In 1991, Princess Diana asked journalist Andrew Morton to write her biography, which detailed the pain and suffering she endured in her first decade of marriage to Prince Charles.

The break in royal protocol, complete with an insider’s perspective on royal life, was made possible by a trusted friend, who smuggled audio recordings of Diana’s story out of Kensington Palace to Morton.

The ensuing book, Diana: Her True Story, became an instant bestseller, making headlines around the world.

Nearly 30 years later and people are starting to draw comparisons between Diana and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reports News AU.

Earlier this year, five of the former actress’ friends anonymously spoke to People, defending her character and since then both George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey have publicly come to her defence, staunchly arguing she has faced undue flak and vitriol since becoming an HRH.

While Meghan has denied being involved with any of these PR salvos, for Morton, what has transpired this year is strikingly familiar.

“She’s taking a page from the Diana playbook,” Morton said from his London home. “The big difference is Diana was in the royal family for 10 years before she started talking to me.”

Morton reckons Meghan has shown no intention of rolling over when it comes to her engagement with the public and press – her recent trip to Wimbledon is evidence of this.

“She set out her stall in the (September 2017) Vanity Fair piece before the engagement,” Morton says.

“That told me right from the start this is a very different kind of royal-in-waiting. The girlfriends and boyfriends of members of the royal family have always kept shtum, have never said a word and here we have Meghan dating Prince Harry and what did she talk about?

“Love, romance, the kinds of things that would have had her cast into the outer darkness (previously). That for me was a really significant change.”

He also sees Meghan’s celebrity guest list at her wedding as a power play designed to store up support from the outside.

“She’s got Serena Williams, she’s got Oprah. She’s got Amal Clooney and George Clooney. She’s got the gang from Suits, all of whom will speak out for her.

“Oprah Winfrey, is the American equivalent to royalty herself. I mean, I don’t know who bows to whom, does the Queen curtsy to Oprah?” Morton jokes.

…“This is not situation normal, we are dealing with an activist and a Hollywood celebrity, a wealthy woman who’s come into to the royal family and she’s doing (things) very much by her own rules,” he says.

However, Morton says that Meghan needs to be careful.

Morton warns: “I think she’s taking a leaf out of Diana’s Playbook was but I think she’s gone nuclear too early.”

Despite this, more than a year into her official royal life, Meghan remains unbowed and seems resolute in her refusal to blithely do what she is told.

“[Her A-list friends] have all come out punching on her behalf,” says Morton. “There’s not this dead silence from her and will it change the (royal) agenda? Well, you know if she keeps on doing it, probably.”

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, she broke royal protocol again and hugged Beyoncé. If you want powerful people in your corner, you can do a lot worse than Queen B.

Harry looks worried.

[source:newsau]