Harry, Meghan Royal Exit Prompted New Palace 'Code for Courtiers': Book

Buckingham Palace implemented a new "code" for staff members following the tumultuous period that saw Prince Harry and Meghan Markle step down from their working royal roles, according to a new biography.

Prominent British royal correspondent Valentine Low has revealed the contents of the new set of guidelines as part of his new book on the inner workings of palace life, titled Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown and published on Thursday.

Low is well known for his relationships with palace staff and published the story lodging allegations of bullying against Meghan Markle by former palace aides in 2021.

Following the publication of Low's article in The Times of London—which reproduced emails from former communications secretary Jason Knauf voicing concern over Meghan's treatment of staff—Buckingham Palace said it was "clearly concerned" and that "the royal household has had a dignity at work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace."

According to Low, a special policy was put in place following the dramatic period of time that saw the Sussexes leave Britain in 2020, which was labeled by the press as "Megxit."

Prince Harry has since called the term "misogynistic".

"After Megxit, the palace produced a royal household code for courtiers called Guidelines for Private Secretaries and Heads of Teams," Low writes in his new book with the implication being that it had been enacted to cover a number of grey areas that had been exposed by Harry and Meghan's demands on their staff and vision of their royal roles.

"In a glaring example of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, it says that working royals cannot undertake commercial work for personal financial gain on the strength of their royal status.

"It also advises private secretaries that when they are unclear about what to do, they should ask themselves: 'Am I putting at risk the trust the nation places in Her Majesty?'" Low recounts.

"'It adds: 'This question must be the guiding principle on which all decisions are judged.'"

The role of a courtier contains many grey areas, most of which center around the power dynamic between members of staff and the members of the royal family.

Staff members are employed under the umbrella of the royal household, which has its central base at Buckingham Palace and hub households at Kensington and St James's palaces.

"The one thing that is always drummed into the heads of newcomers to the institution is: never forget that you are working for a family," the author states.

"For better or worse, courtiers have to make up their own minds," he later observes about judgment calls when asked by royals to perform certain tasks which may call into propriety or the greater reputation of the crown.

"If they [the royals] are doing something stupid, that's your responsibility: not to support them doing stupid things, but to make sure they don't do them," he quotes an unnamed private secretary. "And if they are going to do them, you call [the queen's] private secretary and say this has got to be stopped..."

"The challenge is that you are an employee," they continued. "And if you lose your principal's trust, you won't have a job, because clearly they have got to trust you. You can have one go at stopping them, as it were. But that's it."

A number of chapters in Courtiers focus on the relationship between Harry and Meghan and their staff.

One source claimed that the duchess would repeatedly text her out of hours and another alleges that she said, "I can't believe I'm not getting paid for this," during a royal tour.

So far, there has been no official comment from either the Sussexes or Buckingham Palace about the claims made in Courtiers.

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