Meghan Markle has hit back at bullying claims as the Duchess of Sussex reportedly spent hundreds of pounds on personalised gifts for her Netflix crew after filming ‘With Love, Meghan’.
The 43-year-old former actress has been accused of concerning treatment towards staff when the duchess was working in the Royal Family.
In 2018, the then-royal aide Jason Knauf sent an internal email raising concerns about Meghan’s alleged treatment of staff, which was later leaked to the media.
Allegations were mirrored earlier this year when an 8,000-word Vanity Fair article accused the Duchess of Sussex of “bullying” staff members after she and Prince Harry stepped back from royal duties in 2020.
Meghan Markle has hit back at bullying claims as the Duchess of Sussex spent hundreds of pounds on personalised gifts for her Netflix crew after filming ‘With Love, Meghan’
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Meghan has always strongly denied the allegations of bullying, which she described as an orchestrated smear campaign against her.
Speaking on her own experience on the set of her new Netflix eight-part cookery series, Meghan told People: “It feels as though we’re just spending time together, which is what it ended up being.
“I’d make a recipe and say, ‘Everyone try this,’ and there are certain dishes where you just watch everyone flock in. I’d say, ‘We’ve run out of spoons!’ It ended up feeling so communal, and that’s the spirit of the show.”
Netflix crew members who were involved with the production of ‘With Love, Meghan’ praised Meghan’s approach to treating staff members and described her as a “great hostess”.
They also revealed that the duchess bought each crew member a sauté-style fry pan from the brand Our Place, which retails for over £80, as well as a handwritten monogrammed spoon that read, “Thank you, crew”.
An anonymous crew member told the publication that, unlike other productions, the whole crew felt “included”, adding: “In this show, we were part of it. We were included. It was a very unique and refreshing experience.
“Meghan made us feel seen. Whether it was a coffee cart in the morning or there was one day where the forecast called for it to be particularly hot, and she had a shaved ice truck for us at lunch.
“One day, she had a bespoke ice cream cart with local homemade ice cream. She had an acai truck for us, too. Every week, she did something like that for us. It was really lovely.”
Jason Knauf sent an internal email raising concerns about Meghan’s alleged treatment of staff in 2018
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They added: “She was a great hostess. Between takes, if something was ready to eat, she’d cut it into bite-sized pieces and serve it to us.”
The anonymous crew member who spoke to the outlet described Meghan as “warm” and “approachable,” even asking about their personal lives and tastes in things like cocktails.
Director Michael Steed said: “Her relationship with the crew became really tight fairly quickly. She has an understanding of what it means to be on set and she connected with the crew more than anyone.
“I know it sounds corny, but I really think the core of Meghan’s being is her generosity. She wants to do the extra thing, and I think that’s something everyone should take to heart.”
