The man who watched Princess Diana try for more than a decade to fit into the British Royal Family and ultimately fail, predicts trouble ahead for Meghan the Duchess of Sussex if she doesn’t get in line with the expectations that come along with royal life.
Paul Burrell served as one of Queen Elizabeth‘s footmen before going on to become Lady Di’s butler for the decade up until her death.
Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997 in Paris, France.
In an interview for a new television documentary titled “Kate V Meghan: Princesses at War” that aired in Britain on Sunday night, Burrell likened Buckingham Palace to a minefield for any newcomer.
“Meghan has married into the most traditional family in the country, the royal family,” Burrell said. “How is she going to cope? Princess Diana was brought up in a house that was as big as Buckingham Palace, and even she was lost.”
Burrell warned that the former American actress’s background alone could be cause for some traditionalists to target her for impediments designed to make life as a royal difficult for Meghan, as it was for Diana, a generation before.
“Buckingham Palace is a minefield for any person going in there for a first time,” he went on. “People set traps, they weren’t very kind to this young girl coming into this world. Who would want to be part of that family?”
Diana ultimately gave up on trying to fit in following years of her husband’s well-known affair with his now-wife Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced August 26, 1996.
With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s first baby due in the spring, one can only hope that any issues are not between the newlyweds.
Burrell also offered a word of advice for Meghan on that front, saying she should keep her husband close so outside influencers’ abilities to create marital strife will be diminished. Hopefully, if the allegations of conflict between Kate and Meghan are true, the soon-to-be parent’s move away from their shared Kensington Palace residence will allow less interaction to mend any rifts.