Princess Diana’s Former Aide Says Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Echo Past Royal Family Rifts

Meghan Markle Reveals to Oprah the ‘Liberating’ Feeling of Finally Being Able to Speak Freely
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Princess Diana‘s former personal secretary and chief of workers is drawing parallels to the previous in regard to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Speaking with CNN forward of the highly-anticipated CBS sit-down, Patrick Jephson mentioned he sees similarities between the couple and Harry’s late mom.

“Thirty years in the past we had been in a comparable situation the place rifts had been opening up throughout the royal household and it was beginning to escalate,” he mentioned, referring to Diana’s estrangement from the royal household after her cut up from Prince Charles. “There were a lot of unhappy people involved then, I’m quite sure there are a lot of unhappy people involved now.”

“First and foremost, we must always perceive that this is a family rift,” Jephson added. “It has taken on a lot of the trapping of a big media PR story, but at the heart of this are real people really hurting and I hope that somewhere in the midst of the current back and forth somebody is putting down the seeds for eventual reconciliation, which has to come.”

Pointing to different parallels in royal historical past, Jephson famous that tell-all interviews do not at all times have their supposed impact.

“The precedence for royal interviews of this kind are not very encouraging,” he mentioned. “Both Prince Charles and Princess Diana and extra lately Prince Andrew have tried to place their sides of the story on TV by way of these kinds of interviews and in all cases, it has backfired.”

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Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey

As for therapeutic any rifts throughout the household, Jephson mentioned duty lies “with senior palace management” — which incorporates Harry’s father.

Jephson, Diana’s onetime most senior aide, mentioned Charles has “examples from his own history of how these things can be made worse, and how they can be made better.”

“I hope that it will be intervention from all well-intentioned people to help Harry and Meghan settle in their new lives and help heal the wounds that arose through the way they departed,” Jephson added.

Jephson was additionally requested to touch upon the timing of a brand new report printed by The Times within the U.Okay. that Meghan faced a bullying complaint made by one among her shut advisers throughout her time as a working royal — one thing her workplace has strongly refuted.

“The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma,” a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex mentioned in an announcement obtained by PEOPLE. “She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good.”

The Times article was printed simply 5 days earlier than Meghan and Harry’s sit-down interview. On Wednesday, the palace introduced they may launch a probe into the allegations.

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Chris Jackson/Getty Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

Asked whether or not the palace ever performed “hardball,” Jephson replied, “I suppose if you start to employ PR experts they will do what their job is.”

“This is the way in which, combined with social media, what is essentially a family squabble turns into something potentially much more damaging,” he continued. “It is a matter of judgement how both sides use the media.”

“I hope some sort of investigation to establish how many factors went into creating this problem in the first place so that it can be avoided in future,” he added.

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In response to the authorized letter to The Times, which reportedly mentioned the newspaper was “being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative” earlier than the Oprah interview, a supply advised PEOPLE, “It is unfair, untrue and disingenuous to say that the palace is coordinating this.”

There “are far more important things we are focusing on,” a supply added, referring to Prince Philip’s sickness and his ongoing care following a heart procedure, the calls that the Queen has been making about vaccinations and the continued enterprise of state.

Apart from confirming that they did not know concerning the Oprah interview earlier than the information was damaged, the palace hasn’t commented on what’s within the interview.

The CBS interview is anticipated to cowl Meghan’s journey from getting into life as a royal to marriage, motherhood, philanthropic work and dealing with intense public strain. Harry will then be a part of his spouse to speak about their historic transfer to the U.S.

Oprah with Meghan and Harry airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.