Despite the fact that they never met, royal fans have noticed some interesting parallels between the two most important women in Prince Harry’s life.
WATCH BELOW: Princess Diana’s psychic thinks Meghan Markle will hurt Prince Harry
Going back to their official engagement interview in 2017, Harry himself said that his mother, the late Princess Diana, and then fiancée Meghan Markle would’ve been “thick as thieves, without question.”
And according to royal biographer Robert Lacey, the connection was easy to spot from the start.
“Already Harry could sense in Meghan the quirks and originalities that made her such a similar character to Diana,” he wrote in his new book, Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult.
“She was a changer not a conformist, who fought her battles with the same non-royal – indeed, those temptingly anti-royal – qualities of his mother.”
It’s not just a non-conformist attitude that Diana and Meghan share, in fact the two royal women share a number of traits.
Childhood ties
Going back to their respective childhoods, Diana and Meghan both attended all-girls schools and experienced their parents’ divorces at a young age.
Diana’s parents John Spencer and Frances Roache filed for divorce when she was six-years-old, while Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland divorced while Meghan was still a toddler.
While Meghan’s estranged relationship with her father has been the subject of headlines ever since her marriage to Prince Harry, Diana and her mother never had a close bond.
After an abusive phone call from her mother when she was dating post-divorce, Diana reportedly said to her butler: “Paul, I’ll never speak to my mother again as long as I live.”
Humanitarian work
Both Diana and Meghan are passionate about their charity work and love helping causes close to their heart.
The Princess of Wales raised awareness for causes ranging from mental health to AIDS to landmines while the Duchess of Sussex is a vocal champion of women’s and animal rights among others.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton said the thing that unites Diana and her daughter-in-law is “the desire in wanting to give back and make a difference.”
“By the time they got into their 30s, Meghan and Diana were independent humanitarians with a vision… and also it strikes me that Diana died at 36 and Meghan’s coming into the family at 36. There’s a sense that Meghan is picking up the baton dropped by Diana.”
Fashion and trendsetting
Whether it was on their respective wedding days or stepping out at an official gala, Diana and Meghan’s style will go down in history – and it’s easy to see why their fashion is often replicated.
This only increased when they were no longer official royal family members. Who could forget Diana’s off-the-shoulder revenge dress that she wore after her divorce from Prince Charles was finalised?
And Meghan *blue* everyone away when she and Harry made their first official appearance after announcing they were stepping down as senior royals.
Royal scandal central
They say that well-behaved women seldom make history, and we can’t think of two more perfect examples.
Both women have had their HRH titles scrapped, spoken openly about their struggles with palace life to the press and broken royal protocol on numerous occasions but remained their outspoken, unapologetic selves.
“People’s agendas changed overnight. I was now the separated wife of the Prince of Wales, I was a problem, I was a liability (seen as), and how are we going to deal with her? This hasn’t happened before,” Diana revealed in her infamous 1995 Panorama interview.
Speaking of royal life for the documentary on her and Harry’s royal tour of Africa, Meghan admitted: “It’s hard…I don’t think anybody can understand.”
Harry’s protection
It’s safe to say that Harry doesn’t want the same fate that befell his mother to happen to his wife.
Ever since his relationship with Meghan went public, he has made a vow to protect her and isn’t afraid of laying down the law.
“I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person,” he said in a 2019 statement.
“I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”
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