Advertisement

How Princess Diana’s post-royal life after Prince Charles divorce could provide clues to Harry and Meghan’s future plans

Getty Images
Getty Images

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced in January that they planned to step down as senior members of the Royal Family, they took the world by surprise.

Their unprecedented move left many wondering what would happen to their titles? How would they earn an income? And perhaps chief among them, was a future outside the Royal Family realistic?

Though Harry and Meghan have kept the public updated on their new ventures through their website, and reports like the couple’s move to Los Angeles and Meghan’s voiceover work with Disney continue to come in, many details about their future are still unclear.

(Getty)
(Getty)

And while Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave the Royal Family is certainly unique, they are not the first members to step down from their titles.

Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, left the Royal Family herself, following her separation from Prince Charles in 1992 and the finalization of their divorce in 1996.

In fact, much like Harry and Meghan, who said they desired a "more peaceful life," Diana shared similar statements at a 1993 benefit lunch for the Headway National Injuries Association.

(AP)
(AP)

“Over the next few months, I will be seeking a more suitable way of combining a meaningful public role with, hopefully, a more private life," she said.

So how did Diana do it? Here are the major changes in her life post-divorce.

How her title changed

Princess Diana with her sons, Princes Harry and William in 1995 (AFP/Getty Images)
Princess Diana with her sons, Princes Harry and William in 1995 (AFP/Getty Images)

Though Diana would formally be known as Diana, Princess of Wales, after her divorce from Prince Charles, the Queen no longer allowed her to keep her HRH title.

Similarly, the Queen has not allowed Harry and Meghan to keep their HRH titles following their official departure from the Royal Family on March 31.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Instead, they will go by Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Harry will also hold onto his title of prince and his position as sixth in the line of succession to the British throne because he was born a prince.

Finances

(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)

Following her separation from Charles in 1992, all of Diana’s bills were paid by the office of the Prince of Wales.

According to Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles, Diana “owned no property of her own. Her Spencer jewels belonged to her brother, those she had worn as Princess of Wales to the Crown.

(Tim Rooke/Shutterstock)
(Tim Rooke/Shutterstock)

The two joined Kensington Palace apartments where she had lived with Charles, and from which she refused to move when the Palace tried to fob her off with a smaller one, were the property of the Queen.”

Kensington Palace, where Diana lived after her divorce
Kensington Palace, where Diana lived after her divorce

When Diana and Charles’ divorce was finalized in 1996, her legal team ensured she received £17 million (or roughly $21 million) in the divorce settlement, as well as her right to reside at Kensington Palace, which remained her home until her death in August of 1997.

The staff at Highgrove, where Diana had previously lived, were divided between Charles and Diana (and in some cases, like Diana’s housekeeper Wendy Berry, let go).

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

After the divorce was finalized, Diana's team consisted of a cleaner, cook, dresser and her butler Paul Burrell.

According to The Diana Chronicles, she also refused to keep her royal security detail after the divorce, using police protection only when attending public events.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Much of Harry and Meghan’s finances are still up-in-the-air, as they announced their wish to “work to become financially independent.”

As they step down as senior members of the Royal Family, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are free to earn their own income, though at the time of their announcement they stated on their website that “95 percent of the funding received for their office expenditure is derived from income allocated by HRH The Prince of Wales, generated through the Duchy of Cornwall.”

(Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)

Like Diana, Harry and Meghan were also forced to let go of staff members at their Buckingham Palace office, following their decision to leave, however, they will still call Frogmore Cottage their home in the UK.

But in contrast to Diana, Harry and Meghan will continue to have security, though no specifics were shared.

“It is agreed that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will continue to require effective security to protect them and their son,” their site read. And following their recent move to California, a spokeswoman for the couple stated, “Privately funded security arrangements have been made.”

Inner circle

Prince Harry and Meghan attend the European Premiere of Disney's
Prince Harry and Meghan attend the European Premiere of Disney's

According to The Diana Chronicles, post-separation, Diana’s prominent visitors included Sir Elton John, fashion designer Gianni Versace, chairman of The Washington Post Katharine Graham and Hillary Clinton, who would become First Lady of the US in 1993.

Given Meghan’s connection to Hollywood, her and Harry’s future set of friends has already been the subject of much speculation.

(REUTERS)
(REUTERS)

The couple already counts former US President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, tennis player Serena Williams, and fashion designer Misha Nonoo among their friends.

They were also recently said to have gone on a dinner date with singer Jennifer Lopez and her fiancé (and former baseball pro) Alex Rodriguez.

Charity patronages:

Princess Diana supports the English National Ballet (Getty Images)
Princess Diana supports the English National Ballet (Getty Images)

During her separation from Prince Charles, Diana continued her public role with the Royal Family, attending official events and traveling for visits largely on her own, with the occasional appearance alongside Charles for “family occasions and national events.”

(The Sun/Shutterstock)
(The Sun/Shutterstock)

Even so, she was not considered to be a representative of the Queen.

(Charles Knight/Shutterstock)
(Charles Knight/Shutterstock)

Before her divorce was finalized in August 1996, Diana resigned as patron of nearly 100 charities during the divorce proceedings.

Among the charities Diana relinquished were the British Red Cross and Relate, a marriage counseling organization.

She stayed on with six charities - the English National Ballet, the Leprosy Mission (connected to her friend Mother Teresa), the National AIDS Trust, Centrepoint homeless charity, the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

Diana visits a minefield in Angola in 1997 to support an international treaty banning landmines (PA)
Diana visits a minefield in Angola in 1997 to support an international treaty banning landmines (PA)

Though she gave up many of her charities, Diana was dedicated to the handful she kept. “If I’m going to talk on behalf of any cause, I want to go see the problem for myself and learn about it,” she once said.

(Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)

She would also join the Red Cross once again for their anti-landmine campaign, famously walking through an active minefield in the South African country of Angola in 1997.

(David Levenson/Shutterstock)
(David Levenson/Shutterstock)

According to their website, Harry and Meghan will continue as patrons for all of their organizations (16 for the Duke of Sussex, including the Invictus Games Foundation, Royal Marines and Wellchild, and four for the Duchess of Sussex, including the National Theatre).

(David Hartley/Shutterstock)
(David Hartley/Shutterstock)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have also announced their intention to continue to support more community-based organizations focusing on the environment, society and women’s empowerment.

Among these community-driven initiatives they work with are Travalyst, Endeavour Fund and Coach Core.

In 2019, Prince Harry meets landmine victim Sandra Tigica, who met Princess Diana on her visit to Angola 1997 (Getty Images)
In 2019, Prince Harry meets landmine victim Sandra Tigica, who met Princess Diana on her visit to Angola 1997 (Getty Images)

Additionally, Harry and Meghan have shared they are working on creating an entirely new charitable effort - hiring former Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation staffer Catherine St Laurent as their yet-to-be-titled organization’s chief of staff and executive director.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not plan to start a ‘foundation’, but rather intend to develop a new way to effect change and complement the efforts made by so many excellent foundations globally,” they’ve shared on their site.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK