Daniela Elser: Meghan Markle's 'showdown' with Buckingham Palace over bullying claims

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Commonwealth Day Service 2020 on March 09, 2020 in London. Photo / Getty Images

OPNION:

An ugly battle is heating up with Buckingham Palace and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, looking set for a public confrontation over allegations she bullied staff.

This week the annual Sovereign Grant report comes out, a turgid 110-page long document which details how the royal family has spent £85.9 million ($171m) in Grant funding they receive from the UK government to keep the whole official royal ship afloat. (You can read last year's report here if you are a masochist with way too much time on your hands.)

This year's report had been expected to include the findings of the independent inquiry announced earlier this year into allegations that Meghan had bullied royal aides, and which was carried out by an external London law firm. (The duchess has strenuously denied the claims.)

That won't be happening because the investigation is "ongoing," a royal source has told the Times, with the final verdict potentially only being revealed in next year's report.

But things are already getting alarmingly fiery and hawkish.

Harry and Meghan pose for photographers during a photocall in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London on November 27, 2017. Photo / AP

Today the Mirror is reporting that the California-based duchess and Buckingham Palace are "heading for a brutal showdown," according to a source close to the inquiry, with "at least 10" former palace staffers "queuing up" to take part in the independent inquiry.

"The Palace is taking each and every allegation very seriously and wants to get to the truth of the matter and ensure those speaking up deserve to be heard," the source said.

The Mirror's Russell Myers reports that the 39-year-old "will issue a complete rebuttal of a series of allegations that she "bullied" her staff by demanding Buckingham Palace hand over a "point by point" breakdown of the claims."

This comes after the Times published a fresh bombshell report over the weekend containing new claims about the Suits star's alleged treatment of Kensington Palace staffers. The story, which was an extract from a new edition of Robert Lacey's Battle of Brothers, reported that Prince William was "astonished and horrified," and "instantly furious" when he heard about the "dossier of distress" which Jason Knauf, the then-joint communications secretary for the Cambridges and the Sussexes, had "gathered" leading to a "fierce and bitter" showdown between the two brothers.

Ultimately, William "wanted Meghan removed, for a start, from the hitherto harmonious joint household that he and his brother had operated together for the best part of a decade. William simply did not want her or Harry around any more."

Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry stand on a balcony to watch a flypast of Royal Air Force aircraft pass over Buckingham Palace on July 10, 2018. Photo / AP

"William threw Harry out," a friend told Lacey, who also happens to be the historical consultant for Netflix's The Crown.

Lacey quotes one royal staffer saying, "Meghan portrayed herself as the victim but she was the bully. People felt run over by her … They thought she was a complete narcissist ..."

Elsewhere, another courtier claimed that "Meghan governed by fear … Nothing was ever good enough for her. [She] humiliated staff in meetings, [would] shout at them, [would] cut them off email chains — and then demand to know why they hadn't done anything."

"The b-word featured prominently in the accounts of several, along with an even more sinister set of initials: PTSD," Lacey writes. "Post-traumatic stress disorder was a deeply serious condition to allege … but that was how one complainant said that they had felt."

Prince Harry did not come out unscathed, with one Kensington Palace courtier telling Lacey: "I overheard a conversation between Harry and one of his top aides. Harry was screaming and screaming down the phone. Team Sussex was a really toxic environment. People shouting and screaming in each other's faces."

As things currently stand, it is looking more and more like we are on the verge of all-out war breaking out between the Sussexes and the palace. This month has already seen the two sides square off over whether Harry and Meghan had gotten permission from the Queen to co-opt her lifelong, deeply personal nickname 'Lilibet' for their daughter.

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose with their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019. Photo / AP

When the BBC, days after Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor arrived in the world, reported that the Queen was "not asked" by the Sussexes about the use of name, lawyers acting for the couple accused the national broadcaster of defamation.

Crucially, the palace refused to deny the BBC report.

Or to put it another way: Shots. Fired.

It seems highly unlikely, if not nigh on impossible, that either side might back down given the elevated temperature. Instead, all signs point to the opposing factions digging in for a protracted and bloody PR battle.

Consider recent developments.

First, earlier in June, it was reported that the Queen has instructed her aides to no longer let any "mistruths" circulate about the royal family. "The extraordinary move demonstrates the Queen's exasperation at the relentless briefings that allies of the couple have been giving to the media," the Daily Mail reported.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards in London on March 5, 2020. Photo / AP

Then, over the weekend, another story popped up in the Mail, this one quoting a friend of the couple talking about whether their son Archie will be denied a title when Prince Charles becomes the King. (The 72-year-old has long espoused a "slimmed down" version of the royal family focused on the line of succession.) The timing of this report was particularly curious given there has been no movement on the issue since it was first raised by Meghan during the Sussexes' Oprah Winfrey interview in March. Why dredge it up now if not to score a few points?

In some ways, the "brutal showdown" between Meghan and the palace has been a long time coming, after months of damaging claims being lobbed by both sides.

So, will the bullying inquiry report ultimately prove to be the palace or the Sussexes' Waterloo? For now, it's a waiting game but in the meantime, remember that after being routed by the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon was forced into wretched exile. Waging war comes at a steep cost – so will the house of Windsor or the house of Sussex be left to pay the price?

• Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.