Entertainment · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Earl Spencer Says UK Media Treatment of Harry and Meghan Echoes Princess Diana
Earl Spencer says coverage of Harry and Meghan mirrors Diana's experience. He describes the press treatment as a cancerous influence on their lives.
11 outlets, one story, no spin found.
7 of 10 outlets skipped it: spencer accuses King Charles of gaslighting him.
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South China Morning Post omits Diana-specific and gaslighting context. Most others add wider background on the dispute and the Diana comparison.
Spencer draws Diana parallel
Earl Charles Spencer compared the media treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to what his sister, Princess of Wales Diana, endured, saying the coverage has “echoes” of Diana’s experience.
“it already destroyed Lady Di in her day”
Speaking to the BBC, Spencer warned, “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 said people should learn from Diana’s example.
Spencer said the pressure is a “destructive influence” that “already destroyed Lady Di in her day,” and he described Diana as “really brought low by all that criticism.”
The comments came as the Dukes of Sussex “have just returned to the United Kingdom from California,” six years after resigning from their royal duties, according to Cadena SER.
Reuters also reported that Spencer said it would be “beholden on people to learn from Diana’s example,” while warning that lessons needed to be learned from that period.
“Cancerous influence” and pushback
Spencer described the media treatment of Harry and Meghan as a “cancerous influence in their life,” telling the BBC, “I'm not here to speak for Harry and Meghan, but for anyone who's being destroyed in this way daily, it must be such a cancerous influence in their life.”
The Reuters report said Diana died aged 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash as photographers pursued her on motorbikes, and it noted that Spencer’s comments were published as his book, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” was being serialized in the Daily Mail.
The palace hit back to Spencer’s broader claims about King Charles, saying, “The pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss”.
LBC reported Spencer’s view that the king’s response “echoes” Diana’s treatment, quoting him saying, “It is not every day you wake up to find you’ve been gaslit by the King.”
What’s at stake next
The sources tied Spencer’s warnings about media pressure to the Sussexes’ return to Britain, with Reuters saying Harry and Meghan moved back in August after stepping back from royal duties in 2020 and moving to the United States.
“the upcoming release on September 22 of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister”
Reuters also said Spencer’s book was serialized in the Daily Mail and accused King Charles of sounding “giddily elated” in the hours after Diana’s death, a claim the palace responded to by citing “fraternal grief” clouding judgment.
Sky News reported Spencer alleged Charles said “we'll forget her soon enough” during a supposed row over funeral arrangements for Diana, and it said Buckingham Palace questioned the earl’s recollection but he “stood by his account.”
Cadena SER said the revelations were a “perfect prelude” to the upcoming release on September 22 of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, and it described the controversy as threatening to destabilize the foundations of the British monarchy once again.
In the same reporting cycle, the BBC interviews and tabloid focus were framed through Spencer’s insistence that he is “on the side of my late sister’s son,” while he said he would protect both Harry and Meghan equally if either wanted something.