EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry 'Gripped by Same Paranoia' That Haunted His Tragic Mom Princess Diana Before He Fled Royal Family for New Life in America With Meghan
Prince Harry shared Diana's paranoia before fleeing the royal family for a new life in America with Meghan.
Aug. 27 2025, Published 4:17 p.m. ET
Prince Harry was consumed by the same fears that haunted his tragic mother Princess Diana before he decided to quit the royal family, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The royal rebel infamously stepped back from royal life in 2020 and moved to California with his wife Meghan Markle – with the pair shocking the monarchy when they announced in January that year they would no longer serve as senior royals.
Biographer Andrew Morton has now claimed Harry's suspicions peaked after Buckingham Palace released an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth, King Charles, Prince William and a young Prince George – a photograph that underlined the future line of succession.
Harry's Wake-Up Call
Biographer Andrew Morton says a palace photo fueled Harry’s suspicions.
To Harry, the image confirmed what he and Meghan had already believed: that they were being deliberately sidelined and lined up for a fall by the royals – which is exactly how Diana felt before she died in her Paris car smash.
"The royal couple suspected that the entire institution was conspiring against them," Morton said.
"The unspoken code was straightforward: the future of the monarchy was assured, with or without Meghan and Harry."
Sources close to Harry say the photograph was a "wake-up call" for him, as he increasingly felt palace machinery was working to edge him and Meghan out of The Firm.
A source said: "His deep unease is an echo of the paranoia experienced by Diana before her death in Paris on 31 August 1997."
The Car Crash That Killed Princess Diana
Harry saw a canceled meeting with the Queen as proof of palace interference.
At 36, Diana was killed in a car crash alongside her companion Dodi Fayed, 42, and driver Henri Paul, 41, after being pursued by photographers.
In the years before her death, she had confided to friends she believed the royal family wanted to "get rid" of her.
Most strikingly, in October 1993 Diana wrote a note to her butler Paul Burrell in which she claimed: "My husband is planning 'an accident' in my car – brake failure and serious head injury – in order to make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy."
The reference to her husband Prince Charles' former aide, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, underscored her state of total paranoia and fear over the power of the royals.
Burrell produced the letter at the 2008 inquest into her death, which investigated claims of possible foul play that still shroud the circumstances of her Paris smash.
Sources said Harry believed the palace was plotting against him and Meghan.
The coroner in the case, Lord Justice Scott Baker, ultimately ruled Diana and Dodi were unlawfully killed due to the grossly negligent driving of Henri Paul and the paparazzi pursuing the car.
A jury heard evidence of Diana's fears, including testimony from Burrell and others who described her conviction that she was being targeted.
While the inquiry dismissed conspiracy theories, it concluded Diana had indeed felt menaced by forces around her.
A source told us: "For Harry, those echoes were impossible to ignore.
"His growing anxiety was reinforced when a meeting he arranged with Queen Elizabeth was abruptly cancelled in early January 2020.
"Harry believed palace courtiers had intervened to prevent the private conversation and was part of him being plotted against."
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Royal Exit
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Harry’s paranoia echoed Princess Diana’s fears before her tragic death.
Soon after, Harry and Markle issued their bombshell 'Megxit' statement, declaring: "After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution."
Days later, at the Sandringham Summit, it was agreed Harry and Markle would step away from royal duties and no longer use their HRH titles for commercial purposes.
A palace insider said: "The decision by Harry and Meghan to quit the monarchy marked the culmination of Harry's long-standing dread – a fear that history might repeat itself, and that the paranoia which haunted Diana was now his own burden to carry."
