Meghan ‘hissed at staff member and reduced her to tears’ in row on Fiji visit
Meghan Markle is said to have reduced a staff member to tears after ‘turning and hissing at her’ during a row on a visit to Fiji.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, was reportedly ‘incandescent with rage’ and ‘demanded to leave’ a market tour on the Pacific island in October 2018, reports claim.
Meghan, who was pregnant with son Archie at the time, was swept away by her entourage, amid apparent concerns about the humidity and large crowds in attendance.
Lawyers have denied claims in The Times that she cut short the visit over worries about the presence of a UN organisation promoting women, with whom she previously worked with but no longer wished to be associated with.
The allegations emerged as the Duchess rubbished claims she bullied staff during her time at Kensington Palace – dismissing them as ‘an attack on her character’.
Meghan and Prince Harry, 36, are determined to give their side of the story when their hotly-anticipated interview with chat show queen, Oprah Winfrey, airs this weekend.
The Duchess and Prince Harry were on a 16-day Royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga at the time of the alleged row at Suva Market, in the Fijian capital.
The Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English, who attended the Fiji market trip, claimed: ‘I was there at the time and witnessed Meghan turn and “hiss” at a member of her entourage, clearly incandescent with rage about something, and demand to leave.
‘I later saw that same – female – highly distressed member of staff sitting in an official car, with tears running down her face.
‘Our eyes met and she lowered hers, humiliation etched on her features.’
The bullying allegations were made about the former Suits actress in October 2018 by Jason Knauf, then serving as the Sussexes communications secretary, the Times reported.
The couple are set to lift the lid on life in the ‘firm’, as Meghan has described her in-laws, in what is expected to be an explosive interview with Oprah during which ‘no subject will be off-limits’.
The couple – who revealed on Valentine’s Day how they are expecting their second child – will lay bare Megxit and how the situation was apparently ‘almost unsurvivable’.
The interview will air in the US on Sunday, with ITV said to have triumphed in a bidding war to air the programme in the UK on Monday.
But critics have questioned the timing of the interview as Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, 99, remains in hospital.
PR experts warned the Sussexes should insist the interview is postponed or risk a ‘real reputational mess’.
The Duke of Edinburgh spent almost a fortnight at London’s private King Edward VII Hospital before being transferred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, also in the capital, to receive treatment for a heart condition.
Prince Philip has had a successful procedure for the pre-existing condition, Buckingham Palace announced today, and will remain in hospital for rest and recuperation.
It comes as Kate Middleton’s mum, Carole, turned down publicity for a magazine interview to avoid being ‘insensitive’ while the Duke remains in hospital.
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