Prince Harry Saw ‘Magic’ of Princess Diana in Meghan Markle — Author

TL; DR: 

• Prince Harry thought Meghan Markle had the “magic” of Princess Diana, according to Tom Bower.
• The investigative journalist and author said Prince Harry believed Princess Diana’s “mantel had fallen on Meghan.” 
• In Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, Bower claimed Meghan Markle asked Harry to make the comparison.

Apparently, Prince Harry saw some of Princess Diana in Meghan Markle from the start. Although it wasn’t necessarily through her charity work. According to investigative journalist and author Tom Bower, the Duke of Sussex saw Diana’s “magic” in Meghan. 

Prince Harry believed Meghan Markle had Princess Diana ‘magic’ as early as when they first met

Possibly as early as their 2016 set up by a friend, Harry, according to Bower, noticed Diana in Meghan. Particularly that the then-Suits star possessed his mother’s “magic.”

During a July 2022 GB News interview, Bower discussed his book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, and the comparisons drawn between Meghan and Diana, even by Harry himself. 

“One of the many interesting things in the book,” Bower began. “Especially during the tour of Australia, maybe even before, when Harry first met Meghan, he was convinced that she had the magic of Diana.”

Harry and Meghan embarked on a 16-day tour of Australia, Tonga, Fiji, and New Zealand in October 2018. They received Later, they told Oprah Winfrey that’s when the dynamic with the royal family changed.

Harry, according to Bower, was “convinced” Diana’s “mantel had fallen on Meghan.” The Duchess of Sussex “was being treated in the same way by the media,” he said. Furthermore, she’d been “applauded in Australia,” similar to Harry’s mother. Why was it all happening? “Because she had the magic of Diana,” Bower said.

“The trouble with Harry,” Bower explained, “is that he was very young when his mother died. And he never really understood this very complicated complex woman and her role in Britain and her role in the royal family.” 

Harry compared Meghan to his mother publicly: ‘history repeating itself’ 

In October 2019, Harry released a statement in which he compared Meghan to Diana. Speaking about their decision to take legal action against the British press, Harry shared his “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,” he said.  “I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

Harry continued to make comparisons about Meghan, Diana, and “history repeating itself.” In 2019 he made similar comments in the documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. The now-37-year-old did the same when he and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a bombshell interview in 2021. 

Meghan Markle wanted the Princess Diana comparison, author says

In his book, Bower wrote Harry pushed for a Meghan-Diana comparison. Furthermore, the Duchess of Sussex insisted on it.

Bower wrote that in 2016 after news Harry and Meghan were dating went public, they felt press coverage had “racist undertones.” So Harry went to his then-press secretary, Jason Knauf, about crafting a response.

Reportedly Harry wanted to draw a comparison between Meghan and Diana in the statement. Hesitant, Knauf ultimately agreed because, as Bower wrote, Harry had been “adamant.” The reason? Meghan wanted to draw parallels to Diana. 

“If Meghan’s wish to be equated with Diana was not satisfied, insisted Harry, he would probably lose her,” Bower wrote.