A bombshell book claimed that Prince Harry was upset because no one in his family saw similarities between Meghan Markle and his late mother, Princess Diana.
A bombshell book claimed that Prince Harry was upset because no one in his family saw similarities between Meghan Markle and his late mother, Princess Diana. Tom Bower wrote in his book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, that the Duke of Sussex had hoped that Diana’s sisters would draw parallels between her and his then-girlfriend, Meghan.
Prince Harry Felt Heartbroken Over Lack of Family Support: No One Saw Meghan Markle Like He Saw Princess Diana
In a stunning revelation from a controversial book, it’s been claimed that Prince Harry was deeply disappointed and emotionally hurt by his family’s failure to recognize the similarities he saw between Meghan Markle and his late mother, Princess Diana. According to investigative author Tom Bower, Harry’s longing for familial validation met a wall of skepticism and silence.
The claims are detailed in Bower’s explosive biography, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, where he examines the strained dynamics between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the rest of the British royal family. One particularly emotional point for Harry, Bower writes, was the apparent lack of recognition from his relatives regarding the emotional and personal traits he believed Meghan shared with Princess Diana.
“Harry assumed that Diana’s family and friends would see a similarity between Diana and his fiancée. Both, he said, shared the same problems,” Bower states in the book.
But instead of receiving understanding or agreement, Harry was met with indifference — or worse, doubt. No one in Diana’s family or the wider royal circle acknowledged any meaningful resemblance between Meghan and the late Princess of Wales. That silence reportedly struck Harry deeply.
“He was disappointed. No one agreed that his vulnerable mother had anything in common with his girlfriend,” Bower adds.
For Harry, this wasn’t merely a matter of opinion. It was personal — and painful. Having grown up with the memory of Diana, a woman known for her emotional warmth, charitable spirit, and complicated relationship with the monarchy, Harry saw those same qualities in Meghan. He believed that his mother, had she been alive, would have not only welcomed Meghan with open arms but seen her as a kindred soul.
But instead of warmth, Harry reportedly encountered resistance from those closest to him. According to Bower, members of the royal family didn’t just fail to see the similarities — they actively voiced concerns about Meghan’s ability to adapt to life within the royal institution.
“More discomforting for him, they thought Meghan would not fit in with the Royal Family,” Bower noted.
This sense of being misunderstood and unsupported became a repeating theme in Harry’s later comments, especially as his relationship with Meghan grew more serious. The parallels he drew between Meghan and Diana weren’t just surface-level. For Harry, they represented something deeper — a connection rooted in shared emotional depth and resilience in the face of relentless public scrutiny.
Harry’s Public Comparisons Between Meghan and Diana
Prince Harry has repeatedly shared, in interviews and public appearances, that he sees a profound connection between his wife and his mother. During the 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which delved into the couple’s personal journey and departure from royal life, Harry once again expressed this sentiment.
“So much of what Meghan is and how she is, is so similar to my mum,” Harry said in the documentary. “She has the same compassion, the same empathy, the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.”
To Harry, these qualities weren’t coincidental — they were central to why he fell in love with Meghan. Just like Diana, Meghan had a natural ability to connect with people from all walks of life. She carried herself with poise and purpose, often championing charitable causes, women’s rights, and mental health — all issues that had also been close to Diana’s heart.
Even earlier, in the couple’s 2017 engagement interview with the BBC, Harry suggested that Diana would have been “over the moon” about his engagement to Meghan.
“I think she (Diana) would be over the moon, jumping up and down, so excited for me,” he said. “But then, as I said, she would have probably been best friends — best friends with Meghan.”
These heartfelt remarks were more than romantic musings — they illustrated how central Diana’s memory is to Harry’s worldview and how much he sought emotional continuity between his past and present.
Doubts Within the Royal Family
However, it wasn’t all rosy. The couple have spoken candidly about the skepticism and criticism they faced behind palace walls. In the same Netflix series, Harry opened up about how certain family members seemed to view his relationship with Meghan as unserious or doomed from the start.
“Some of my family members were like, ‘She’s an American actress — this won’t last,’” Harry revealed.
According to him, their judgment was clouded not only by Meghan’s nationality and career but perhaps by long-standing prejudices within the institution. Her background — biracial, divorced, outspoken, and self-made — stood in sharp contrast to the traditional mold of royal spouses.
This skepticism reportedly led to feelings of isolation and frustration for the couple, as they navigated both media scrutiny and a lack of support from within the Firm. The perception that Meghan would never truly be accepted — or understood — by the royal establishment may have contributed to the couple’s eventual decision to step down as senior royals in 2020 and start a new life in California.
A Legacy of Misunderstanding
The emotional wound of losing his mother at a young age still appears to shape many of Harry’s choices. His fierce protection of Meghan, his distrust of the press, and his yearning for emotional resonance within his family all seem to echo the trauma of Diana’s life and death.
But for Harry, the disconnect between his personal truths and the royal family’s perspective has remained a painful sticking point. The rejection of his belief that Meghan and Diana were alike was more than a disagreement — it was a symbolic rejection of his attempt to preserve his mother’s legacy in his own way.
Whether or not the comparisons are fair or accurate, one thing is clear: Prince Harry’s emotional world is profoundly shaped by the two most important women in his life. And when the family he was born into failed to see what he saw so clearly, it left a scar that continues to define his path forward.
