Meghan Markle “burst into floods of tears” after Prince William released a statement dismissing bullying allegations against him, according to Prince Harry. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke about an incident in early 2020, when, shortly after the Sandringham Summit following Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down as working royals, a story came out claiming that part of the reason for their decision was because Prince William had “bullied them out”.

Harry spoke in the fifth episode of his and Meghan’s bombshell docuseries on Netflix about his wife’s reaction, saying: “I mean, the saddest part of it was this wedge created between me and my brother so that he’s now on the institution’s side. And I get, part of that I get. I understand right? That’s his inheritance, so to some extent, it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of this institution.

“That day, a story came out that part of the reason why Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out.”

He added: “And once I got in the car after the meeting, I was told about a joint statement that had been put out in my name and my brother’s name, squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family.

“I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that.

“And I rang [Meghan] and I told her and she burst into floods of tears because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”

The statement, which can still be seen on the now-defunct sussexroyal website, now has a note above it, stating: “On January 13, 2020, the following joint statement was issued by a spokesperson for Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex in response to accusations of bullying being the reason for The Duke and Duchess’s departure.

“The Duke of Sussex was not made aware of the statement prior to its release.”

But a royal expert blasted the couple who, despite the incident, went on to “air their dirty laundry in public”, a move which caused so much “damage to the narrative of a happy family life”.

Royal author Ed Owens said on the Mirror’s Pod Save The King podcast: “We’ve had the Sussexes airing their dirty laundry in public for the best part of three years — and again it has done much damage to that narrative of happy family life.”