Meghan Markle shares many similarities with her mother-in-law Princess Diana, from their similar sense in fashion to the difficulties they faced when they were active members of the Royal Family

Meghan Markle shares similarities with her mother-in-law Princess Diana.

The Duchess of Sussex has previously been praised by the public and even her husband Prince Harry, for the values and morals that she shares with the late Princess of Wales. Royal author, Andrew Morton, whose biography Diana: Her True Story was a New York Times bestseller when it was first published in 1992, said he observes striking similarities between the Duchess of Sussex and Princess Diana.

During an interview with Good Morning America, Mr Morton said both Meghan and Diana struggled emotionally and mentally in the Royal Family. He said: “Meghan’s gone from ‘Duchess Dazzling’ to ‘Duchess Difficult,” exactly the same trajectory happened with Diana.

“And both of them were struggling emotionally and mentally to cope with, first of all, being pregnant, but also with life inside this goldfish bowl of the Royal Family.” The royal biographer added that one of the biggest misconceptions about Meghan is that she was in control of their lives while they were senior royals, but actually, Prince Harry was the real expert.

Meghan pays tribute to Princess Diana ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

Princess Diana sadly passed in 1997 ( 
Image:
Tim Graham/Getty Images)
He explained: “Meghan Markle is blamed for Harry coming to Hollywood. When ironically, it was Harry who was very keen to do an interview with Oprah.” Mr Morton added: “So she has deferred to him and often got the blame for things that have gone wrong. Sadly for Meghan, there’s a narrative that’s built up that’s wholly negative towards her.”

Experience as a Royal

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle interview on Oprah Winfrey show.
Both Meghan and Diana spoke about their experiences in the Royal Family and the pressures they felt from the media attention. During their respective bombshell interviews, both expressed a lack of knowledge of “the job,” as Meghan put it in 2021 during her Oprah Winfrey interview, or “what’s coming ahead,” Diana said in 1995 to Martin Bashir.

Meghan and Diana addressed the relentless media attention, with Diana noting that she was “everywhere” and Meghan explaining that she “seemed to be on the front of a newspaper every single day.” Additionally, Diana revealed that she felt thwarted by “people in my environment,” meanwhile Meghan spoke of the intangible “institution”.

Mental Health

Both women admitted to struggling with their mental health. Meghan had suicidal thoughts, admitting that she “just didn’t see a solution” while Diana suffered from postpartum depression and bulimia. She said at the time: “You felt misunderstood and just very, very low in yourself.”

Meghan and Diana spoke out about feeling unsupported. Meghan was told that treatment wasn’t a “feasible option” despite reaching out and asking for help and Diana admitted the experience of being “the first person ever to be in this family who ever had a depression” was “daunting.”

Fashion

Princess Diana was well known for her stunning outfits. Meghan Markle has paid tribute to her mother-in-law several times through the outfits she chooses to wear for events and public appearances.

Meghan found inspiration in Diana’s 1984 Remembrance Day ensemble for her 2019 outfit honouring the same occasion. The Duchess wore a belted Stella McCartney coat, black gloves, and a wide-brimmed hat, each apparel item looking very similar to Diana’s 35 years prior.

Meghan wore a similar outfit to Diana ( 
Image:
Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
She’s also shown to have been naturally inspired by the Princess of Wales in her everyday outfits, for example at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, one of the very first times we saw Meghan and Harry in public together, Meghan’s outfit looked very similar to an outfit Princess Diana wore while in Bosnia.

Meghan made it clear service was front-of-mind for her when she married Prince Harry in 2012. Much like her late mother-in-law, Meghan’s interests have always leaned towards humanitarian efforts, and she has used her platform to shed light on multiple issues.

For example, back in 2021, a charity kept a £10,000 donation from Meghan a secret. She had made the donation to Himmah, which works to tackle racism and poverty in Nottingham. Harry has noted the similarities between his late mother and his wife.

He said in their Netflix series: “So much of what Meghan is and how she is, is so similar to my mum. She has the same compassion. She has the same empathy. She has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.”