The New Princess Diana: Prince Harry Left 'Disappointed' His Family Failed to See Meghan Markle's Similarities to Late Royal
Prince Harry reportedly likes to compare his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales.
"Harry had introduced Meghan to Diana’s two sisters, Jane and Sarah, and her best friend Julia Samuel," royal author Tom Bower wrote in his book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors. "Harry assumed that Diana’s family and friends would see a similarity between Diana and his fiancée."
The Spencer family, headed by Charles, Earl Spencer, is said to frequently side with the Duke of Sussex, who inherited his mother's side of the family's fiery red hair, in matters concerning the ongoing feud between the fifth in line to the throne and the senior royals. But when it came to a Meghan/Diana comparison, the Spencers, which includes the late princess' elder sisters, Lady Sarah and Lady Jane, as well as the Earl, could not come to his defense.
"Both, he said, shared the same problems," Bower added. "He was disappointed. No one agreed that his vulnerable mother had anything in common with his girlfriend. More discomforting for him, they thought Meghan would not fit in with the royal family."
The author continued: "Their unease was voiced by Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother. At William’s request, Spencer weighed in. Three times married, Spencer cautioned his nephew to reconsider his haste towards marriage. His advice provoked a bitter reaction. 'This was going to be really hard,' Harry would later reflect, on establishing Meghan’s place in the family."
It would seem in Bower's view that Meghan had money and notoriety on her mind instead of making herself appealing to someone's family.
"One of his recurring concerns was insufficient money if they married," Bower further observed in the tome. "Although Harry annually received about 1.5 million pounds from Charles, Meghan had been advised to continue acting to supplement their income. By that point, Meghan knew from her agent Nick Collins that her acting prospects were limited."
Then entered "Omid Scobie, her official biographer, [who] would accurately summarize her exit from Hollywood. 'She wanted a more meaningful career,' he wrote. 'She could be doing so much more with her platform.' Her frustration remained. She was tantalizingly close to sealing her future, but nothing was official."
Amid Meghan's evolving dislike from both the royals and the Spencers, both of whom adored Harry, insiders weighed in on what they call the Sussex duo's "exploitative use of Diana's iconic memory."
"Meghan is nothing like Diana," a palace insider stated. "She is an actress, first and foremost, and Diana, although complex, was always authentic in everything she did. Why would anyone compare the briefcase girl to the English version of Jackie Kennedy?"
Daily Mirror reported on Bower's book.