As a public figure, Meghan Markle has been under media scrutiny since she became an actress. But after becoming the Duchess of Sussex by her marriage to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, the media has been more aggressive in finding stories about her to the point that she gets so much negative press.
Princess Diana's royal biographer Andrew Morton sees some similarities in the way Meghan handles the bad publicity. When some of Meghan's high-profile Hollywood friends talked to the press about the unfair reports regarding the duchess, including the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Morton knew that Meghan was taking a page from Princess Diana's PR playbook.
Morton was one of the people Princess Diana opened her heart to and revealed her deep feelings and resentments about being part of the royal family. From what she told him, Morton published the official biography "Diana: Her True Story" in the '90s, following a decade of an unhappy marriage to Prince Charles.
It was a brilliant PR move on Princess Diana's part to clear her name since the royals hardly talk to the press to clarify the bad publicity. Morton implied that Meghan might have orchestrated those press interviews with her friends, which was similar to what Princess Diana did when she was still alive.
But there's one glaring mistake that Morton believes could impact Meghan's PR salvo. The risk being that Meghan could unhinge earlier.
"The big difference is Diana was in the royal family for 10 years before she started talking to me," Morton said, per News Corp Australia. "When Prince Harry is under attack, his friends don't say anything, they keep the British stiff upper lip," he added. "This is a very different kind of woman. She's doing what Trump does, you know, if he takes a punch he'll come back punching and so she's doing that."
A close friend of the duchess has told People that although Meghan should be used to the spotlight as a former actress, the spotlight on being a royal was more intense. It was on a level that has her struggling.
Experts say, however, that unlike Princess Diana, Meghan has an ally in her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William. In recent weeks, the duchesses have shown the public that they have a special bond as sisters-in-law and wives of VIPs. They are also in the same boat as two outsiders of the royal family. This friendship will matter to their survival in the public eye.
