Many stories have surfaced about events which allegedly took place in the run-up to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018. Whether it is claims of blazing family rows, reports that The Queen summoned Prince Harry for a dressing down or Meghan’s dissatisfaction at many of the proposed plans, it was certainly a challenging period for royal staff behind palace walls.
While a number of those in royal circles previously expressed their thoughts that the couple's relationship would "end in tears" and that Harry is "emotionally reliant" on Meghan, another well-placed source believes the couple never would have met and got married if Diana, Princess of Wales was still alive.
The late Queen ’s former Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter offered his view on The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's relationship as they continue to make veiled jabs at The Firm ahead of the release of Harry's tell-all memoir 'Spare'.
Mr Arbiter told the hosts of GB News: "If Princess Diana was alive today we would not be going through this.
"She had her head screwed on the right way. She was very practical and he was very sensible.
"I'm going to stick my neck out here and I doubt Harry would have married Meghan because Harry wouldn't have been in the state he was in as a result of his mother's death, he would have taken a completely different course and he would still be here working in support of the [King]."
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Prince Harry has spoken out a number of times in recent years about the struggles he has faced with his mental health ever since his beloved mother died in 1997.
In her explosive book ‘The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil’ author and close friend of Princess Diana, Tina Brown, referenced Harry’s openness on the topic.
Ahead of the book’s release earlier this year, Brown spoke to The Telegraph about Prince Harry and Meghan’s situation and said: "The Oprah interview was desperately damaging to any relationship that Harry could ever hope to have with his family.
"And even that could have been gradually assuaged if he hadn’t then announced he was doing a memoir. I think the memoir was actually more breath-taking than the interview. Frankly, berating the world for the lack of privacy he’s had and now he can’t stop giving interviews… It’s amazing.
"He’s so emotionally needy that he’s been completely and utterly taken over by Meghan and his whole personality has changed. It’s a really sad thing to a great many people. Meghan seems to answer some huge need in Harry and it seems like they are in a powerful co-dependency. And I do question how it will end."
The stark shift in Prince Harry’s character from being a loveable and popular member of the Royal Family was also noted in Valentine Low’s book ‘Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown’. It details how before Harry and older brother Prince William became full-time working royals, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton was appointed their Private Secretary on a part-time basis.
The author explains that when it came to William, Lowther-Pinkerton - who was asked to become one of Prince George ’s godfathers in 2013 - had the task of helping him "steer a course through life" - but when it came to Harry, it was "more complex".
Low writes: "The younger prince was a dashing figure, flying an Apache helicopter, and was heavily committed in the area of children’s health, with charities like Well Child. But he also used to be quite a wild lad.
"When Harry was young, it was easy to forgive him, his transgressions. But at what point does a wild lad become a seedy old roué? At the time, it was nothing to worry about: just something to keep an eye on. Eventually, of course, the problem would resolve itself, but not in a way that Lowther-Pinkerton or anyone else imagined. The wild lad died the day Harry met Meghan Markle."
