It's been more than 25 years since the world lost Princess Diana, but her figure continues to generate admiration, respect... and also controversy. Especially when she's compared, directly or indirectly, to Meghan Markle, the woman who won Prince Harry's heart and divided the British royal family like never before.
From the very beginning, Harry has tried to link Meghan's image to his mother's. He has described her as compassionate, empathetic, and strong, qualities that, according to him, were also the hallmark of Lady Di. However, that view has clashed with that of other members very close to the princess.
Diana's inner circle doesn't share Harry's narrative
According to journalist Tom Bower in his book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, Harry himself sought validation from his maternal family when he began his relationship with Meghan. He hoped that his aunts and his uncle Charles Spencer would see in his girlfriend traits similar to Diana's.
But the response was rather cold. According to Bower, Lady Di's sisters expressed their doubts from the start. They claimed Meghan was "ambitious, excessively media-driven" and, above all, very different in character and values from the Diana they knew. That judgment hit the prince like a bucket of cold water.
Advice that changed everything
The situation escalated even further when Charles Spencer—the younger brother of Lady Di—decided to intervene. Worried about how quickly Harry and Meghan's relationship was progressing, he asked Harry to think twice before getting married. That warning didn't sit well with the prince's inner circle.
From that point on, the distance between Harry and his aunts and uncles became more evident. Although they remained present at symbolic events, such as the unveiling of the statue in Diana's honor or Archie's christening, the relationship was never the same again. Meghan, meanwhile, never spoke publicly about that rejection.
A relationship marked by Diana's shadow
Both in the famous interview with Oprah and in the docuseries Harry & Meghan, the youngest son of Charles III has insisted that he sees in his wife many of the values his mother represented. He has made statements as forceful as: "I fell in love with Meghan because of the way she reminded me of my mother."
Although Meghan has shown respect for Diana's figure, even getting emotional when talking about her, her integration into her husband's family has been anything but smooth. What at first seemed like a fairy tale love story soon turned into a battle on multiple fronts.
What no one expected: the confession that breaks the myth
The most shocking revelation has come to light just a few days ago. According to a source close to the Spencer family, and confirmed by British media such as The Mirror, one of Diana's nephews, the son of one of her sisters, has publicly admitted that Meghan reminded him more of Sarah Ferguson than of Lady Di.
The comment, made at a private gathering but leaked to the press, has set social media ablaze. Not because of the parallel with Fergie, but because for the first time a young and direct member of Lady Di's family openly expresses that comparison, which many considered taboo.
With this revelation, it seems clear that the comparison between Meghan and Diana was never shared within the Spencer clan itself. It's an uncomfortable reality that Harry has preferred to ignore, but now, with this unexpected confession, it definitively breaks with the narrative he has tried to build for years.