Buckingham Palace and the Royal Family have been accused of hypocrisy and ‘double standards’ after they launched an investigation into the bullying claims against Meghan Markle, but not into the sexual abuse allegations against Prince Andrew.
On Wednesday, the Palace stated they would be looking into claims made by former royal aides in The Times of London that the Duchess of Sussex had bullied and reduced to tears members of her staff during the time she spent at Kensington Palace in 2018.
Spokespeople for the Duchess vehemently denied the accusations and claimed that Meghan was the victim of a “calculated smear campaign.”
This controversy comes just a few days before Harry and Meghan’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey on CBS. And just one day after a sneak preview revealed Meghan accusing the Palace of wilfully “perpetuating falsehoods” against herself and Harry.
In an interview with Britain’s Sky News, Carolyn Durand, co-author of the biography on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titled Finding Freedom, sided with the Duchess and accused the Royal Family of having “double standards.”
‘Where is the investigation into Prince Andrew?’ asks Meghan biographer
Durand added: “Why is there an investigation into this bullying, but there’s not been an investigation into Prince Andrew and the allegations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and the women who have made allegations?”
She continued: “Why hasn’t he been urged to cooperate with US authorities? Why were Prince Harry’s military honors stripped [after he stepped down as a working royal], but Prince Andrew’s haven’t been?”
Durand finished by saying that the double standards within the Royal Family were something Meghan had really struggled to deal with.
Prince Andrew has faced questions over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a millionaire American financier convicted of sex-trafficking minors before allegedly committing suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019.
One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has claimed that Prince Andrew, Harry’s uncle, had sex with her on three occasions, including once when she was just 17-years-old. The Palace has never publicly announced an investigation into his activities.
Prince Andrew has denied the accusations, but in May 2020, he announced he was stepping down from Royal duties.
Harry and Meghan expected to say ‘shocking things’ in Oprah interview
In the first preview of the Oprah interview, the talk show host is heard to ask Meghan if she was “silent or was she silenced?” We also heard that no topic was “off-limits” and that the Sussexes’ say some “shocking things.”
In the meantime, tension is building over the upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey to be aired Sunday, March 7 at 8/7c on CBS. Members of the public are increasingly choosing sides, and recent polls show the majority of folks are siding with Team Meghan.