Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren't entirely without family, according to a historian. Despite ongoing tension with the British royal family, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to have a "better" relationship with Princess Diana's siblings.
Some of Harry's family ties, it seems, remain. That is, on his late mother's side. According to historian Tessa Dunlop, the 38-year-old has "maintained" relationships with his aunts and uncle on Diana's side.
"That side of the family seems to be better relations," Dunlop told Express. Diana's siblings include Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, and Earl Charles Spencer.
Noting "nobody ever talks about" the relationship Harry has with his maternal aunts and uncle, the historian said they're in a "better" state than those with the royal family.
"While all the focus is on Harry and Meghan not having any family or relations," he clearly does have relations with the Spencers," Dunlop said, citing Harry's Spare passage about Diana's siblings "being there when he and Meghan visited Diana's grave" in 2022.
That's not the only mention of Diana's siblings in Spare. While discussing the so-called royal wedding tiaragate drama, Harry shared his late mother's siblings offered the Spencer tiara to Meghan. However, Meghan ultimately wore Queen Mary's diamond bandeau tiara on loan from Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry's uncle on his mother's side came to his defense in June 2023. Not as it relates to the ongoing rift with the royal family. Rather, Harry's phone hacking lawsuit against U.K. tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers.
Harry is one of multiple celebrity plaintiffs alleging MGN used unlawful means to secure information on him from 1996-2011. After Harry's witness testimony, Diana's younger brother defended him amid criticism from former MGN employee Amanda Platell.
Charles described a tweet from Platell, who is now a Daily Mail columnist, as "pathetic" after she noted Hary mentioned his "former love" Chelsy Davy 118 times in court and Meghan only five.
"We know that Harry has leaned into the idea of his mother's legacy," Dunlop said. Similarly, she noted, "Charles heavily bought into that idea of 'Diana the hunted' when he spoke so famously and memorably at her funeral."
The earl, the historian added, "attributed and certainly alluded to the idea of Diana as the victim of the paparazzi, of which you know, Harry has taken up."
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Although they live in Montecito, California, thousands of miles away from the royal family, Harry and Meghan aren't alone in their post-senior working royal lives. A combination of friends and relatives make up their family.
"They're creating their own family, and friends can be family too," Serena Williams said in Netflix's Harry & Meghan docuseries.
The tennis great joined others, such as Meghan's fellow Suits stars, in discussing the pair's new life in California.
"They can start something fresh and new," Williams said of Harry and Meghan. "And hope that one day that family on both ends will be able to understand that this is truly love."
Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, who made multiple appearances in the program, lives in California and is close to the couple.
At one point, Meghan explained how she reunited with her niece Ashleigh Hale after supposedly being barred from inviting her half-sister Samantha Markle's daughter to her 2018 royal wedding.