Diana finalized her divorce from Prince Charles on August 28, 1996, marking her official exit from the royal frontline and an end to her role as the future queen wife. She had been divorced from Charles since 1992, but at the time, both were incredibly open about the tensions in their marriage. Diana secretly participated in Andrew Morton’s bomb biography, ‘Diana – Her True Story’ in 1992, which partially fueled her split and exposed her misfortune behind palace walls.
Charles then took part in a 1994 interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, in which he revealed that he had resumed his affair with former flame Camilla Parker Bowles in 1986.
The astonished audience was then once again stunned the following year when Diana offered to do a BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir.
In it, she famously said “there were always three of us in this marriage”, referring to Charles’ affair, implying that she was not welcome within the royal district.
Given the threat posed to the monarchy, the queen urged the estranged couple to divorce within the next year – despite both of them promising never to do so in 1992.
Princess Diana, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (Image: Getty)
Diana’s BBC Panorama interview in 1995 shocked the nation (Image: Getty)
Royal biographer Howard Hodgson explained how Diana’s settlement contained a crucial detail to prevent one of them from being so open about her marriage again.
He wrote in his 2007 biography, ‘Charles – The Man Who Will Be King’, saying: “Now forbidden by a binding contract to involve herself in further fabrication and distortion over her marriage and her relationship with the Prince of Wales, and his family, the princess was forced to give up such intrigues. “
He continued: “Accepting that Charles was now out of bounds, she made a real effort to improve relationships with a man who had shown her much friendliness and much more love than she had ever publicly admitted.”
When the relationship between Charles and Diana improved significantly the following year, Harry and William were able to enjoy a friendlier atmosphere between their parents.
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The divorce of Diana and Charles in 1996 included a confidentiality clause (Image: Getty)
However, Meghan and Harry are not thought to have the same confidentiality in their official departure from the royal family.
Although the couple have said very little about their exit, as they are formally leaving at the end of March, many royal critics speculate that they may have had a hand in the recently released ‘Finding Freedom’.
The book provides a sympathetic account of the couple’s decision to leave the firm.
Both the authors and the Sussexes indicate that they did not collaborate to produce the book – the level of intimate details in it has led some to compare it to ‘Diana – her true story’, in which Diana secretly collaborated.
The book recounts the reported rift between Prince William and Kate Middleton with Meghan and Harry, claiming that the Duke of Cambridge was “snobbish” against his new sister-in-law and that the Duchess was unfriendly.
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Diana and Charles have been open about their marital problems since their split in 1992 (Image: Getty)
Meghan and Harry have left the royal frontline (Image: Getty)
The biography also claims that Meghan told a friend in March: ‘I gave up my whole life for this family. I was ready to do whatever it took. But here we are. It’s very sad. ”
Meghan and Harry have also alluded to royal affairs since setting up camp in California.
Harry was furious when he said that the Commonwealth had to tackle his “uncomfortable past” earlier this year, despite the international association one of his grandmother’s proud achievements.
Meghan then encouraged young women to push back against the “status quo”, which many saw as a covert reference to institutions such as the monarchy.
Strikingly, Meghan and Harry “asked neighbors to sign non-publicity agreements” during their six-week secret vacation in Canada, but they did not appear to have signed one with the monarchy.
Meghan and Harry’s Megxit ‘agreement with the Queen is not considered a confidentiality clause (Image: Getty)
It should be noted that Harry apparently has no plans to get involved in Meghan’s campaign to encourage women to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
An insider told the Telegraph this week that the Duke of Sussex cannot vote in the US and wants to respect his family’s position on the global stage.
There are a few other important differences between the exit of Diana and the Sussexes.
While Diana was deprived of her HRH status, Meghan and Harry have kept it but can no longer use it – or the word ‘royal’ in any of their work.
Diana could not work for financial gain, while the Sussex want to become financially independent within the next year.
