Diana v Meghan: love and loathing for royal rebels

Diana v Meghan: love and loathing for two royal rebels

Words: Tiffany Bakker

after the death of Princess Diana, Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex, could never have imagined the similar path she would tread to the doomed princess.

But while Diana remains beloved by the British public, Meghan is more often loathed — despite the pair sharing many sad, striking similarities.

Broken families

Both Diana and Meghan dealt with family dysfunction growing up. Children of divorce, Diana had a rocky relationship with her mother and brother, Meghan with her father and half-siblings.

Unprepared for royal life

Diana was just 20 when she married Prince Charles in 1981. She was a member of the aristocracy but at the time, she was a kindergarten teacher flatting in London. Becoming one of the world's most famous women brought extraordinary pressures.

Diana said she was ill-prepared for the reality of marrying into the Royal Family and the "phenomenal media attention" and was left largely to cope with her new status on her own.

In contrast, when Meghan married Prince Harry in 2018 at the age of 36, she was divorced, had earned a university degree and had a successful acting career.

But she struggled to be a quiet, dutiful royal. “I’ve always valued independence. I’ve always been outspoken, especially about women’s rights”, she said, later claiming she was “silenced” by the Firm.

Breaking ranks

Twenty-six years apart, Diana and Meghan broke ranks and gave “bombshell” interviews — Diana with now disgraced journalist Martin Bashir, Meghan with Oprah Winfrey. Both spoke of their struggles with royal life .

Meghan claimed there were "concerns" about how dark Archie's skin would be. Diana spoke candidly about her bulimia, self-harm and Charles' affair: "There were three of us in this marriage".

Polarising figures

The subject of constant media scrutiny, both Diana and Meghan have been the most talked about women in the world. But while Diana was persona non grata in the R oyal Family, to the public she was always the 'People's Princess' .

Despite a positive start, Meghan’s popularity with the public has plummeted and she has since felt the wrath of Brits who blame her for taking Prince Harry away from his family and country.

In the interview with Oprah, Prince Harry revealed the main reasons for them leaving their royal roles was a "lack of support and lack of understanding" from both the media and the royal family.’

At the time of her death in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, Diana was the most chronicled woman in the world. A jury found she had been unlawfully killed by the "grossly negligent driving" of the paparazzi and her own driver.

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