THE investigation into the Duchess of Sussex’s alleged bullying and a year in isolation were the topics debated by columnists and contributors in the newspapers.

The Daily Mail

Richard Kay said the Queen had ‘hit back’ at Meghan’s claims a newspaper was being used by Buckingham Palace to ‘peddle a wholly false narrative’ when it reported allegations she had bullied staff.

“Announcing an inquiry into the claims about the two employees who left their jobs and a third whose confidence was said to have been undermined is an astonishing development,” he said. “Never before has the Palace held a member of the Royal Family to account, and its move represents a serious blow to the Duchess’s carefully curated status of victimhood.”

He said it also showed the Queen’s deep reserve of patience for her grandson had reached tipping point.

“Even to the most neutral and fair-minded of observers, the bombshell revelations coming just four days before the Oprah interview is broadcast, represent a moment of potential danger for the Royal Family.”

The Daily Express

Royal historian Margaret Holden said the media had been remiss in not picking up the warning signs at the Sussexes wedding.

“Half of Hollywood seemed to be in attendance but Harry’s second cousins and neighbours were not,” she said. “The tax-paying public, who funded much of the wedding, must feel bemused by the couple’s deals with Netflix and Spotify, and the cascade of appearances, after they fled in search of privacy.”

She said tales of imperious behaviour had been around for a while and the couple had employed three nannies in six weeks after Archie’s birth.

“Last year a caller phoned LBC radio claiming Meghan “screamed and shouted” at one nanny in Battersea Park. We can’t know for sure, but there could be other witnesses.”

The Scotsman

Laura Waddell said she embraced the ‘idiot’s idea’ of treating the first lockdown like a holiday.

“If I could compartmentalise the death toll, I could relax, read, and catch up with friends later, “ she said. “Twelve months on, life having stopped more than it has started, I feel like a withered husk. My soul, a clump of limp sea monkeys left atop a school classroom radiator, abandoned over the summer holidays.”

She said her tank had now dried out.

“I miss ambient, anonymous noise. The clatter and chatter of cafes and pubs, key stomping grounds for a writer, getting us out of our own heads and attuned to strains of conversation around.”