What Meghan Markle's Former Bodyguard Had To Say About Her

Negative headlines have followed Meghan Markle ever since she married Prince Harry and became a duchess. Some were not unusual as far as media coverage of the British royal family goes — like the times she allegedly broke royal protocol during engagements — but others were downright ridiculous. (Imagine getting criticized over how often you cradle your baby bump.)

One accusation that Meghan has been unable to shake off was that she was a bad boss, which was first reported by The Sunday Times in 2018 and resulted in her being branded "Duchess Difficult." This was initially dismissed by fans as just another malicious rumor about Meghan, but after she and Harry bid goodbye to royal life, darker allegations about her alleged mistreatment of staff surfaced and became much more difficult to avoid. While Meghan vehemently denied the bullying allegations that were first reported in 2021, just days before her Oprah Winfrey sit-down, new claims were published in September 2024 by The Hollywood Reporter, which quoted an anonymous Sussex aide as saying: "Everyone's terrified of Meghan."

For a former bodyguard of Meghan's, this could not be further from the truth. According to In Touch Weekly, Steve Davies, who was part of Meghan's security detail in Toronto in early 2018, insisted that she always treated staff with kindness. "There's one huge lesson I learned from her: It's give respect to get respect," he said of his experience working for Meghan. "Nobody had a bad word to say about her. Even with the pressure that she was under, she was warm and considerate all the time."

According to THR, Meghan's allegedly "terrible" behavior toward staff was one of the major reasons behind her and Prince Harry's unusually high employee turnover, with the couple losing 18 aides in the past six years. However, according to Davies and other staffers who recently spoke up in defense of the former "Suits" star, she does her best to maintain her friendship with ex-employees even after they part ways. Davies told In Touch that the duchess still takes time to message him on major occasions, including his birthday, and that he "would work with her again" in a heartbeat if given the chance.

Like Davies, Ben Browning, a former executive at the couple's production company Archewell, and ex-chief of staff Catherine St-Laurent had nothing but positive things to say about their former bosses when they spoke to Us Weekly last month. Browning said they "all continue to be friends," while St-Laurent shared that she "remained close" to the duke and duchess after she stepped down as the executive director of their charity in 2021.