What the Royal conflict illuminates about workplace bullying
Workplace bullying is common, yet under-recognized, and can wreak havoc on our physical and mental health.
“Were you silent or were you silenced?” Oprah Winfrey asks, alluding to mistreatment in a dramatic preview that first aired last Sunday, for an upcoming CBS special (airing tonight) with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. This harkens back to a 2019 ITV documentary, where interviewer Tom Bradby asks Markle if she’s ok, a theme she later expanded upon in a Times Op-ed. Now, timed ahead of the CBS interview, the British Royal Family themselves are fighting back with allegations (though there may be more to the story) against a pregnant Markle. On Thursday, a new preview showed what many have suspected: that the mistreatment and bullying Markle alleges to have experienced wasn’t just restricted to the tabloid press, but from within the Palace, known as “the Firm.” This effectively makes it a workplace issue, one merely complicated by family dynamics, not dictated by it. While Markle’s “work” happens on the world stage, others suffer devastating impacts of workplace bullying in fields as diverse as medicine, law, nursing, journalism.
While reporting on my forthcoming book about healthcare and healing, I was surprised to discover that, given how much time we spend at work, workplace…
