Earl Spencer says Harry and Meghan have been treated like late Princess Diana

For use in UK, Ireland or Benelux countries only Undated BBC handout photo of Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg at his Althorp estate ahead of the publication of his book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is due to be published next week. The full interview with Laura Kuenssberg will be broadcast on BBC One at 18:30 BST on Sunday and be available the same day on BBC iPlayer from 16:00 BST. Issue date: Friday January 18, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: Not for use more than 21 days after issue. You may use this picture without charge only for the purpose of publicising or reporting on current BBC programming, personnel or other BBC output or activity within 21 days of issue. Any use after that time MUST be cleared through BBC Picture Publicity. Please credit the image to the BBC and any named photographer or independent programme maker, as described in the caption.

Earl Spencer has said the treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle by the media has ‘echoes’ of what happened to his sister, Diana.

Diana’s younger brother has described press coverage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as a ‘cancerous influence in their life’.

He said people should learn from the way his sister was affected by intense media scrutiny.

The couple have repeatedly criticised the British media and the treatment they received during their time as working royals.

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Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg at his Althorp estate, Earl Spencer was asked whether he thought Diana would have identified with the scrutiny Harry and Meghan face.

FILE PHOTO - The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. // A British-American couple who swapped their life in the US for Yorkshire say they "know how Harry and Meghan feel" as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex prepare to move back to the UK. Tom Bateman, 35, and his American wife Britney, 36, have spent the past six weeks settling into life in Britain with their four children after 17 years living in the US. And as reports emerge that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also looking to spend more time back in Britain, the couple say they understand the emotional pull of returning home - and the challenges of leaving America behind. Tom, who was born in England, says he can particularly understand Harry's desire to be around the people and culture he grew up with. Photo released 21/08/2026

‘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,’ he told the BBC.

‘And I think it would be really beholden on people to learn from Diana’s example.’

He added: ‘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.’

Earl Spencer said he had seen Diana’s ‘tears of despair’ over media coverage and described her as ‘very, very sensitive to criticism’.

Diana, who married the then-Prince Charles in 1981, was subjected to intense press attention throughout her public life.

Earl Spencer said she was ‘really brought low by all that criticism’, adding that it was a ‘pity’ to see ‘echoes of that now’ in the treatment of his nephew Harry and Meghan.

He also rejected the idea that he had simply taken Harry’s side in his ongoing battles with the press.

‘I’m on my deceased sister’s sons’ side, both of them and if either of them wanted anything, then I’d be equally there for them,’ he said.

Diana died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, after being pursued by photographers.

At her funeral, Earl Spencer famously criticised the media for what he described as a ‘permanent quest… to bring her down’.

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Original source Earl Spencer says Harry and Meghan have been treated like late Princess Diana

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