Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler, has stated that Prince Harry has taken a leaf out of the late Princess of Wales’ book in the way he is dealing with his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s father, Thomas Markle.
The newest member of the royal family has not spoken to her father since his scandalous staged paparazzi photos just days before her May wedding. Meghan’s family has been making waves ever since her engagement was announced in November 2017.
Following her wedding, her father has continued to speak to the press and most recently compared the royal family to a cult.
The royals have said nothing regarding his continued presence in the media, and Burrell feels that Harry and Meghan’s response is the exact same as Princess Diana’s would have been in this situation, according to Daily Star .
“I’ve been in similar situations where people said things about Princess Diana, and the way she dealt with it was by freezing them out. It looks as if Harry has taken a leaf out of his mother’s book. Diana said: ‘Once someone burns the bridge of trust towards you it’s very hard to repair it.’ She would be furious if someone betrayed her and the only way she could deal with it is to cut them off completely.”
Burrell continued, pointing out that Harry is very similar to his mother and would have learned from her examples in life.
The biggest difference between Diana and Meghan, according to the princess’s former aide, is that the duchess has “something that Diana never had – a man stood beside her who truly adores her.”
Meghan’s brother, Thomas Markle Jr., has also recently made comments about his half-sister’s new family, saying the royals should be more inclusive of his family, as they were with the Duchess of Cambridge’s family after she married Prince William. Meanwhile, Meghan’s sister, Samantha Grant, has gone on a number of Twitter rants about her in the past few months, most recently calling Meghan “Cruella De Vil” on the duchess’s birthday.
On the other hand, Ken Wharfe, Diana’s former bodyguard, has also spoken up about the Markles’ constant commentary in the press, saying that Prince Harry should have taken responsibility and control of the situation by now.
Wharfe told Yahoo that given Harry’s history with the media, he should understand the difficulties in dealing with the publicity.
“Nobody’s looking after him,” he said. “They’re going to bend his arm, there’ll be the offers money, there’ll be the pursuing paparazzi, the invasion and the negative reporting that we’ve seen. Harry could have done something about that. He may have advised palace officials, maybe he did, but he could have insisted on that. He could well have done, but for some reason, it hasn’t happened.”
The bodyguard takes pity on Thomas, as he feels the 74-year-old’s press blunders are a result of little or no guidance from the royal family.
Meghan is headed to the United States shortly and will visit her mother, Doria Ragland, who was the only member of her family invited to her wedding. There is no word on whether or not she will be making contact with her father’s side of the family while there.
