Princess Diana would approve of her son Prince Harry’s marriage to US actress Meghan Markle, according to author Andrew Morton whose famous biography of the late royal caused uproar in Britain some 25 years ago.
Like Diana’s union to heir-to the-throne Prince Charles in 1981, Markle and Harry’s wedding next month has captivated the world’s media and drawn inevitable comparisons between the two.
And there are indeed many similarities, said Andrew Morton whose explosive book about Diana in 1992 first blew apart the myth of a fairytale marriage and who has now penned “Meghan: A Hollywood Princess”, a biography of the new royal-to-be.
“Diana died at 36, Meghan comes into the scene at 36. In a way she’s picked up Diana’s baton - she’s both elegant, she’s glamorous and also she’s a humanitarian,” he told Reuters.
“So Diana would have very much have approved of Meghan and seen that kind of working of fate almost.”
Morton’s biography of Diana was an international best-seller, revealing her union with Prince Charles was broken beyond repair and that she had suffered eating disorders and been driven to suicide attempts by the misery of her life with Charles.
After her death in a Paris car crash in 1997, Morton revealed she had been his prime source and had smuggled tape recordings out of the palace to him.
In his latest book about Markle, which he describes as a snapshot, saying a fuller picture would probably emerge in 10 years’ time, he has had to rely on those who knew her growing up in California where he conveniently has a home, some family members and colleagues as well as people who work at the palace.
In a TV interview given after their engagement was announced last November, Harry said Markle and his mother would have been best friends and as “thick as thieves”, disclosing that the ring he gave his fiancee and which he designed contained diamonds from jewelry once owned by Diana.
Harry and Markle will tie the knot in Windsor, west of London on May 19. Queen Elizabeth gave her official declaration to the couple's marriage during a Mar. 14 Privy Council meeting at Buckingham Palace.
She said: “My Lords, I declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between My Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan, which Consent I am causing to be signified under the Great Seal and to be entered in the Books of the Privy Council.”
