A former royal staff member has suggested Prince Harry would never have married Meghan Markle if his mom was still alive, after she died in a car crash in Paris.

Speaking on a recent podcast, Paul Burrell – who served as Princess Diana’s trusted confidante – discussed Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan.

After serving Princess Diana for 10 years before her death, Burrell developed an intimate bond with the princess and was regarded as among her most reliable allies. Also among Diana’s friends was her hairdresser, who recently spoke out about rumors surrounding the late princess.

Burrell also spent considerable time with Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Though he no longer maintains connections with the princes’ lives, Burrell regularly discusses the royals, and has now claimed Harry likely wouldn’t have married Meghan in 2018 had Diana survived.

During his appearance on The Daily T podcast, Burrell stated, “If Diana had been alive, I doubt whether Harry would have married Meghan.”

The former butler explained that this stems from Harry being “lost” and devastated following Diana’s passing, leaving him desperately seeking affection ever since.

He remarked, “For the next years going through his life he was lost, he didn’t know where love was.

“When he heard a 36-year-old mature American woman whisper something into his ear along the lines of ‘you and I could be a great team’ or ‘we could change the world,’ he didn’t hear Meghan’s voice, he heard his mother’s voice. Because Harry was always searching for love and he found it with Meghan.”

Harry has previously drawn parallels between Meghan and his late mother.

In the 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, the prince shared, “So much of what Meghan is, and how she is, is so similar to my mum.

“She has the same compassion, she has the same empathy, she has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.”

This is in spite of some family members reportedly struggling to see any resemblance between the two women.