Earl Spencer Says Diana’s Story Is Repeating Itself in Coverage of Harry and Meghan

The brother of Princess Diana has drawn a direct comparison between the treatment she endured from the press and the scrutiny now facing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, warning that the lessons of the past have not been learned

The forces that once made the life of Princess Diana a permanent public spectacle are now being directed at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, according to her brother, Earl Spencer, who says the treatment of the Sussexes reflects a pattern Britain should have learned to leave behind.

In an interview with the BBC, Spencer argued that Diana’s Story Is Repeating Itself in Coverage of Harry and Meghan, describing the media attention surrounding the couple as a “cancerous influence” and urging the public to take heed of what happened to his sister. The earl said that anyone subjected to such relentless exposure and criticism would inevitably suffer serious personal consequences.

His remarks come as fresh attention surrounds Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, the biography of the late Princess of Wales scheduled for release tomorrow. Spencer, who has been at the center of discussion over excerpts from the book, used the interview to reflect on what he sees as enduring similarities between past and present media behavior.

“If you read a tabloid story about Diana, or about Harry and Meghan, they can be really, really unpleasant,” Spencer said. While stressing that he was not speaking on behalf of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, he said the issue extended beyond any individual case and affected anyone placed under that kind of sustained public assault. Such treatment, he added, must have a profoundly damaging effect on a person’s life.

The earl also recalled the impact media scrutiny had on Diana herself. According to Spencer, the princess was “truly demoralized” by the criticism directed at her, making it particularly troubling to witness what he described as the same dynamics appearing in coverage of Harry and Meghan.

The Sussexes have spent years criticizing their treatment by sections of the British media. After returning to the United Kingdom from the United States on August 26, the couple remained under intense public attention. Harry has repeatedly pointed to the role of the tabloid press, telling Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that it had created a “toxic environment.”

That confrontation has frequently extended into the courts. In July, Harry and six other claimants, including Elton John and Liz Hurley, lost a privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail. The duke had previously secured legal victories in separate actions against Mirror Group and News Group.

Spencer’s latest intervention follows another public dispute involving King Charles. The earl recently accused the monarch of having “psychologically manipulated” him after Buckingham Palace responded to claims that Charles had allegedly remarked, following Diana’s death, that “we’ll soon forget about it.”

The allegations form part of the new biography, in which Spencer makes a series of damaging claims about the king. Buckingham Palace rejected that characterization, responding that “the grief of losing a sister can cloud judgment.” The exchange has added another layer of controversy ahead of the book’s publication.

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