A royal expert is speaking out this week to say that Prince William managed to beat Meghan Markle and Prince Harry “at their own game” when he tried a “different tact” by allowing Kensington Palace to reveal bullying claims that were made against Meghan.

These bullying claims were leaked to the press days before Meghan and Harry’s explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey back in March.

“Maybe William had felt that the smoothing over hadn’t been working for quite a long time at that point and decisive action was needed,” royal expert Charlotte Griffith told The Express. “Maybe he thought ‘I’m going to play them at their own game.'”

“The smoothing over that the Queen had been doing very diligently from the moment Meghan came on the scene just wasn’t paying off at all,” she added. “So maybe he thought he’d try a different tact.”

Meghan and Harry have denied that she ever bullied her staffers, calling the claims made against her a “calculated smear campaign.”

“The duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma,” said a spokesperson for the couple.

“I was hearing very bad stories from early on that Meghan was upsetting people,” royal expert Penny Junor said, according to Page Six. She added that Meghan’s “showbiz-y approach” to royalty ruffled feathers, going on to say that the American actress was “not as charming as she seemed.”

“Our Royal Family are not celebrities. They are working members of a public institution,” Junor explained. “I was appalled by the Oprah interview. These are not statements that should be made for public consumption. This is the sort of thing that should happen in the privacy of a psychiatrist’s couch.”

Harry’s brother Prince William reportedly told friends that he thought Meghan had an “agenda” and felt “hurt” and “betrayed” by the rift, with the heir to the throne telling a friend his wife Kate Middleton “had been wary of Meghan from the start,” according to royal expert Robert Lacey.