Diana would ‘not have been a great fan of Meghan Markle’, Tina Brown claims

Royal author Tina Brown has claimed that Diana, Princess of Wales would “not have been a great fan” of the Duchess of Sussex.

The claim comes just days after the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death on Wednesday 31 August.

Brown, the former Tatler and Vanity Fair editor who authored The Diana Chronicles and, more recently, The Palace Papers, told The Daily Beast: “Diana was very protective of her boys.

“She would have been very, very protective of Harry and I believe very anxious about this direction they’ve taken. I think she would have felt Meghan was steering Harry in a direction that was not good for Harry.

“I don’t think Diana would have been the great fan of Meghan that Meghan herself might perhaps imagine.”

Brown claimed that Diana would have been “thrilled” when Harry met Meghan and “that her son was happy. She would have been delighted, supportive and thrilled someone of mixed race was joining the royal family because Diana was so inclusive.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stepped down as senior working members of the royal family in early 2020. They now live in California with their two children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one.

In the same interview, Brown said that “people” have said to her that Diana “would have been pleased” that Harry had walked away from the royals, but “Diana would not have been pleased how Harry had been cut off from the family”.

She also claimed that Meghan and Harry’s move to California and their focus on charity work was similar to what Diana could have done had she lived.

Recalling a lunch between her, Diana and Vogue editor Anna Wintour in July 1997, Brown said: “She [Diana] was absolutely stunning in real life, and so much taller than you thought. She talked about two things. She was really excited about starting to do documentaries about her causes, and for that to fund her humanitarian work. In some ways, it was a foreshadow of Harry and Meghan’s plan 25 years ago, with the one major difference that Diana didn’t see any profit in it. She was doing it as a charitable venture.”

Brown added that she believes Diana remains so resonant because her life was cut short when she was “so young”.

“We met her first at a blushing teenager. We followed her life. She shared her vulnerability with us. There are elements of the classic fairytale about her life, and her story will go on being told again and again.”