
Daily Mail royal editor Rebecca English wrote that some aides were left 'emotionally broken' by their experiences. Even more concerningly, she claimed that she'd been on the phone with a sobbing employee who had had a 'harrowing day.'
In 2018, an internal review into Meghan's treatment of staff was triggered after her communications secretary, Jason Knauf, sent an email to Prince William 's then private secretary. His email claimed that Meghan had bullied two PAs out of the house in a single year.
He added: 'The duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights.' Knauf, who would later change sides and begin working alongside William and Kate, has said he wouldn't change his decision to speak out. In 2022, Knauf was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order by King Charles III in his New Year's Honours List.
Meghan firmly denied all allegations of bullying and described them as a 'calculated smear campaign'. A spokesperson for the Duchess said: 'The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma. She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good.'
Last year, a former bodyguard Steve Davies, who worked with Meghan after she had been announced as Harry's girlfriend, came to the Duchess' defence when speaking to In Touch Weekly. He said: "She gets a bad rap for being a not very good person to work with, that she was this evil person in the Royal Family. I saw her, from working at the studio to working with charities to working with dog walkers and cleaners. There's one huge lesson I learned from her: It's give respect to get respect.'
He added: 'I felt sorry [for her] because she'd gone from being a celebrity to being a member of the biggest family in the world.' When Davies visited the duchess in the UK, he likened her life to being in a 'goldfish bowl'.
He claimed it did not help that ' Buckingham Palace was controlling the PR and Meghan was always used to being able to control the PR herself with her team'. This was also around the time that employees started complaining, Davies said: 'The staff at Buckingham Palace [said they] couldn't stand working for her. Nobody had a bad word to say about her [in Toronto]. Even with the pressure that she was under, she was warm and considerate all the time.'
He also added that she had a 'big heart' and would 'go out of her way' to help people. In the interview, Davies, who no longer works with the Duchess, said: 'I would work with her again, not a problem at all. She was a good person to work for, and she still is a good person.'
Whilst the late Queen seemed to disapprove of Meghan throwing herself headfirst into the Royal family and life, it also seems the slow-burning introduction into the Royal family life by Kate Middleton was also something the Queen wasn't impressed by.
In 2018, Royal expert Phil Dampier, who has been reporting on the Firm for more than 20 years, told Express.co.uk that Kate gradually started doing engagements because William was protective of her. He said: 'The Queen once remarked Kate doesn't do very much so I think she had a fairly long entrance to the Royal family.' Dampier said William was protective of Kate because of what happened to his mother, Princess Diana, something Harry has been keenly scrutinised for when it comes to Meghan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Walmart sends shoppers wild as they slash price of everyone's favorite childhood toy
Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn more A LEGO enthusiast's latest search for deals at Walmart turned up big savings on fan-favorite sets. Shopping expert Angel Madison spotted popular sets on sale for up to 62 percent off. Some, including a personal favorite of Madison's, were down to as little as $5. 'I've done the work of scouring the Walmart website for deals at all price ranges, so you can grab a birthday gift or treat yourself in a major way,' she wrote for Country Living. 'If you are a truly last-minute shopper (like me) and even two-day shipping is too long, you can order most of these online, and pick it up at a store near you without leaving the car.' In-store, Madison follows a simple rule of thumb for LEGO sales: Aim for over 20 percent off on small to mid-size sets under $100, and look for 10 percent or more off on larger sets. 'LEGO sets are typically priced based on how many bricks are in the set, and for me, this over $30 and under $100 range is the sweet spot,' she explained. 'They are easy enough to build in a night, while still making an impressive addition to any book shelf.' The 62 percent off star of Madison's list is the Botanicals Field Flowers. 'I love dandelions, and currently have four of these in a bouquet because I buy them whenever I see them under $10,' she revealed. Customers looking for a more adult botanical set may also be interested in the plum blossom, a popular pick available for $24. 'Right now they are $5, and can be assembled in just a few minutes. I've already added another set to my cart.' She also praised the Peppa Pig DUPLO set, the $24 item suitable for children ages two and up that can float. While Madison did not reveal if she owns the Peppa Pig product, she proudly showed off two other favorites: the Disney and Pixar Up House and the Moana 2 HeiHei, which start at $38 and $32 respectively. 'The Up house proudly sits by my desk, and looks so fun with the colorful balloons on top,' she wrote, adding that the Moana HeiHei was 'a blast to assemble.' LEGO fans who aren't interested in Disney films can also purchase the Wicked Elphaba and Glinda duo, which costs $44 now that it's 20 percent off. Walmart shopper Angel Madison spotted fan favorite LEGO toys on sale for up to 62 percent off Besides the simple products, Madison revealed the must-have products that are worth looking at. 'The hard-to-find Back to the Future DeLorean is on sale, and it is one that I've seen sell out before,' she revealed. She also praised the Harry Potter castle set, which costs $141 when its 17 percent discount is applied. Out of all the products Madison has mentioned, the $180 A-Frame Cabin is her dream come true set, with 'charming details' like trees and animals. If Walmart sells out, shoppers can still find these sets at LEGO stores and .
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Fergie, Duchess of Greed: Eye-popping debts, dubious 'charity work' and the vulgar truth of exactly what Prince Andrew's ex squanders money she doesn't have on, all exposed by the book Royals tried to ban
Based on four years of research and hundreds of interviews, an explosive new biography of Prince Andrew has given a startling insight into his hedonistic life, controversial friendships and secretive money-making endeavours. Today, in the penultimate part of the Daily Mail's exclusive serialisation, acclaimed historian ANDREW LOWNIE turns his attention to the Duke of York's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and her lavish lifestyle...
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Why Alison can no longer cast Sussexes' lookalikes...
Bafta-winning photographer Alison Jackson – who specialises in amusing images featuring lookalikes of the rich, famous and powerful – is planning to stage a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this month. She has, however, encountered a serious problem. The show was due to include doppelgangers of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but Jackson has failed to cast actors to play them with little more than a fortnight until the curtain goes up. 'I have a couple of 'Prince Williams' who've come forward and they look quite good, but no 'Meghan' or 'Harry' has turned up,' she tells me. The artist, 65, claims this is because the Sussexes have become such toxic figures that no one wants to play them. 'I think that people don't like Meghan, they don't trust her and they think she's an operator who sucks everything she can out of Harry,' Jackson claims. She explains that her lookalikes 'tend to relate to' the person they are playing. Jackson blames Harry's explosive interview with the BBC in May after he lost a legal challenge over his taxpayer-funded security in Britain. The California-based prince said the King 'won't speak to me because of this security stuff', but that he did not want to fight any more and did 'not know how much longer my father has'. Jackson tells me: 'He's gone too far, because every time he does a TV interview he takes some dig at King Charles, which is below the belt and beyond the pale and people don't like it. He implied that his father might die.' She previously had lookalikes of Harry, 40, and Meghan, who turned 44 yesterday, but says 'they now won't come forward'. Jackson adds: 'As Meghan gets more and more assertive, the lookalikes disappear. They've probably all cut their hair short and look different.' It will be a case of On His Majesty's Secret Service! King Charles is seeking a £55,000-a-year security head to vet his own staff. The successful candidate must identify any security risks among workers. An advert says the 'senior personnel security manager' will be based at Buckingham Palace, but will oversee 'security services across multiple royal residences'. Love is in the air for Lord Brocket's son At 6ft 8in, William Nall-Cain was always going to find it a tall order to choose a bride who could measure up to him. Happily, the son of former I'm A Celebrity star Lord Brocket has met his match in Christy Boulet, a lawyer from Puerto Rico where his mother, former model Isabel Lorenzo Brocket, was also born. In a picture posted online, William, 34, towers over his new wife at their wedding in the Caribbean island's capital, San Juan. 'There is no one else on this planet who makes me feel like anything in this life is possible, and like the luckiest man alive,' William has said of his bride. Earlier this year, I disclosed that his sister, Antalya, had separated from her husband, Prince Alexander von Preussen, less than five years after their wedding near Brocket Hall, her ancestral home in Hertfordshire. Sir Grayson's all fired up He made his name with ceramics depicting child abuse and sado-masochism before being embraced by the Establishment. And Sir Grayson Perry is sick of rich and famous Leftie-types posing as revolutionaries. 'One of the things that absolutely infuriates me is millionaire cultural celebrities pretending they're outsider rebels,' declares the cross-dressing potter, 65. Who's in the Spice Girls' group chat? The Spice Girls once sang that 'friendship never ends', but it can clearly become strained over time. Melanie Chisholm, aka Sporty Spice, has revealed Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell are excluded from some of their WhatsApp chat groups. 'There are subgroups within the group,' Mel C admits in an interview Down Under. 'I definitely know there is a chat group that doesn't contain me, but somewhere else we keep Ginger or Posh out. Like all friendship groups, we have many ways of communicating.' Chisholm, 51, who was the only one of the four other Spice Girls to attend Mel B's second wedding to Rory McPhee in Morocco at the weekend, also admits she regrets not holding on to her outfits from the pop group's heyday. Julie dresses as she likes it for birthday bash Usually seen wearing Lycra while performing yoga poses at her husband's Mapperton estate in Dorset, the Countess of Sandwich opted for a medieval look at a fellow aristocrat's ancestral home at the weekend. American-born Julie Montagu, 51, wore a red velvet gown for the Earl of Devon's fancy dress birthday party at Powderham Castle near Exeter. The bash had Shakespeare's pastoral comedy As You Like It for its theme. 'I took it very seriously,' the countess says. She and her husband, Luke, the 12th Earl of Sandwich, have been running the family's Mapperton estate since 2016, with wellness retreats among her initiatives. A qualified yoga instructor, Julie, became the Countess of Sandwich after the death of her father-in-law, 81, in February. Kirstie's parenting hoo-haa Location, Location, Location star Kirstie Allsopp is aghast at a sorry display of modern parenting. 'I'm staying in a hotel in Switzerland, just had breakfast next to an English couple with one child, probably aged five,' says the television presenter, 53. 'He ate his breakfast watching an iPad on the table in front of him,' the presenter complains on X. She goes on to ask her 431,800 followers: 'When are people going to wake up to how wrong this is?' Kirstie, who has two teenage sons with her husband, property developer Ben Andersen, as well as two adult stepsons, adds: 'This is absurd. If they can't be bothered to engage their child in conversation at the table when they don't have to cook or wash up, then what hope is there?' Her comments prompted a mixed response online, with some parents and teachers noting the 'damage' caused to children by excessive screen time. Others were less sympathetic, prompting Kirstie to respond: 'It's quite interesting to note that the vast majority of abuse is from men.'
