It is hard to believe that it was more than 20 years ago that Princess Diana was taken from us. The People’s Princess died in a car accident in 1997, but her legacy lives on, in her family and in the world.
Her newest daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, seems to be a remnant of that legacy. Fans of the royal family can’t help but compare the two women, who are alike in many ways. Both are tradition and deal with ordinary people on a personal level.
Unfortunately both have been hunted by tabloids, and both have endured quite some criticism from the media.
During Diana’s marriage with Prince Charles, it was well known that she and her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, could not get along. Now that the Duchess of Sussex has joined the family, the queen seems to have taken care of the younger woman.
That leaves fans wondering: why didn’t Princess Diana receive the same treatment from the queen?
Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana clashed
Since her death, royal initiates have come out and have admitted that the queen was ‘bewildered’ by Princess Diana and her behavior. Princess Diana just didn’t do things like everyone else. She connected with people on a personal level. The queen doesn’t like that, it’s just not her style.
Although the story today is that the queen and the princess just had a disagreement, history suggests that the drama may have been more intense than that. Princess Diana’s brother used her eulogy to fire farewell shots at the royal family, including the queen. He beat his sister’s abuse during her life.
The queen was understandably upset, but he may have had a point. Apparently Queen Elizabeth did not comfort her son when he discovered that the mother of his children had died in the car accident. Instead, Camilla Parker Bowles was left to comfort Charles, despite the fact that she had been the other woman in their marriage.
In fact, the queen was the one who formally asked her son to divorce Princess Diana after Princess Diana had given a candid radio interview about her marriage. All this points to something more than bewilderment about the behavior of the princess.
The queen seems to have changed her tune for Meghan Markle
Royal guards speculated that the queen would not approve Prince Harry’s choice of a bride. The American actress he married looks a lot like his mother. She is concerned with the royal traditions that suit her and ignores those who do not. Duchess Meghan is also constantly hunted by the press and she does not always play along nicely.
Just like Princess Diana, Markle does not play according to the rules of the queen. Yet Markle is not subjected to the same treatment that the queen Princess Diana gave.
Is Meghan Markle the queen’s favorite grand-daughter-in-law?
Kate Middleton met Prince William while she was still studying. They married shortly thereafter and according to sources close to the royal family, the queen did not like this. She found that Middleton had not had enough of an established identity before she got married.
The Queen appreciated that Markle was the exact opposite. She was successful in itself, without Prince Harry.
Princess Diana was also quite young when she and Prince Charles were married, so the Queen’s disapproval of her could be related to her lack of life experience.
The relationship between Duchess Kate and the Queen is more formal, while the Queen and Duchess Meghan are more casual. This can also reveal something about the relationship between the queen and Princess Diana.
The Queen knows that the Duchess of Cambridge will one day be Queen herself, which means that she is putting more pressure on her. The same may have been true of Princess Diana. However, the Duchess of Sussex is quite far from the throne. This allows the queen to have a more normal relationship with her.
Princess Diana was taken care of by the queen one day to take on her role. When Princess Diana did not fit in the role the Queen had wanted, their relationship became tense. To the queen, Markle is not the future of the throne – she is just a granddaughter.
