Prince Harry 'Would Have Never Married' Meghan Markle If Princess Diana Were Still Alive, Says Former Royal Butler

Princess Diana would be “disappointed” by her youngest son Prince Harry’s behavior in the last few years, her former royal butler said.

Paul Burrell, who describes himself as Diana’s “rock” and royal butler, claimed Harry, 41, “would’ve never married” Meghan Markle if the late princess was still alive.

“Would Harry have been disappointed by Harry's behaviour in the last few years? Yes she would have,” Burrell claimed in an interview with a news outlet on Thursday, September 16. “He's not what Diana would have thought he would have been. Diana's wish was for Harry to support William throughout his journey to become monarch. But William's on his own now and he’s resigned to that. To him, his brother can’t be trusted."

Burrell reportedly lived with Harry and his older brother, Prince William, throughout their childhood, and explained that Diana would not support the lingering feud between the brothers.

“Harry was awfully hurt when his mother died — I know, I was there. He ran into my arms when he returned from the funeral,” Burrell stated. “But there's something about Harry which has gone wrong. Yet William hasn't gone wrong. And he lost his mother, too."

Although Burrell praised Harry’s desire for freedom from the royal family, he admitted he no longer recognized the prince’s behavior, suggesting Diana wouldn’t have either.

“I just don’t understand all this petulance and entitlement — these are new things which have come his way. And I don't know who sowed those seeds, because they were never there as a child,” he continued. “So, where is that lovely, jokey boy now? He grew up into someone different, almost unrecognizable. He used to be kind, generous, warm-hearted and carefree.”

Harry and Meghan became estranged from the royal family after stepping away from their duties and moving to California in 2020. Tensions only continued to escalate after the couple, who wed in 2018, opened up about their decision to leave their positions in a 2021 CBS interview, as well as in their Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, and the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare.

Meghan and Harry explained that they felt unprotected by the royal institution, highlighting the palace’s close ties with the press and the wave of negative headlines they had faced since their relationship began in 2016.

“There’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories,” Harry told Vogue in December 2022. “So, if the comms team wants to be able to remove a negative story about their principal, they will trade and give you something else about someone else’s principal. You can always say, ‘I didn’t know about this.’ But have you done anything to stop it? And the answer is no.”