Paul Burrell: ‘Diana’s love will heal the hurt around Meghan and Harry’

The latest series of The Crown depicting an emotional Princess Diana, trapped in a loveless marriage and ostracised from the Royal Family, hit the headlines again last week after her former butler and close confidante Paul Burrell claimed that the drama painted an accurate picture of the increasingly frosty royal relationships.

Paul, 62 – who Diana called her “rock” – was at the centre of many of the storylines portrayed in series four of the hit Netflix show, which critics say should carry a “fiction warning.” He said, “Josh O’Connor plays Prince Charles as a rather uncaring, cold person. And I’m afraid that’s what I saw behind closed doors.” He added that the cold relationship between the Queen Mother and Diana was also, in his opinion, true.

Now Paul exclusively tells Closer that he also recognises the close parallels between Princess Diana and Meghan Markle, 39. The American actress married Prince Harry, 37, in May 2018, but the pair dropped the bombshell that they were stepping back as senior royals to start a new life in LA less than two years later, in January.

Paul – who worked at Buckingham Palace from 1976 and then at Kensington Palace with Charles and Diana from 1987 until her tragic death in 1997, aged 36 – says, “Watching Meghan and the way she is treated is just like when I watched it unfold with Diana. There’s a pattern because Meghan, like Diana, was an outsider. Although Diana had a bit more of an advantage as she was from British aristocracy and she knew about the royal family because she’d grown up at Sandringham, whereas Meghan had no understanding as an American divorcee and an actress.

“Meghan could not have properly understood she wasn’t just marrying Harry – she was marrying an institution. Meghan is a strong, independent woman, but royal households consist of many people – including advisors – who all have a say in your life. It’s no wonder she couldn’t bow down to it.

“Your life, decisions, opinions aren’t your own when you marry a royal, as Diana found out. With her divorce, for example, she received a letter from the Queen, her mother-in-law, to say, ‘I’ve discussed this with the Prime Minister, Prince of Wales and the Archbishop of Canterbury and I feel it’s best for you to have a divorce.’ Diana looked at me and said, ‘What about me? Don’t I get a choice?’ That’s what you’re seeing in The Crown, which has an element of truth running through it.”

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The Sussexes’ swift departure from the royal family came after an emotional Meghan appeared to hint she wasn’t “OK” and was struggling with the pressures of royal life last October.

In a revealing ITV documentary entitled Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Meghan, holding back tears, said, “Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging... And thanks for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK. It’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”

Her comment was interpreted by many to be aimed at the Royal Family, suggesting they had not been taking care of her emotionally.

Paul believes Meghan’s feelings of uneasiness draw parallels to how Diana felt, and Harry – who was just 11 when Princess Diana died in a car collision in Paris – has also spoken about how his deepest fear is history repeating itself. “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.

Paul explains that, while Diana was “stifled from day one”, Meghan has the advantage of Harry’s support. He says, “Diana was not allowed to do things her way and she had nobody supporting her. In time, she found the strength – as you saw later on in her life – to go it alone and do the things she wanted to.

“The difference is Meghan was able to leave the Royal Family a lot earlier as she has Harry supporting her. That has been her biggest strength. Diana would have told Harry to marry for love, so she’d be proud of the way he has looked after Meghan and made her feelings a priority.”

The Sussexes’ decision to quit royal life came amid a rumoured rift between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, with Harry admitting just months before their shock exit that the brothers were “on different paths.”

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Tensions were said to have eased slightly in recent months, with William and Kate reportedly supporting the pair after they suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage in July.

And Paul is confident Diana’s legacy will reunite them – and their wives – further, when they attend the unveiling of Princess Diana’s statue in Kensington Palace Gardens on what would have been her 60th birthday on 1 July. He says, “It will be Diana bringing them together, and the sense of her unwavering love for both her boys is bound to heal the hurt around Meghan and Harry. She was hugely protective of them and they have such a bond because of her. Her influence will be there for all to see, so I’m pleased about that. I hope the boys can get things back on track and that William and Harry become a strong unit as they were before.”

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