Author Tom Bower reveals that Prince Harry hoped his late mother’s siblings and friends would recognize the similarities he saw between Meghan and Diana, but he was “disappointed” when they didn’t.
Since Meghan Markle’s relationship with Prince Harry became public, there have been numerous efforts to draw comparisons between her and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
When investigative journalist Tom Bower released his book Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors earlier this year, several startling revelations about the couple came to light. One of the most striking stories involved Prince Harry’s hope that Diana’s two sisters and her best friend would notice the similarities he believed Meghan shared with his mother—and his disappointment when they didn’t.
In addition to this disheartening moment for Prince Harry, Bower suggests that Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, was asked to have a conversation with his nephew about his close bond with Meghan. The author claims that not only did Earl Spencer, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Baroness Jane Fellowes, and her close friend Julia Samuel fail to recognize the resemblances between Meghan and Harry’s late mother—something the prince had hoped for—but they also believed Meghan would struggle to integrate with the Royal Family. Bower wrote, “After the Vanity Fair article fueled the Cambridges’ suspicions of Meghan, the actress discovered that her neighbor in Kensington Palace had even less regard for her.”
“By that point, Harry had introduced Meghan to Diana’s two sisters, Jane and Sarah, and her closest confidante, Julia Samuel. Harry believed Diana’s relatives and friends would notice a resemblance between Diana and his fiancée. ‘Both,’ he insisted, ‘faced similar challenges.’ He was let down. No one agreed that his fragile mother shared any traits with his partner. More unsettling for him, they felt Meghan wouldn’t seamlessly integrate into the Royal Family.”
The author added: “Their concerns were echoed by Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother. At William’s urging, Spencer shared his thoughts. Having been married three times, Spencer warned his nephew to think twice about rushing into marriage. His counsel sparked a sharp backlash. ‘This was going to be incredibly tough,’ Harry later reflected on securing Meghan’s position within the family.”
Bower continued: “One of his persistent worries was the lack of financial stability if they tied the knot. While Harry received approximately £1.5 million yearly from Charles, Meghan had been encouraged to keep acting to bolster their earnings. By then, Meghan had learned from her agent, Nick Collins, that her opportunities in acting were dwindling. Omid Scobie, her official biographer, would later aptly describe her departure from Hollywood.
“‘She sought a more impactful career,’ he noted. ‘She believed she could achieve far more with her influence.’ Her dissatisfaction lingered. She was on the brink of securing her future, yet nothing was set in stone.”
