The investigation into claims that Meghan Markle bullied members of her staff has been “buried” due to fears that its findings could be an embarrassing "bloodbath on all sides,” according to a royal expert.

The bullying allegations against the Duchess of Sussex, made by former Kensington Palace staff, came to light following the leak of an email exchange between former palace press secretary Jason Knauf and Prince William's private secretary Simon Case.

In one of the mails, Knauf said: “I am very concerned that the duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year,” and described her treatment of royal staff as “totally unacceptable”

READ MORE: Meghan 'damned' by Queen's decision not to publish bullying report, claims expert

After the allegations came to light, Her Majesty the Queen paid for an independent law firm to launch an inquiry into the allegations.

A royal source told The Times: “The actual worst incidences haven’t come out. There are some harrowing stories to tell.”

In response to the claims, Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

"Accordingly, our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article.

“Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned.”

However, it has now emerged that the findings of the inquiry, which launched in March, will never be published.

According to The Times, palace officials have have insisted the inquiry should “not be played out in public” to protect the staff involved.

While some participants are deeply disappointed the report is being “buried," Newsweek's chief royal correspondent and expert Jack Royston and royal commentator Kristen Meinzer discussed the inquiry on The Royal Report podcast.

Royston said that revealing the conclusions of the inquiry would be a "bloodbath on all sides".

He said: "I think basically if that report were published it would be a complete bloodbath on all sides and nobody would come out of it looking any good at all.

"I think Buckingham Palace will have taken one look at this and thought 'we're just going to look awful—this is going to make us look absolutely appalling' and if every single fact and allegation came out I just think it would be a complete mud fight and there would be mud over everybody."

Lawyers acting for the duchess have described the allegations as a “calculated smear campaign”.

Jenny Afia, from the Duchess’s law firm Schillings, told the BBC: “What bullying actually means is improperly using power repeatedly and deliberately to hurt someone, physically or emotionally. The Duchess of Sussex absolutely denies ever doing that. Knowing her as I do I can’t believe she would ever do that.”

The Daily Star has reached out to both Buckingham Palace and representatives for the Duchess of Sussex but has yet to receive a reply.

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