5 Rumors Meghan Markle Can't Escape From

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is consistently swept up in drama, and we're not just talking about her acting career. Ever since she began a relationship in 2016 with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan has been a fixture in British tabloids, who love to spread rumors about her personal life. Unfortunately for her, Meghan just can't shake some of those rumors.

Meghan has been called a "dictator" by a former staffer speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, among other bullying allegations. She's also had to consistently dodge rumors about a potential split from Prince Harry. After everything Meghan's head to deal with in the press, it's no wonder she and Harry left the royal family in 2020. Here are some of the most persistent rumors that have followed Meghan over the years. 

Anytime Meghan and Harry make solo public appearances, the rumor mill churns with speculation they're heading for a split. Divorce rumors were abound in July 2023 when commentator and influencer Ada Lluch tweeted: "Rumors are that Meghan Markle is separating from Harry. ... Now that Harry is broke and lonely because of her, she has allegedly filed divorce papers asking for $80 million plus the total custody of Archie and Lilibet." These claims originated from the Spanish news outlet Marca, but there was no credible source behind them.

The couple continued to dodge divorce rumors through 2024 as they took international trips separately and British newspapers ran rampant with speculation they were splitting up. Harry visited Vancouver in November 2024 for the Grey Cup and joined the TSN broadcast. Meanwhile, Meghan was in LA celebrating the launch of her friend Kadi Lee's new haircare line. A source told People, "She was in a joyful mood" at the event.

The royal couple shared a joint video in November 2024 in which they called for a renewed protection of children online. The Daily Mail's royal expert Richard Eden, in an episode of "Palace Confidential," interpreted this as a way to quell any notions of the pair splitting. "It did seem to me something about this that they were very much together. It seemed to me they'd given quite a lot of thought to it, there were lots of sort of gestures," he said. "I think it's fair to say that it was a conscious effort to say we're very much still together as a couple."

Weddings for anyone are stressful enough, and especially so for the royal family. After Meghan and Harry got married in 2018, tabloids like The Telegraph reported that Meghan made Catherine, Princess of Wales, cry before Meghan's wedding day — all because of a tiff revolving around Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress. "Kate had only just given birth to Prince Louis and was feeling quite emotional," a source told the tabloid. According to a Daily Mail source, Meghan had insulted Kate by saying she had "baby brain" at the time after having given birth to Prince Louis earlier that year.

Details were scarce at the time, but Meghan tried to set the record during her and Harry's bombshell interview with Oprah in 2021, saying "the reverse happened" and Kate made Meghan cry. "It was a really hard week of the wedding, and she was upset about something. But she owned it, and she apologized, and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing. She did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, to just take accountability for it," Meghan said (via Harpers Bazaar).

When Harry's memoir "Spare" came out in 2023, further details came to light. According to him, the sisters-in-law got into a spat over tailoring Princess Charlotte's dress just a few days before the wedding, and after the argument Harry found Meghan "on the floor" sobbing (via Harpers Bazaar). "I've forgiven her. What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn't do, but that happened to me," Meghan said in the interview with Oprah.

Before Meghan and Harry's Oprah interview aired in 2021, The Times dropped a bombshell, reporting that Meghan was being investigated by Buckingham Palace over allegations she bullied her staff. The couple's then-communications secretary Jason Knauf made the complaints in October 2018 in an effort to protect the staff, although he was "concerned that nothing will be done."

A former employee said Meghan "humiliated" her and at least two more staff members were targets of Meghan's bullying. A separate staffer described Meghan's behavior as "emotional cruelty and manipulation, which I guess could also be called bullying." An aide reportedly told a fellow staff member "I can't stop shaking" due to worrying about a potential confrontation with Meghan.

Buckingham Palace concluded its investigation in June 2022, but would not share its findings with the public. Meghan and Harry were "disappointed" with the decision, a source told E! News. As of this writing, nothing further has come out from the palace's investigation.

A September 2024 expose from The Hollywood Reporter shed light on what it's like to work for the Duchess of Sussex. "Everyone's terrified of Meghan. She belittles people, she doesn't take advice ... she's just terrible," a source told the outlet. Her alleged behavior has earned her the nickname "Duchess Difficult" among staff, with one staffer calling her "a dictator in high heels." The source said, "I've watched her reduce grown men to tears." Some employees who have left her employ have branded themselves the "Sussex Survivors Club" as a testament to just how big of an alleged bully Meghan is.

Not all of Meghan's current and former aides agreed with The Hollywood Reporter's report on Meghan. Meghan and Harry's former chief of staff Catherine St-Laurent told Us Weekly, "The time I spent working with Prince Harry and Meghan was incredibly meaningful to me." The couple's global secretary Ashley Hansen told Us that Meghan and Harry treated her with "the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child," and extended that care toward her husband. "Meghan would personally reach out to my husband daily to make sure that we both were OK and had support. It meant so much to him and even more to me. You don't realize how much that kind of kindness and thought means until you need it." Several other staffers spoke positively of the royal couple in the Us Weekly story, painting a muddled picture of Meghan – to some, a bully, and to others, a saint.

Royal insiders have theorized Meghan might have a memoir of her own up her sleeve. "Obviously, the journal she mentioned will remain a potential weapon in her back pocket if she ever feels the need to seek some sort of revenge," royal correspondent and commentator Jennie Bond told Ok! (via the New York Post). Meghan detailed her experiences with the royal family in a journal she kept at her and Harry's residence. When packing up for their move, she rediscovered it and told The Cut in 2022, You go back and you open drawers and you're like, 'Oh my gosh. This is what I was writing in my journal there?'"

Prince Harry of course released his own memoir, "Spare," in 2023, which sent shockwaves through Buckingham Palace. Meghan has the chance to do the same if she turns her personal journal into a tell-all on her time with the royal family, which fueled Meghan's mental health struggles at that time. Meghan had a "clear and real and frightening thought" about taking her own life as she "just didn't want to be alive anymore" due to her treatment from the royal family, she said in her and Harry's 2021 interview with Oprah (via Harper's Bazaar).