\n<\/p>\n
Princess Diana<\/span><\/a>\u2019s devoted butler, <\/span>Paul Burrell<\/b>, remembers the moment well. \u201cI first \u2018met\u2019 [<\/span>Prince Harry<\/b><\/a>] when Diana placed my hand on her tummy and I felt him kick in the latter stages of her pregnancy,\u201d he exclusively tells Life & Style.<\/em> He\u2019ll also never forget seeing the little boy who \u201cpreferred to sleep with his mother rather than in his own bed\u201d after Diana was tragically killed in a 1997 Paris car crash at 36. When a grieving Harry returned to Kensington Palace, her servant of 10 years recalls, he \u201cflung himself into my arms. His heart broke and he soaked my shirt with his tears.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, nearly three decades later, when Paul looks at where her 40-year-old son is today, he can\u2019t help but imagine what Diana would think of it all \u2014 from Harry\u2019s decision to marry former <\/span>Suits<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0 actress <\/span>Meghan Markle<\/b><\/a>, 43, to his moving to California in 2020 amid a seemingly hopeless estrangement from sibling Prince William, 42, and their father, <\/span>King\u00a0 Charles III<\/b>,\u00a0 76.\u00a0 The truth, Paul believes, is that Diana\u00a0 would\u00a0 never have stood for her sons\u2019 ongoing feud. \u201cIf Diana had lived,\u00a0 she would have steered [Harry] in a different direction and he would have been influenced by her to stay at his brother\u2019s side,\u201d Paul says. Instead, \u201c<\/span>Meghan gave Harry the confidence to leave the royal family<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s become his most trusted advisor. \u201cI truly believe that Meghan bewitched him and when she whispered in his ear, \u2018Together we could change the world,\u2019\u201d Paul speculates, \u201cHarry heard his mother\u2019s voice, not Meghan\u2019s.\u201d In the past, no matter the scandals he found himself involved in \u2014 whether it was landing in hot water for wearing a Nazi costume to a party or being photographed naked during a game of strip billiards in Las Vegas \u2014 \u201cHarry was always gregarious and kept family and friends close. But Meghan has changed that by alienating him<\/a> from them,\u201d Paul, 66, claims, adding that the army vet no longer seems to have the \u201cextensive support network\u201d around him that he once had. \u201cNow, he appears to be reliant solely on Meghan. Her word seems to be final.\u201d<\/p>\n And that, Paul believes, has had unfortunate consequences. \u201cHarry, like his mother, always went the extra mile with people,\u201d the A Royal Duty<\/em> author explains. \u201cIn the royal pack of cards, Harry was always the joker and much more open.\u201d These days, however, the prince with the \u201ckind\u201d and \u201csensitive\u201d but also sometimes \u201cpetulant\u201d personality \u2014 last year, Diana: Closely Guarded Secret writer Robert Jobson<\/strong> alleged Harry was prone to \u201cmood swings\u201d \u2014 \u201cis always defensive and protective of his enclosed world,\u201d Paul laments.<\/p>\nMeghan Markle Is Calling the Shots in Marriage to Prince Harry<\/h2>\n
Princess Diana \u2018Would Have Embraced\u2019 Harry\u2019s \u2018Plea for Independence\u2019<\/h2>\n