According to a new book, Meghan Markle insisted on making a fiery statement comparing herself to Prince Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.
According to author Tom Bower’s book “Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors,” the prince agreed because he was afraid of losing the barely known actress after only five months together.
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Bower delves into a crisis that erupted in 2016 after news broke that Meghan was dating Britain’s then-favorite royal.
In the midst of a barrage of headlines with racist overtones, Harry’s then-press secretary Jason Knauf agreed to issue a statement on the prince’s behalf “damning the media for their description of Meghan.”
Bower writes that this was done to appease her.
“Harry dictated the sentiments for Knauf to fashion into a statement. Committing Knauf to a conundrum, Meghan demanded that the statement should reflect the parallel between her potential fate and Diana’s,” Bower adds.
According to Bower, Knauf tried to warn the couple not to compare Meghan to the late Princess Diana.
“Knauf suggested that over-dramatizing Meghan’s distress would backfire, but Harry was adamant. If Meghan’s wish to be equated with Diana was not satisfied, insisted Harry, he would probably lose her. Knauf acquiesced.”
Harry then asked his older brother Prince William for support, Bower says, but William “hesitated … To William’s regret, Harry was obeying Meghan’s orders. That was unwise.”
Finally, the statement, issued in November 2016, five months after he and Meghan met, did not mention Princess Diana by name but rather alluded to the tragedies that befell her, such as being pursued by paparazzi prior to the 1997 car crash in which she died.
“My girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment,” the statement read in part. “Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her … This is not a game — it is her life and his.”
In 2019, Harry directly compared Meghan to his mother in a statement about Markle’s private letters being published by the British press.
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“My deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces,”
Meghan won her lawsuit against Associated Newspapers in 2021 after the Mail on Sunday published excerpts from a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018.
