Diana 'wouldn't have been a fan' of Meghan, says former friend

Princess Diana's friend says she wouldn't be pleased with Prince Harry's life direction. Photo / AP

Princess Diana would not have been "a great fan" of Meghan Markle, according to one of her former friends.

Tina Brown, author of both The Diana Chronicles and The Palace Papers, told the Daily Beast that while Diana would have been "thrilled" her son, Prince Harry, had met someone who made him happy, she doesn't think she would be pleased with the direction his life has taken.

"I don't think Diana would have been the great fan of Meghan that Meghan herself might perhaps imagine," Brown said.

She added Diana would have seen Meghan as someone "steering Harry in a direction that was not good".

Brown has previously been vocal about the effect Harry and Meghan's decision to permanently quit royal duties has had.

"Harry has become a disruptive force in the [royal] family. For them, it's like Diana's son is continuing the campaign to disrupt Charles' future reign, and the 'War of the Wales' continues. It's a very destabilising factor," she told Marie Claire while promoting one of her books.

"Meghan got angry so fast, and that's what's rocked the family. They're still reeling and just baffled why it seemed to go wrong so quickly."

Both Harry and his brother, Prince William, are paying their private respects to their mother on the 25th anniversary of her death.

It's been 25 years since Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Photo / AP

Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, aged just 36. Her sons were 15 and 12 at the time.

William and Harry have previously marked the anniversary of her death together in public but are not believed to have spoken face-to-face since they unveiled a statue of their mother last year.

Harry and Meghan are due to travel to the UK next month for several public engagements but will likely not see the Queen or the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on that visit.