Thomas Markle fiasco shows 'royal family hasn't learned lessons since Diana'
Watch the full interview with Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, on episode five of Yahoo UK’s ‘The Royal Box‘, show which is available to stream here from Friday 3 August.
Thomas Markle’s controversial appearances in recent interviews have generated plenty of backlash.
Although Kensington Palace has warned the media not to invade the privacy of the Markles, that situation has become increasingly hard to manage with numerous relatives – most notably Meghan’s father and her half-sister, Samantha – frequently issuing inflammatory statements either on social media or in TV interviews.
Now the royal family has now come under attack for not supporting Mr Markle during this period of upheaval.
According to a former butler of Princess Diana and the Queen the royals haven’t learnt an important lesson since the days of Diana.
“There’s no protocol for people like Thomas Markle, or in-laws,” Paul Burrell tells Yahoo UK. “People that marry into the royal family are lost at sea.”
“They are keeping Meghan safe but what about all the people in her world on the fringes?”
When asked if he thinks the palace have tried to reach out to Mr Markle, Burrell says: “I don’t think they’ve learnt that lesson yet.”
![Meghan, as a teenager, with her father [Photo: Splash]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/yo6MdtwpMhiJl8S3ujDOMw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTk5OA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/d66d1bd829aa0f855379331905ebd773)
Burrell worked as Diana’s butler from 1987 until her death a decade later, and acted as a confidant to the princess during her messy separation from Prince Charles.
“Somebody has to fix it before it gets more broken. This is a dysfunctional family being given to the press.
“[Meghan] will survive much better than Diana did,” he continues.
“She’s landed the biggest role of her life as an actress. Be careful what you wish for, because it’s not always what it seems. Diana found that out at an early age.”
![Paul Burrell worked with Princess Diana from 1987 until her death in 1997. [Photo: Rex]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/HNX9D.VoBG201WevMXVEKA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTc0OA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/09dabdeae5ac0baeb70432e1c84121d6)
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Read more from Yahoo Style UK:
Why Meghan Markle’s new family are ignoring her toxic old one
‘Gap will not be bridged between Meghan and Thomas Markle,’ says royal biographer Andrew Morton
“Thomas Markle brought it on himself,” says Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter
