The Duchess of Sussex and the late Princess of Wales have several similarities.

Meghan Markle has a lot in common with the late Princess Diana as they both felt like ‘outsiders’ in the Firm according to a royal expert (Image: Netflix)

Meghan Markle can “relate to Princess Diana” as they both experienced a challenging childhood and felt like an “outsider” within the Royal Family, according to a royal expert.

The Duchess and her late mother-in-law have much in common, as they both married into the Firm, where they faced their own personal battles in adapting to life as a royal, particularly for Meghan who grew up with a very different life in America.

We report that historian, writer and broadcaster Tessa Dunlop told them that while Diana had an “advantage over Meghan”, there are a number of clear similarities between the pair which are relatable.

 

She explained: “Diana was posh but that meant she kind of understood the barmy nature of aristocracy. Meghan comes from America, so I can understand that it’s unfamiliar, while for Diana it would be absolute second nature in a way.

“Her father went on the Commonwealth tour with the Queen, the families were close [the Spencers and the Royal Family]. In that respect, Diana spoke the language of royalty and aristocracy in a way that Meghan didn’t, and that was an advantage.

Moving back to their similarities, she said: “But where the two are aligned is that they both came from places of pain in terms of their childhood, I think Prince Harry bonded with Meghan over having a painful childhood.

Princess Diana had her own personal struggles in the royal family and suffered a tough childhood like Meghan did (Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
“Some of us are blessed with a happy childhood and others aren’t, you grow up thinking differently. If you can find someone who understands them, that’s really helpful and I think Harry found that with Meghan and I think Meghan would also share that with Diana.

“Historically, we know Diana had a really, very challenging time as a child, her parents divorced in a public and unpleasant way when other parents weren’t getting divorced. She didn’t have a way of processing that and she was sent off to boarding school.”

The expert continued: “Meghan had a different set of challenges, we know that her parents separated and that she was an only child, at least on one side of the family.

The Duchess has previously spoken about how she struggled to come to terms with her own identity as a single bi-racial child with divorced parents when she was growing up (Image: Ben Birchall – WPA Pool / Getty Images)
“I think there would have been some considerable challenges around growing up as a woman of colour, in a biracial family and I think we can own that there would have been challenges there – not the exact same as Diana but with parallel.

“When you have that growing up slightly as an outsider within the family, you can see that slightly parallel in the way in which Diana and Meghan both identified as outsiders within the royal family.”

Discussing the highly publicised end of Charles’ marriage to Diana, Tessa said: “Certainly towards the end with Diana and even within her own marriage [she felt] like the outsider.

“Then of course she lost her HRH title and there was an element of calling truth to power by the end and feeling like she could go it alone.She was going to have to go alone, she was going it alone – once the couple got divorced.

“Not pitting herself against the Royal Family, but trying to find a path outside the Royal Family and sometimes saying things that upset them.”

Tessa concluded that Meghan “might feel she relates to aspects of Diana’s legacy”.