Buckingham Palace interviews 'handful of people' in inquiry over Meghan's bullying scandal

Buckingham Palace is reportedly only interviewing a "handful of people" in the inquiry about the bullying allegations against Meghan Markle.

According to a report in Mail Online, the small number of people being interviewed has sparked fears that the investigation is being "kicked into the long grass." The palace has launched the probe around nine months ago after a report in The Sunday Times claimed the Duchess of Sussex created a toxic work environment that drove two of her staff members out of the household, and also "undermined the confidence" of a third. Staff were said to have been left in tears and feeling "traumatised."

Her lawyers had denied the claims calling them a "calculated smear campaign." Meanwhile, the royal household employed a third-party law firm, paid for by the family privately, to probe the allegations.

The new report claims that only a small number of royal employees, both past and present, have actually been spoken to as a part of the inquiry. Meghan and her husband Prince Harry reportedly had around 15 employees working for them at any one time, adding up to 25 over the course of the Duchess's brief stint as a working royal from 2018 to 2020.

The two PAs who allegedly quit due to the bullying are expected to be a part of the inquiry, apart from another staff member and possibly Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who was then working as Prince William's private secretary.

Case was reportedly alerted about the employees' complaints in an email sent by Kensington Palace's communications secretary Jason Knauf in October 2018. Knauf reportedly raised concerns about Meghan's behaviour in the email, and tried to get protection for the staff he believed were being targeted by her.

One source said about the secrecy around the palace's investigation, "I think they [the Palace] are slightly caught between a rock and a hard place on this. There are obviously serious questions to be asked as to how the original complaints about bullying made against the duchess were handled internally. From what anyone hears, interviews have only taken place with a handful of people. It's been far from comprehensive.," the insider added.

Buckingham Palace had previously said that the inquiry should "not be played out in public" and would "take as long as it will take."