A former senior aide to the Sussexes who accused Meghan Markle of bullying staff ‘out of the royal household’ has insisted he ‘wouldn’t change a thing’ and has ‘no regrets’ in his bombshell first TV interview.
In what has been construed as a thinly veiled dig at his former employers, Jason Knauf appeared to stand by his 2018 complaint about the alleged behaviour of the Duchess of Sussex that leaked just before the couple’s Oprah interview in 2021.
‘The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights’, he had written in an email where he accused Meghan of ‘bullying’ and undermining the confidence of two staff.
Mr Knauf, a New Zealander who worked as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s press secretary, appeared in a new documentary for 60 Minutes Australia, Where There’s A Will.
When asked if it was tough to have the spotlight on him following the leak of his emails and bullying allegations against Meghan, he said: ‘I wouldn’t change anything’.
Jason added cryptically about the need for people in the public eye to ‘take your own medicine sometimes’ – a nod to his years of advising the press, including on behalf of the Sussexes.
In 2018, he had sent an internal email raising concerns about Meghan’s alleged poor treatment of staff in the royal family, which was later leaked after Megxit.
‘I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of X was totally unacceptable,’ he allegedly wrote.
‘The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behaviour towards Y.’
Four years after he left royal service Jason has finally broken his silence in a documentary where he also lavished praise on Harry’s brother William and said working for the future king and his wife was ‘the honour of a lifetime’.
In an extraordinary interview, he also said the estrangement between Prince Harry and Prince William has been ‘hard and sad’ but added that William has chosen to be ‘private’ about it. And added candidly that William was the ‘lowest’ he’d ever seen after receiving news that the Princess of Wales and King Charles had both been diagnosed with cancer.
Jason was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle in 2023 – showing how good the relationship still is.
Former royal aide Jason Knauf has broken his silence after accusing Meghan Markle of ‘bullying’ junior members of staff
Jason Knauf (left) is pictured with Harry and Meghan attending the Invictus Games in Toronto
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has always denied the allegations of bullying, which she described an orchestrated smear campaign against her.
Harry and Meghan’s spokesman said at the time: ‘Let’s just call this what it is-a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation.’
There was also a statement to the media calling the bullying claims defamtory.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the controversy, Jason Knauf told 60 Minutes Australia, he ‘wouldn’t change anything’ and has ‘no regrets’.
‘I think it’s tough, but it’s probably quite good.
‘You know someone who has been helping other people through how to deal with the public eye. You probably had to take your own medicine sometimes.
‘You can’t choose just to take the fun stuff in any job, and that applies to the prince and princess too. So, I wouldn’t change anything’.
Prior to their disagreement, Jason said he’d had ‘great times’ working with the Sussexes, and said their 2018 Windsor wedding was a ‘magical experience’.
Elsewhere, Jason opened up about his time working for Harry and Meghan and said he wishes them ‘the absolute best’.
He said: ‘We had lots of great times, working on their wedding was an amazing magical experience and I wish them absolutely all the best with their lovely family.’
Buckingham Palace launched an internal review into the bullying claims, but the findings were never made public.
Meghan meanwhile said they were a ‘calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation’.
Speaking in the documentary, Jason also touched on William and Harry’s fractured relationship, saying the Prince of Wales has chosen to be ‘private’ about it.
In 2019 rumours started circling that the brothers had fallen out and Harry first addressed it in the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey ,where he said they ‘have good days, you have bad days.’
Speaking in the new documentary, Jason said: ‘We have ups and downs in family even when you really love someone you can have times when you don’t want to spend that much time with them.
‘It’s very difficult to have this stuff play out in the public eye but he’s chosen to keep his thoughts on it private and I think all of us who know him really have to respect that.
‘We should do the same, but I will say of course it’s been hard and sad especially for all of us who know both of them.’
During his time working for the couple, Mr Knauf helped start William’s high-profile Earthshot environmental awards and the couple’s Heads Together mental health initiative, as well as undertaking 36 foreign trips with them.
He left the foundation in 2021 to move abroad.
Mr Knauf said at the time: ‘Working for the Prince and Princess of Wales was the honour of a lifetime’.
Jason was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle in 2023
Jason said at the time: ‘Working for the Prince and Princess of Wales was the honour of a lifetime’
‘Receiving this recognition means more to me than I can say. I am incredibly grateful.’
The book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown by Valentine Low explored the emails further.
It read: ‘I am very concerned that the duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year… The duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights.’
In 2024, both Kate and Charles were diagnosed with undisclosed forms of cancer – with Prince William later reflecting on how the year was ‘brutal’ for the family.
At the same time, wild conspiracy theories took over social media about Kate’s whereabouts as she took time out from the public eye.
Speaking in the documentary, Jason told how William was the ‘lowest’ he’d ever seen him, as he was informed about Kate’s illness during a personal phone call with the prince.
He said: ‘Within a couple of weeks if you’re Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer. I couldn’t believe it. It was awful, absolutely awful. It’s the lowest I’ve ever seen him.
Mr Knauf is pictured with the Princess of Wales during a visit to Scotland in 2021
‘But the problem was that all this crazy conspiracy theory stuff kicked off in the background online.
‘Was she really ill? But they didn’t want to say yet that she had cancer because they hadn’t told the children and they were still working through how to tell the children.’
Elsewhere in the documentary, which was released on Sunday, the royal aide revealed how there was nearly a mishap with the announcement of the birth of Princess Charlotte in 2015.
He said that Kate and William informed him of their daughter’s arrival very early on – even before some members of the family were made aware.
But news of her birth almost leaked two hours before the palace were ready to announce it, after Jason realised he must have ‘dropped’ the press release somewhere on the street.
The release had contained valuable details including the time of birth and how much Charlotte weighed.
But miraculously, none of the media managed to get hold of it and the announcement went ahead as planned.
Jason recalled: ‘We weren’t going to announce it for another couple hours and I had this piece of paper to go write this press release
‘I’m still out there with hundreds of journalists trying to have a game face, and then I couldn’t find the piece of paper, and I think I had dropped it somewhere on the street.’
He added: ‘We managed to get through, but not announce it. But somewhere on that street the entire time was a piece of paper that said there had been a little princess born, what time and how much she weighed.
‘It was one of those things, like, heart in mouth until we got to the announcement and I got through it. I never found it and neither did any of the media though. So that’s all that really mattered.’
The 60 Minutes Documentary, Where There’s A Will, speaks to journalists and royal aides about the future King of England, and explores what sort of leader he will likely be.
