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Amy Jones & Nicola Croal

Prince Harry has 'maintained' close bond with Princess Diana's side of the family

Prince Harry has "maintained" a close relationship with the relatives he has on his mother's side amidst the ongoing rift between members of the Royal Family, an expert claims.

The Duke of Sussex has two maternal aunts and an uncle from his late mother Princess Diana's side - Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes and Earl Charles Spencer.

Historian, writer and broadcaster Tessa Dunlop told OK!: "He clearly has quite a good relationship with Charles Spencer, Jane and Sarah on the maternal side."

The royal expert claims that these relationships have been "maintained" by Harry, OK! reports.

Sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley and Princess Diana's siblings Earl Spencer and Lady Sarah McCorquodale after the unveiling of Princess Diana's statue on what would have been her 60th birthday (Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Comparing Harry's maternal relatives to his relationship with the royals she said: "That side of the family seems to be better relations".

However, speaking of his father's side, she added: "At the moment there's no point in pretending about these relationships."

Tessa continued: "We know that Harry has leant into the idea of his mother's legacy. We know that Charles heavily bought into that idea of 'Diana the hunted' when he spoke so famously and memorabilia at her funeral, and attributed and certainly alluded to the idea of Diana as the victim of the paparazzi, of which you know. Harry has taken up".

The expert claims that "nobody ever talks about" the relationship he has with the Spencers "while all the focus is on Harry and Meghan not having any family or relations, he clearly does have relations with the Spencers.

Harry and William on a seaside family vacation with their mother Princess Diana and auntie Lady Sarah McCorquodale (Tim Graham/Getty Images)

"In Spare he talks about his two aunts and uncle being there when he and Meghan visited Diana's grave."

In 2022, near the 25th anniversary of his beloved mother's death, Harry took his wife Meghan along to Diana's grave at their childhood home, Althorp House, which he discussed in the epilogue of his book.

The Duke spoke of how they had got into a boat to row across the private island on the estate to Diana's final resting place.

He went on to share that their craft had got stuck in the mud but luckily with the help of Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer he was able to give them a "little shove" to get going.

Harry revealed in his memoir Spare that his two aunts and uncle had been there when he took Meghan along with him to visit Diana's grave (DOMINIC LIPINSKI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Harry recalled the day in his memoir as he wrote: "Uncle Charles came down to the water's edge, gave us a little shove.

"We waved to him, and to my two aunts. Bye. See you in a bit.

"Gliding across the pond, I gazed around at Althorp's rolling fields and ancient trees, the thousands of green acres where my mother grew up, and where, though things weren’t perfect, she'd known some peace."

That occasion is believed to be the first time Harry had taken Meghan to visit his mother's burial site. In Spare, he wrote: "I was finally bringing the girl of my dreams home so she would meet my mother".

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