A close friend of the late Princess Diana has revealed just what he thinks she would have thought of Meghan Markle. Richard Kay, the Daily Mail's Editor at Large, spent a lot of time with “the people’s princess” in the 1990s and was the last person she called prior to her untimely death in 1997.

Speaking on the Royal Confidential podcast, Mr Kay recalled how the pair would go for dinner and long drives as their friendship blossomed in the last years of her life. When responding to a listener question about what the late princess would think about her daughter-in law, Mr Kay disagreed that she would have “sent her packing”. He said: “None of us really know, but I think there is something about Meghan that Diana would have found not just intriguing but slightly liberating.

“I think she would have liked Meghan's independence and the fact that she was able to offer Harry an escape route, if you like, from royal duty.”

However, the Royal expert believes that the princess would be disappointed at the strained nature of the relationship between her two sons.

Recent reports have suggested that the Duke of Sussexes calls to his brother and the King have been ignored, with Harry having stepped back from Royal duties in 2020.

Mr Kay added: “I think she would have admired Harry's decision to settle in America.

“She wouldn't have admired, however, the rift with William.

“I think she would have been very disappointed by how things panned out but I think initially she would have been very welcoming to Meghan. That’s my view.”

Unbeknownst to many was Diana’s desire to one day move to America herself to obtain the freedom she was so often denied in Britain.

He recalled how the princess often talked about moving to America but was unable to due to her sons being in school and her desire to maintain a close relationship with them.

He recalled: “She talked about it right at the very end of her life to me - about settling for a time in the U.S.

“I often asked her what it was about America that attracted her to the country, it was this idea that she felt she would be freer somehow, that they took a more nuanced attitude towards celebrity.”