Speaking at a news conference to discuss the royal family’s annual financial statement, Michael Stephens – who is in charge of the Crown’s finances – said the private firm hired to investigate the allegations had completed its work.
Stevens said many recommendations were made, but he did not disclose any substantive details, conclusions reached or recommendations made. Because the review was privately funded, there was less pressure on the Crown to publish its findings.
“I can stress though that it was a review of allegations handling with the goal of enabling royal families to consider potential improvements to HR policies and procedures,” Stevens said. “The review is complete and recommendations regarding our policies and procedures have been moved forward, but we will not comment further.”
A senior royal source said the palace remained silent about the investigation to protect the anonymity of those who cooperated.
“We understand that these people who participated in the review, participated on the understanding that there will be confidentiality in those discussions with an independent law firm, and therefore we have a duty to respect that confidentiality,” the source said.
The source said the palace made several policy changes following the review, but declined to disclose them in detail.
“When you do an independent review or there is an examination of this kind, there will always be lessons to be learned, and there are always ways you can improve processes and procedures,” the source said. “We will not normally disclose every change in our policies and procedures.”
The interview marked the first time the couple had spoken publicly after announcing plans to step back from senior positions in the British royal family in 2020.
Meghan told Winfrey that life as a British royal was so isolated and lonely at one point she “didn’t want to be alive anymore”. She described herself as a victim of a photo-obsessed Buckingham Palace, which weighed in on everything from her son Archie’s dark skin tone to the number of times she went to lunch with friends.
“Infuriatingly humble alcohol fanatic. Unapologetic beer practitioner. Analyst.”
