Meghan Markle interview: Palace response criticised by Smith
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The Duchess of Sussex launched an astonishing attack on the royal institution during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. The 39-year-old claimed she was not protected by the Palace and royal staff refused to help her when she reached out for it. The former actress also spoke about feeling trapped inside her then-Kensington Palace residence and claimed she was told by royal aides to tone down her public profile.
Harry also spoke about fears of "history repeating itself" with Meghan in relation to his late mother, Princess Diana.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton assessed the similarities and differences between the two women.
He pointed out they were "different characters", but insisted "the way they were treated once they went inside the Royal Family has remarkable similarities, both by the media and also inside the Palace".
In an interview with Palace Confidential, Mr Morton added: "Diana felt rather lost, rather alone, isolated, so too did Meghan Markle - that was their truth."
© GETTYMeghan Markle
© ITV/CBSMeghan Markle
However, royal expert Rebecca English has pointed out a key difference between the way Meghan and Diana were treated.
She insisted the Palace did much more to help Meghan than Diana because The Firm took on board past mistakes.
Ms English said: "But I fundamentally disagree with Andrew on this issue that the whole Meghan situation is like Diana's history repeating itself.
"There is no doubt the palace didn't handle Diana with all her complexity and all her frailty very well at all.
© GETTYMeghan Markle
"And while I am not saying they were entirely perfect in their dealing with Meghan, I do know that people bent over backwards to help her, in a way they didn't with Diana, because they learned from their previous mistakes.
"And I disagree with Andrew quite fundamentally on that."
In her interview with Oprah, Meghan said "everyone welcomed" her into the family at the beginning.
She insisted things started to take a turn after their whirlwind tour Down Under at the end of 2018.
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© GETTYMeghan Markle
Prior to the oversees trip, Meghan and Harry announced they were expecting their first child together.
Meghan added her one regret is "believing them when they said I would be protected".
Meghan said: "After we had gotten back from our Australia tour - which was about a year before that - and we talked about when things really started to turn, when I knew we weren't being protected.
"And it was during that part of my pregnancy, especially, that I started to understand what our continued reality was going to look like."
In the interview, she reflected her time as a senior member of The Firm and said "my understanding and my experience of the past four years is it's nothing like what it looks like".
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She added: "I remember so often people within The Firm would say, 'Well, you can't do this because it'll look like that. You can't'.
"So, even, 'Can I go and have lunch with my friends?'
"No, no, no, you're oversaturated, you're everywhere, it would be best for you to not go out to lunch with your friends'. I go, 'Well, I haven't?... I haven't left the house in months."
Harry also took aim at his family, and when he was asked why they quit The Firm, he blamed a "lack of support and lack of understanding".
Responding to the claims made in the interview, Buckingham Palace said "recollections may vary", but insisted they "will always be much loved family members".