Princess Diana's butler: Why Diana would have loved Meghan

Burrell believes Diana would have fully supported Harry and Meghan's new life. Photo / Getty Images

Princess Diana would have liked Duchess Meghan because she stands for "wonderful things", according to Diana's former butler.

Following the announcement that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are set to drop their HRH titles and step back from royal duties, 61-year-old Paul Burrell, who served Diana from 1987 until her death a decade later at the age of 36 - thinks Diana would approve of her son's wife and their joint decision to step away from the British royal family.

Burrell served as Diana's butler until her death. Photo / Getty Images

Speaking to the new issue of OK! magazine, Burrell claimed: "Meghan stands for wonderful things; she's a mixed-race, divorced actress and Diana would have embraced all of that."

Burrell - who wrote a memoir titled A Royal Duty - has also claimed Harry, 35, picked the former Suits actress as she has similar values to his late mother.

He continued: "Harry absolutely sees his mother in Meghan - Meghan was 36 when Harry married her and his mother was 36 when she died. He was looking for a mature woman who had strong visions of the future, not someone who dressed in Dior and dripping in Chanel."

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Burrell is also sure the couple will flourish now they've stepped away from royal life, and that their relationship will grow even stronger.

He added: "They'll be free. They've been given back their lives. Being royal isn't all it's cracked up to be.

"They're very strong. Meghan's an independent woman who has her own mind. It may look as if she's manipulating Harry, but she's not! I have no doubt they discuss everything and they'll have another baby soon.

"They do need to accept being photographed, though. They can't have an entirely private life."

Asked if he thinks Prince William's wife Kate Middleton will be jealous of Meghan's freedom, the former royal servant replied: "I'm sure she will be! Kate will know what it's like to be trapped inside a palace. Her life will be more constrained than Meghan's."

He also claimed that Harry and William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II - who he first served as a footman - has been constrained to a life she didn't necessarily want to lead.

"I think she's had a very hard life, and I've seen the tears of the queen. She's a kind lady, but she's never had the life she wanted. She'd have been happy being a farmer's wife."