Former royal butler: “Meghan is like Diana – but they would’ve clashed”

As Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set to release a tell-all book, Princess Diana’s ‘rock’ Paul Burrell tells Closer why he thinks the Queen of Hearts and her daughter-in-law may not have been friends

❛ MEGHAN HAS A GAME PLAN WHEREAS DIANA WAS YOUNG AND NAÏVE ❜

They shocked the nation when they stepped back as senior royals in March, and now it’s emerged that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly involved in the publication of an upcoming biography called Thoroughly Modern Royals: The Real World Of Meghan And Harry.

The book, written by Harry and Meghan’s journalist friends, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, will no doubt contain some shocking revelations about the couple’s decision to bow out of royal life and leave the UK – but it won’t be the first time a tell-all biography has exposed details that senior royals would have preferred to have stayed private. Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, teamed up with tabloid journalist Andrew Morton in 1992 to release a best-selling book titled Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words, in which she opened up about her divorce from Prince Charles and royal life.

And Paul Burrell – who was Diana’s royal butler – says Meghan and Diana share more than just their desire to set the record straight. He tells Closer, “Meghan reminds me of Diana because they’re both very strong-minded and definite in their direction. I think Megan knows exactly where she’s going. They’ve both shown conviction, passion and individuality – and brought a freshness to the royal family. They broke the mould. “They also share the same inherent and natural ability to reach out to people, and they’re both humanitarians who want to do good.”

BATTLE

And Paul – who served the royals for ten years, joining in 1987 when Harry was three years old – says that it’s no coincidence the Prince has fallen for a woman as tenacious as his mum. He says, “Harry went for and married Meghan because she’s like Diana. Both women who would always stand up for what they believe in and wouldn’t be pushovers.”

But despite their similarities, Paul thinks they may have struggled to be friends, saying, “I think, possibly, they would have clashed. I imagine it would have been two strong, independent women with different views on things – it would have been a battle between Meghan’s way and Diana’s way.”

Paul adds that the differences between Meghan and Diana – in particular their relationship with fame and the press – are just as significant as the similarity in their strong-mindedness.

“I think the main difference between them is that Meghan has a game plan, whereas Diana was young and naïve. Diana did the book with Andrew Morton and courted the press over the years because she didn’t have a voice. And her strong-mindedness meant she cared and she felt the people of the country had a right to know what had gone on behind closed doors. You could say Meghan does too – but I think her courting of the press is more for her career. In years to come, we’ll see her on red carpets, with A-list friends, in films perhaps. Diana wasn’t like that – she wasn’t interested in selfpromotion. The media is a wild animal – you can never tame it. You can pet it, but it can turn around and bite you. Diana knew that, but Meghan seems to be trying to tame it.”

Last November, the documentary Harry And Meghan: An African Journey aired, taking a behind-the-scenes look at Harry and Meghan’s tour of Africa. One of the most talked-about scenes was when Meghan opened up about struggling with negative publicity, saying, “Not many people have asked if I’m OK.”

And Paul says that Diana, too, had struggled with media attention – but that he believes she was stronger than Meghan, who last week lost the first stage of her legal battle against a newspaper over the publication of private letters to her father, Thomas Markle.

Paul adds, “Meghan said nobody had asked if she was OK, but nobody bothered to ask Diana if she was OK for 20 years. And Diana, at 18, was in direct line to the throne, she would have become queen. She had decades of press scrutiny – both positive and negative. The pressure was enormous.

“Meghan didn’t have half as much torment from the media as Diana did, and she only had a year or two of it. She also has the comfort of her husband by her side – Diana didn’t have that support from Charles. I just think Diana had it much harder and was much stronger throughout it all.”

In 1995, Diana gave a shocking, hour-long TV interview with journalist and friend Martin Bashir, where she spoke about Prince Charles’ affair with Camilla – to whom he’s now married – and the intense pressure she felt within the royal family.

And Paul says, “Diana had spent more than ten years in the spotlight when she gave her interview. She needed to tell her side of the story, and she was loved for it. It wasn’t for a career boost or for status – she wasn’t interested in that. She just wanted to finally have a voice.”

NEW LIFE

Harry and Meghan have recently moved to her hometown of LA, where Meghan has taken on her first project – as the narrator of a Disney documentary about elephants – since stepping back from the royals. And the couple have announced they’ll be launching their charitable foundation, named Archewell after their son Archie, who turns one this week.

Paul says he wishes them luck in their new life across the pond – but warns them not to cross the royal family. He says, “I really do wish they’d have stayed longer as royals – they might have worked it out. I know Harry will find the next few years difficult adapting to his new life, but I wish them all the luck. And I’d say with any tell-all interviews or books, that there’ll no doubt be an appetite for juicy gossip. But the couple need to remember to be respectful to the monarchy and our Queen. Her Majesty has tremendous respect in our country and around the world, and any wrong word said against her will only come back to haunt them.”