Earl Spencer warns tabloid treatment of Harry and Meghan echoes what 'brought low' Diana

Earl Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, says the tabloid press is doing to Prince Harry and Meghan what it once did to his sister — and he knows where that road can lead.

In a BBC interview aired in full on Sunday, September 20, Spencer drew an explicit line between the media scrutiny Diana faced before her death in 1997 and the coverage the Duke and Duchess of Sussex experience today.

If you look at an article in a tabloid about Diana or … Harry and Meghan, they can be really, really unpleasant. And I think it would be really beholden on people to learn from Diana's example.— Earl Spencer

I'm not here to speak for Harry and Meghan, but for anyone who's being destroyed in this way daily, it must be such a cancerous influence in their life.— Earl Spencer

Speaking to USA Today, Spencer, 62, quoted his sister as having been 'really brought low by all that criticism,' then reflected: 'I suppose it's a pity when I see echoes of that now.'

The earl also said he worries about Harry's safety without publicly funded police protection — a status Harry lost when he and Meghan stepped back from senior royal roles in 2020. Three Court of Appeal judges ultimately ruled against Harry when he challenged that decision in court, according to USA Today.

I would say that I personally worry about the fifth in line to the throne who's served in the military not having any police protection. As an uncle who's seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, I would veer towards protection.— Earl Spencer

On August 31, 1997, Diana was killed when her car crashed in Paris while being pursued by paparazzi; the driver was subsequently found to have been intoxicated. Spencer's comments carry particular force given that context: his concern about press behaviour and inadequate protection is rooted in the same combination of factors he believes killed his sister.

Harry and Meghan returned to the UK from California on August 26, roughly six years after relocating there following their departure from senior royal duties. A letter sent on behalf of King Charles in September confirmed they will remain nonworking royals and will not carry out official engagements on the monarch's behalf, according to USA Today.

Harry has been outspoken for years about the British press. In a July 2024 ITV documentary, 'Tabloids on Trial,' he described tabloid coverage as a direct physical risk to his family.

It's still dangerous, and all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff, to act on what they have read – and whether it's a knife or acid or whatever it is … these are things that are a genuine concern for me. It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country.— Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

Spencer's BBC interview was conducted at Althorp and coincides with the promotion of his new memoir about Diana's life, according to the multi-source web summary. The memoir has separately put Spencer at odds with Buckingham Palace: he alleges that King Charles said 'we'll forget her soon enough' in the wake of Diana's death, a claim the palace left without direct denial while issuing a statement, reported by The Guardian, saying 'the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.'

It was astonishingly provocative and below the belt because it was essentially trying to say I'd lied without the king being able to deny what I'd said.— Earl Spencer

Spencer told the BBC he had informed 'close friends and family' about the alleged remark immediately after it was made 'because it was so monstrous,' and said 'Diana would be cheering from the rafters at this book,' according to The Guardian. On the rift between Harry and his brother William, the Prince of Wales, Spencer said he does not take either side.

Why it matters — Spencer's warning — from a man who watched his sister die at the intersection of press pursuit and inadequate protection — puts fresh pressure on the question of whether Harry and Meghan's return to the UK can be safe without restored security arrangements.

Reported by theguardian.com, usatoday.com, independent.co.uk