'Frustrated' Meghan Markle's 'dramatic act of rebellion' with Prince Harry

Meghan Markle allegedly had a "dramatic outburst" during a royal tour with Prince Harry, which saw the Duchess "hurl a cup of tea into the air" amid tensions with aides, reports have claimed. The Duchess of Sussex's royal tenure was short-lived as, following her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018, they both stepped down as senior working royals in January 2020 and moved to North America.

However, despite her brief royal career, Meghan undertook several official visits both in the UK and abroad. However, one of them has repeatedly produced headlines for various reasons, including the Duchess's behaviour towards staff and the couple's relationship with the Palace: the 2018 tour to Australia.

Harry and Meghan spent 16 days touring Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand while the Duchess was pregnant with Prince Archie.

But behind the couple's smiles and affirmations during the official engagements, the atmosphere was allegedly less than peachy.

A source told Radar Online: "From the outside it looked perfect, but behind the scenes things were tense. Markle was unhappy, Harry was fixated on negative comments online, and the staff were stuck in between."

According to the report, tensions between Meghan and staff escalated so much that the Duchess allegedly "hurled a cup of tea into the air," during what a source described as a "small but dramatic act of rebellion".

Another source said: "She was dealing with huge pressure and wanted the kind of press handling she was used to in Hollywood. When that wasn't delivered, her frustration showed."

The Duchess has always vehemently denied bullying or mistreating staff.

Just before the Sussexes' bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021, the Times published a story with allegations regarding the Duchess dating back to 2018.

Harry and Meghan's spokesperson said at the time: "Let's just call this what it is-a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation.

"We are disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of the Duchess of Sussex given credibility by a media outlet."

The bullying row culimnated with an internal review by Buckingham Palace, but the findings were never made public.