Meghan Markle Skirts Bullying Scandal With 'B-Word' Spotify Podcast Episode

Meghan Markle said labeling a woman "difficult" is often "a way to hide some of her really awesome qualities"—having been nicknamed "Duchess Difficult" in the U.K. media.

The Duchess of Sussex's latest Archetypes Spotify podcast is called "To 'B' or Not to 'B'?" and deals with what Meghan described as the "b-word."

The choice of title will likely have raised eyebrows in the British media, which has for years been debating allegations Meghan bullied her staff at Kensington Palace while she was a working royal.

However, the word Meghan was referencing was in fact "b****," rather than the word "bully."

Needless to say, Meghan's comments appear to pay at the very least a passing reference to allegations against her.

Meghan told Archetypes: "So, perhaps the truth is that labeling a woman as the 'b-word' or as 'difficult' is often a deflection. A way to hide some of her really awesome qualities, her persistence or strength or perseverance, her strong opinion, maybe even her resilience and those are the very qualities we're going to be uncovering today."

Bullying Allegations Against Meghan Markle

The duchess was accused of bullying two PAs out of Kensington Palace by former communications secretary Jason Knauf in October 2018, whose email to a superior also expressed concern for aide Samantha Cohen.

Two months later, a story appeared in The Sunday Times quoting an anonymous source suggesting staff found Meghan difficult to work with, however, at that stage there was no mention of bullying.

The headline read: "Meghan loses second close aide, Samantha Cohen, as rumours swirl of 'Duchess Difficult.'"

The phrase was used again by multiple U.K. newspapers, including widely-circulated tabloids like The Sun and the Daily Mail, over the following months.

Among the allegations against Meghan was the suggestion she would get up early and send 5 am emails to staff.

Royal biography Finding Freedom, by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, read: "Meghan felt like some of the commentary and tabloid stories were more than a culture clash; they were sexist and prejudiced.

"If a man got up before dawn to work, he was applauded for his work ethic. If a woman did it, she was deemed difficult or a b****. The double standard was only exacerbated when it came to successful women of color, often labeled as demanding or aggressive."

Meghan Says the 'B-Word' Is Code for 'Difficult'

In her Archetypes episode, Meghan talks to comedian, actress and writer Robin Thede, who says the word "b****" is used to smear a woman "who goes after what she wants."

Meghan said: "In other words, I think what Robin's getting at and what these people are implying when they use that very charged word, is that, this woman. Oh, she's difficult, which is really just a euphemism, or is probably not even a euphemism.

"It's really a code word for the b-word. And yet, Robin is one of the many women who've made a choice, to embrace, the b-word, and almost reclaim it, if we're going to hear it, anyway, right?"

Meghan added, however, that "I have zero interest in reclaiming" the b-word and repeatedly avoided using it during the episode.

Meghan Markle on Being Silenced as a Royal

Meghan's comments about the label "difficult" were reminiscent of her interview with Oprah Winfrey where she said she had been "silenced."

She told Archetypes: "Okay, so calling someone the b-word, labeling them as difficult, it's often a way to insult and dismiss someone.

"I was talking to a good girlfriend of mine this past weekend and when I saw her, she said something I had never heard before and she said, 'well, isn't that a convenient villain—an assertive woman in a position of power, being called the b-word? How very convenient.'

"But that's what happens when we label someone, a woman especially, one of these words. It becomes a way to take their power away. Keep them in their place.

"A lot of times it's tied to the very women who have power and agency—as my friend was suggesting—who aren't comfortable being silent, like businesswomen and entrepreneurs."

In the highly publicized interview with Winfrey in March 2021, over a year after Meghan stepped down as a working royal, she said: "I've always worked. I've always valued independence. I've always been outspoken, especially about women's rights.

"I mean, that's the sad irony of the last four years  is I've advocated for so long for women to use their voice, and then I was silent."

Oprah, famously, asked: "Were you silent? Or were you silenced?" Meghan replied: "The latter."

However, on Archetypes, Meghan suggested she may have become more at peace with the criticism she receives in the media.

She said: "I mean, I was just chatting with my girlfriends recently and I was asking them for the show, what are the sort of archetypes you think we should discuss, and almost immediately, unequivocally they all jumped to 'difficult.'

"'That's the word you have to talk about, 'difficult.' They said, 'it gets thrown around so casually now and as a woman.' My friend said to me, 'there's a certain point when you come to terms with the fact that not everyone is going to like you. The goal can't be for everyone to like you but the goal can be for them to respect you.'"

Update 11/8/22, 8:53 EST: This article was updated to add quotes and context.