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Prince Harry’s Friends Say He’s ‘Hurt’ Mom Diana’s Death Was Used to Attack Meghan Again

The incident once again exposed how tightly Diana’s shadow still looms over Harry’s life, and how easily Markle is drawn into comparisons she never sought.

What was meant to be a grand fashion debut for Meghan Markle turned into a royal déjà vu, and not the good kind. A behind-the-scenes video Markle filmed of her returning from the Paris Fashion Week afterparty, near the site of Princess Diana’s fatal crash, reignited old ghosts, leaving Prince Harry both 'hurt' and weary of the familiar script. As per insiders, the backlash felt cruel and unnecessary for the Duke. 

The Duchess of Sussex, who was in the French capital to support Balenciaga's new creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, had shared a short video of her unwinding in the backseat of a car after the show. The clip, shot at night as her vehicle cruised past the Seine, was meant to capture the glamor of her return to Europe. But when eagle-eyed royal watchers noticed the car passing close to the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, the site of Diana’s fatal 1997 crash, the backlash was immediate. 

Markle was dubbed ‘insensitive’ and ‘tone-deaf.’ A happy moment turned into some sort of symbolism, reportedly, has Harry very unhappy. A friend of the Prince told the Daily Mail, “Harry was left hurt and upset. Diana’s death was used as a stick to beat his wife with. [Meghan] did not even pass close to the tunnel.” The source added that Harry’s reaction wasn’t shock so much as a familiar sense of despair. 

For Markle’s close ones, the backlash was nothing short of baffling. People close to the Duchess told GB News that the suggestion of any hidden meaning behind the post was ‘unfair and unwarranted.’ The video, they maintained, was nothing more than a snapshot from her brief stay, a two-day visit to support Piccioli. “It was simply Paris at night,” one associate reportedly said.

Yet the incident once again exposed how tightly Diana’s shadow still looms over Harry’s life, and how easily Markle is drawn into comparisons she never sought. The Duke has spoken often about how his mother’s death shaped his relationship with the press and how he has spent years trying to shield his family from the same relentless scrutiny that consumed her.

This latest episode, insiders say, has been especially difficult because it felt like history repeating itself, not in tragedy but twisting things and sensationalizing them. “He wasn’t even that surprised,” the same friend admitted. “He was more despondent than shocked.” Those close to him say the Duke finds it painful that Diana’s memory, which he’s tried to honor through charity and advocacy, is instead being turned against the woman he loves.

The controversy overshadowed what was supposed to be Markle’s reintroduction to the European spotlight. Her appearance at Paris Fashion Week, her first major event there since stepping back from royal duties, was meant to signal a fresh chapter. Instead, it became another reminder of how the Sussexes’ every move is still read through the lens of royal history.