Earl Spencer says it’s ‘tough’ for women who marry into the royal family

Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer says women who marry into the royal family face a “tough” adjustment to a “very specific” way of thinking.

During an on-stage conversation in New York, royal biographer Tina Brown asked Spencer about the reality of marrying into royalty as they discussed the pressures the late Princess of Wales faced after her marriage to Prince Charles.

“Do you think that it is actually impossible to be a human being of today’s modern era inside the cage of the monarchy?” the former Vanity Fair editor asked, per People.

Earl Spencer, who has been dominating headlines with his book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, said while “there are people who endure it”, there are also “certain people who find it very difficult to be inside of it”.

“I think if you grow up in a royal family, it’s a lot easier than marrying into it,” he continued.

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“If you look at the wives ... who’ve married in, it’s tough. It’s a way of thinking that is very specific.”

Both Catherine, the Princess of Wales and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex grew up in non-royal families and faced enormous public scrutiny when they married Prince William and Prince Harry respectively.

While Princess Diana didn’t grow up a royal, she was raised in a wealthy, influential aristocratic family that moved in social circles with members of the British monarchy.

Charles and Diana’s father even rented a property on Queen Elizabeth II’s private estate in Sandringham, Norfolk.

Elsewhere in his discussion with Brown, Spencer touched on the public reaction to Harry and Meghan’s decision to move back to the UK with their two children.

“Is it astounding that an Englishman wants to move back to England? I don’t think so,” he told Brown when she raised the topic.

“You forget, these are just regular people at heart, and this English guy’s lived in California, he wants to live in England. Seems normal.”

Spencer also described himself as “just an elderly uncle” who’s there for his late sister’s boys “if needed”.

“It’s a matter of public record that Harry and his family came to stay with Cat [Spencer, the Earl’s wife] and me this summer,” he said as an example.

“If I’m of any use for things like that, that’s fine.”