Princess Diana Would’ve Been “Puzzled” by Some of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Post-Royal Decisions, Former Butler Says

Rachel BurchfieldWed, August 5, 2026 at 12:40 PM UTC

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Princess Diana and Meghan Markle.Credit: Getty ImagesThe Gist -

Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler and close confidante, shared what he thinks Diana would’ve thought of Meghan Markle.

“She would have counseled them, helped them along the way,” Burrell said of Meghan and Prince Harry’s post-royal life.

Since stepping down as working royals, Meghan has launched a brand, podcast, and Netflix show, while Harry has helmed his nonprofit, The Archewell Foundation.

Shortly after getting engaged in November 2017, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down for an interview, during which the Duke of Sussex said he thought his late mother Princess Diana “would have probably been best friends with Meghan.” In fact, he imagined the two women would’ve been “thick as thieves, without question.”

Years later, another important figure in Diana’s life shared what he thinks the former Princess of Wales would’ve thought of Meghan. While speaking exclusively with InStyle in March 2025, Paul Burrell, her former butler and close confidante, said Diana would “have been puzzled” at certain aspects of the couple’s lives since leaving their roles as working royals. However, “Diana would have applauded their fight for freedom and their risky strategy to break free and live a normal life,” he added.

Princess DianaCredit: Courtesy of Dior

After marrying in May 2018, Harry and Meghan announced their step back from royal life on January 8, 2020. They relocated from the U.K., Harry’s home country, to Meghan’s home state of California. Fast forward five years, Meghan rejoined Instagram, released her As Ever lifestyle brand, launched a Netflix show (With Love, Meghan), and started a new podcast, “Confessions of a Female Founder.” Harry has helms his nonprofit, The Archewell Foundation, and his sporting competition, The Invictus Games, among other ventures.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on August 15, 2024, in Bogota, Colombia.Credit: Getty Images

According to Burrell, Diana was not a fan of using any royal title for monetary gain, even her own. “Diana did everything for other people and didn’t make a cent out of her titles,” he said. He wondered whether the couple were using the profits from their entrepreneurial ventures to pour “into Archewell or a campaign to help other people, or whether it’s going directly to Harry and Meghan.” He added that if profits are going into a purse “which will be dispersed to people less fortunate,” he is “all for it.”

Ultimately, he thinks Diana would have weighed in on it all. “She would have counseled them, helped them along the way,” he said.

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Princess Diana and Prince Harry.Credit: Getty Images

As for the royal family (from which Harry and Meghan remain largely estranged), Burrell, speaking on behalf of Slingo, said that when it comes to the Sussexes’ ventures, “They likely just bat it off. I think they ignore it to a certain extent. I really don’t think the royal family can do very much about it.”

While speaking to Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times DealBook Summit in December 2024, Harry said that his life in the U.S. is what Diana would have “wanted” for him, per the BBC.

“When you are kind of trapped within this bubble, it kind of feels like there’s no way out,” Harry said of life in the royal fishbowl. “What happened to my mum, and the fact that I was a kid and felt helpless, there comes the inner turmoil. I felt helpless. One of my biggest weaknesses is feeling helpless.” He added that he was frightened by how the paparazzi stalked his mom up until the moment of her death in a Paris car accident and worried it “would happen to me, or to my wife, or to my kids.”

Prince Harry and Princess Diana on August 10, 1987.Credit: Getty Images

Moving to California wasn’t out of left field, obviously for Meghan (who was born and raised there), but even for Harry. In Burrell’s 2003 memoir A Royal Duty, he shared that after Diana divorced then-Prince Charles, she herself had been planning to start a new life in California. She even picked out a home in Malibu—which had previously belonged to Julie Andrews—to share with Harry and Prince William, per ABC News.

“We sat on the floor, spread out all the maps and the layout of the house,” Burrell said during a 2003 interview on Good Morning America. “[Diana said] ‘This is our new life, just won’t it be great? Think of the lifestyle the boys—nobody’s judgmental here in America. You don’t have the class system, you don’t have the establishment.’”

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