A royal expert has claimed that Princess Diana acted as a “stabilising and steadfast presence” for Prince Charles – while Meghan Markle ‘rubbed salt in Harry’s wounds’Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks onstage during the 2025 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2025 in New York CityVine claimed that the Prince of Wales is equally as scarred as Prince Harry and was very protective of his younger sibling(Image: 2025 Getty Images)

Meghan Markle has been slammed for “rubbing salt in the wound” rather than backing her husband Prince Harry like her Royal equivalent the Princess of Wales, according to a Royal expert.

Kate Middleton has been hailed for serving as William’s “strength and stay” and assisting him in “healing” his emotional scars, in stark contrast to the Duchess of Sussex, who allegedly has the “opposite effect” on the Duke.

Journalist and Michael Gove’s former wife, Sarah Vine, urged the Royal Family to take inspiration from the late Queen’s approach by “compartmentalising” feelings to prevent emotions from interfering with their judgement.

She suggested that by following Queen Elizabeth’s example, they might eventually succeed in mending the fractured relationships “over time”.

Vine argued that the Prince of Wales carries just as many emotional scars as Prince Harry and was fiercely protective of his younger brother, whilst simultaneously coping with their mother’s death.

This made Harry’s behaviour towards the Waleses “so painful and hard to forgive.”

Meghan Markle visits Millennium Point to attend an event celebrating International Women's Day on March 8, 2018 in Birmingham, England.Fans have been left sceptical about the As Ever restock.(Image: Max Mumby/Getty Images)

Writing in her Daily Mail column, she stated: “Instead of indulging his pain, feeding off it even, as Harry has done, he seems to have mastered it, channelling it into his royal roles and his family. Then again, he had slightly better luck – or judgment – than his brother, in that he had the good sense to marry the Princess of Wales.

“Without her stabilising and steadfast presence, who knows where he might be? As the late Queen said of Prince Philip, Kate has, quite simply, been William’s strength and stay,” reports the Scottish Daily Express.

She further commented: “Sadly, the Duchess of Sussex seems to have had the opposite effect on Prince Harry. Instead of helping him heal his emotional wounds, she seems to have re-opened them – or even rubbed salt in them, some might say.

Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales (L), Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales (2nd L), Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (2nd R) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (R) wave to the crowd after speaking to well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022, two days after the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II Kate Middleton has been praised for being William’s “strength and stay” compared to the Duchess of Sussex(Image: CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“Instead of encouraging him to shape his own identity within the Royal Family, she has helped him turn his back on it. Which might have been fine if together they had embarked on something truly life-affirming. But they didn’t.

“They’ve walked away, but they keep looking over their shoulders. They are obsessed with the very thing they supposedly hate, and that’s never a good frame of mind to be in.

“Every venture the duke and duchess have undertaken since their departure has revolved around their royal status.”

It comes as a meeting took place just last week between Prince Harry’s chief communications officer, Meredith Maines, and King Charles III’s communications secretary, Tobyn Andreae.

Maines could potentially be Harry’s ‘secret weapon’ when it comes to reuniting the Royal Family.

She was the one who arranged Prince Harry’s BBC interview in May, where he expressed his desire for a reconciliation with the King and Prince William.

He confessed his caution of conflict and shared his concerns about Charles’ health, admitting he did “not know how much longer [his] father has.”

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