Earl Spencer Says UK Media Treatment Of Prince Harry And Meghan Echoes Princess Diana

Spencer draws Diana parallel

Earl Spencer told the BBC that the media treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan “echoes” what happened to his sister Diana, describing press coverage as a “cancerous influence in their life.” Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg at his Althorp estate, Spencer said, “If you look at an article in a tabloid about Diana or the couple that you were mentioning, Harry and Meghan, you know, they can be really, really unpleasant,” and added that it would be “beholden on people to learn from Diana’s example.” Spencer said he saw Diana’s “tears of despair” when describing the impact of media coverage on her, and he said she was “very, very sensitive to criticism.”

He also said he was “really brought low by all that criticism,” describing it as a “pity” to see “echoes of that now” in the treatment of his nephew Prince Harry and wife Meghan. The BBC interview came as the Sussexes had “recently returned to the UK from California six years after stepping back from royal duties,” with Spencer’s comments tied to their ongoing criticism of British press coverage.

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Palace, tabloids, and legal

The BBC account placed Spencer’s remarks after the BBC reported on Friday how Spencer said he was “telling the truth” when he claimed King Charles said people would forget Diana “soon enough” in a phone call in the days after her death.

In that context, Spencer reacted to the Palace response by saying, “Well, is he furious? Is he furious or is he embarrassed?” and he insisted, “Genuinely, that is what he said. I don't hear him saying he didn't say that.”

The BBC also said Spencer disputed the Palace’s response to his claims about King Charles, adding, “They've sort of smudged that one, haven't they? They've said that recollections may vary.”

Separately, the Charlotte Observer report said Spencer warned that lessons needed to be learned from Diana’s period of intense scrutiny, quoting him telling the BBC, “And I think it would be really beholden on people to learn from Diana's example.”

That same Reuters-based report said Diana died aged 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash as photographers pursued her on motorbikes, and it described Spencer’s warning as part of a broader reckoning over whether the media bore some responsibility for her death.

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Return to Britain raises stakes

The CBC report said a letter from Buckingham Palace told the public that Harry and Meghan “remain non-working members of the Royal Family,” framing their position as “private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.” CBC said the letter and media attention highlighted that issues from when Harry and Meghan stepped back from official duties in 2020 remain “front and centre” after their return to Britain from California with their two children. The CBC report quoted royal historian Carolyn Harris saying King Charles agrees with Queen Elizabeth that there can’t be members of the Royal Family “who are half in and half out, especially in the 21st century,” and Harris said the emphasis is on “a clear divide between those who are working members of the Royal Family and those who are not.”

It also said a U.K. government committee that oversees tax-funded security for public figures and royalty “will reconsider the level of police protection for the couple,” while Harris said Prince Harry may be hoping for a favorable decision. In parallel, the BBC interview described Spencer’s stance as being “on my deceased sister's sons' side, both of them,” and it said he told the BBC he was “telling the truth” about what he said King Charles told him after Diana’s death.

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