Why Meghan and Harry Were Once Cautioned Against Making the Same Miscalculation as Princess Diana

Before becoming the Duchess of Sussex and becoming a part of the British royal family, Meghan Markle worked full-time in Hollywood as an actress. Her marriage to Prince Harry had drawn a lot of support and equal parts of criticism in the past. However, in 2019, a royal expert and historian, Anna Whitelock remarked how Markle's influence had grown outside the royal family. While appearing on Yahoo UK's The Royal Box, Whitelock dropped a cautionary for the royal couple, advising them to not make the 'same mistake' that Harry's mother, Princess Diana, had, as per Express UK.

“The problem is, if you’re a royal you can generate lots and lots of interest and lots of appeal, but ultimately it’s got to be for the firm, it can’t be for any one person. Of course, that’s where Diana, to some extent, came unstuck because the brand Diana became bigger than that of the Royal Family,” Whitelock noted. 

“Harry and Meghan are in this situation where actually they are significant to the royal brand in the sense of generating interest but actually not significant to the monarchy in terms of its future," she continued. “I think the line that they’re walking and are going to have to walk very carefully, is between royalty and celebrity. They may end up diverting too far away from the royal brand and become celebrities in their own right.” Whitelock said while drawing a comparison between Markle and the late Princess.

But that's not all. Whitelock also compared Markle and Harry to the heir apparent Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton and clarified the latter were treading down a different path. “I think in a sense Kate and William are very much the royal couple. They have to be, very soon they're going to be next in line to the throne," she quipped.

"I think Meghan now is probably in a more powerful position than she has yet been since she joined the royal family," Whitelock said, per Newsweek. "She's married to Harry, he clearly dotes on her and adores her. She clearly has a great deal of influence over him. She's now the most sort of media darling royal and she has a baby as well and so she holds all the cards actually." According to the same report by Express UK, Whitelock also explained that Markle and Harry were 'cultivating themselves as a social media couple.'

According to World Vision UK, Markle has also associated herself with various charitable works even before she became a part of the royal family. She traveled as a World Vision Global Ambassador in 2017 to advocate for gender equality and bring awareness to girls' education in India back in 2017.

The Duchess of Sussex visited a school in Rwanda in 2016 and worked with counselors to help educate girls who started menstruating. She also helped to bring clean water to a community. However, BBC reported in 2020 that Harry and Markle would be stepping down from their role as senior royals and 'start working towards becoming financially independent.' Even though the royal family expressed their disappointment over the decision of the couple, they went ahead to split their time between the UK and North America.