Ex-Harry and Meghan aide Samantha ‘the Panther’ Cohen says palace staff struggled to find her successor as private secretary – and potential replacement quit while ‘shown the ropes’ on tour to Africa

The former royal aide dubbed ‘Samantha the Panther’ who worked as Harry and Meghan’s private secretary has claimed that her replacement stopped during the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s trip to Africa.

Samantha Cohen served as Queen Elizabeth’s press secretary for 17 years and then as her assistant and private secretary.

She left working for the royal household in 2019 after a stint as private secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – a job she took on at the Queen’s request.

Mrs Cohen resigned after being ‘harshly treated’ and comparing the job to ‘working with teenagers’, according to historian Valentine Low in his book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown.

In an interview with the Australian outlet Herald Sunshe claimed she stayed in her role three times as long as she had originally planned because officials struggled to find a replacement for her.

When a new private secretary was found, they resigned during Harry and Meghan’s tour of Africa in 2019, Ms Cohen claimed.

She said: “I was only supposed to stay for six months but stayed for 18 – we couldn’t find a replacement for me and when we did we took them on a trip to Africa with Harry and Meghan to show them the ropes but they also left while you were in Africa.’

Harry and Meghan’s ten-day trip with their son Archie began in Cape Town, South Africa. They also visited Botswana, Angola and Malawi on what was their last official trip before stepping down as working royals.

In an ITV documentary filmed during the trip, Meghan claimed to broadcaster Tom Bradby that courtiers never asked if ‘I’m OK’ and said she struggled to cope with intense media scrutiny, saying she ‘exists not alive’.

Ms Cohen confirmed in the Herald Sun interview that she was one of 10 courtiers interviewed over claims the Duchess ‘mobbed’ Palace staff.

It came after Harry and Meghan’s communications secretary, Jason Knauf, raised a bullying complaint in 2018.

However, Ms Cohen refused to comment further on the complaint, which was strongly rejected by the Duchess of Sussex’s legal team.

Ms Cohen was a guest at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018 and is believed to have played a key role in preparing Meghan for a garden party at Buckingham Palace, which was her first appearance as the Duchess of Sussex.

Sir. Knauff had alleged to the palace’s HR department that Meghan bullied two PAs “out of the household” within a year and targeted other female staff.

He said in an email leaked to The Times that he was also worried about Ms Cohen.

He indicated that she was experiencing extreme stress, saying: “I questioned whether the household policy on bullying and harassment applies to principals (the term used to refer to a member of the royal family)”.

In his bombshell memoir Spare, Harry spoke out against the bullying claims, saying: ‘It was so outrageous that even if Meg and I demonstrated their lie with a 25-page report to human resources full of evidence, it would be very difficult for me to ignore that.’

The final report from the palace was kept private to protect the participants.

According to The Times, Mr Knauff told Simon Case – who was then Prince William’s private secretary and is now Cabinet Secretary – in 2018 that he was ‘very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the recent year. The treatment of X* was completely unacceptable.’

He added: ‘The Duchess seems keen to always have someone in her sights. She bullies Y and seeks to undermine his confidence.

‘We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behavior towards Y.’

The bullying allegations emerged just days before Harry and Meghan’s rousing interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Representatives for the Duchess said the allegations “were used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a completely false narrative based on misleading and damaging misinformation”.

A former employee told the newspaper that they had been personally ‘humiliated’ by the Duchess.

It was claimed that staff would be reduced to tears. Anticipating a confrontation with the duchess, an aide told a colleague: ‘I can’t stop shaking.’

One aide was reported as saying it felt ‘more like emotional cruelty and manipulation, which I suppose could also be called bullying’.

Sources claimed that apparently little had been done to address the complaints.

One was quoted as saying: ‘The establishment was just constantly protecting Meghan. All those men in gray suits that she hates have a lot to answer for because they did absolutely nothing to protect people’.

Meghan’s lawyer, Jenny Afia, said the claims were ‘absolutely untrue’ and did not match her experience of her.

Meghan’s friend Janina Gavankar said: “I’ve known her for 17 years and I’ve seen the way she treats people around her and I can say she’s not a bully.”

A statement from Buckingham Palace said following the allegations of bullying: ‘We are obviously very concerned about allegations in The Times following allegations made by former employees of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Therefore, our HR team will take a closer look at the circumstances described in the article.

‘Staff who were involved at the time, including those who have left the household, will be invited to attend to see if anything can be learned.

‘The Royal Household has had a Dignity at Work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.’

Mrs Cohen also told the Herald Sun how Queen Elizabeth ‘loved it’ when things went wrong because it ‘spiced up her life’.

She said: ‘The Queen had no ego, she was so comfortable in herself but she loved it when things went wrong.

‘If a cake wasn’t cutting, or a plaque wasn’t revealed because everything was so perfectly organised, it spiced up her life when things went wrong.’

Ms Cohen, who said the Queen was a “special woman” whom she misses, added that the “best times” followed the monarch on her two royal tours to South Australia and Queensland in 2002 and 2011.

Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Ms Cohen started her career as a journalist at the Sunshine Coast Daily in Australia before working for the Australian Government.

She now works as chief of staff to the global CEO of mining giant Rio Tinto.