ROYAL REBELS: Similarities between Prince Harry and Princess Margaret

According to biographer Andrew Morton, the Queen has displayed “infinite patience” with her grandson Prince Harry because she understands the difficulties encountered by younger royal siblings. The author of many royal biographies, the most recent of which is Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, claims that the Queen saw her younger sister Princess Margaret struggling to carve out a substantive royal position as the second-born, and that she has learnt from her mistakes.

The generational comparisons between members of the Royal Family have piqued the interest of many, and rightly so, given the striking similarities.

According to royal biographer Andrew Morton, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret were very similar to Princes Harry and William in terms of the support they gave one another.

Morton spoke on The Morning Show recently to discuss the Royal Family and his new book.

“I think the Queen knows that being the spare is hard and a part of her recognizes that Harry was sometimes a bit of a lost soul just like her sister,” Morton tells Vanity Fair. His latest biography, Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, examines the sisters' close yet often tense relationship. “She has always wanted to protect Harry and I think in part that's because she watched Margaret fall victim to the system,” he continues. “Shutting out Margaret didn't help and the Queen has learned from that. She didn't want history to repeat itself with Harry.”

Princess Margaret struggled to find her position in the monarchy, and given Harry's decision to step down from his duties as a senior prince, it's only natural that he follows in the footsteps of his great-aunt.

“When you compare personalities, Harry is like Margaret, a royal rebel,” Andrew explains. ‘Disobedience is my pleasure,' Margaret once said, and you can see some of it in Harry. Margaret felt like an alien at times, and I believe this is why the Queen has made sure the door is still available for Harry to return to the royal fold. She would have empathy and compassion for him because she grew up witnessing her younger sister perform the difficult role of the spare.

The Queen has always openly supported Harry, from offering her personal approval for him to serve on the front lines in Afghanistan to endorsing his Invictus Games for injured service forces by appearing in a spoof video with the Obamas. The Queen went out of her way to appease her grandson's need to start a new life for himself and his relatives, even after he and Meghan Markle made the shocking declaration that they will step down as senior royals. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life,” she wrote in a statement at the time. “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family.”

Margaret suffered without a fixed position within the Firm, according to Morton's novel, which discusses the sisters' intimate relationship even as the demands of the crown come between them. Vanity Fair quoted Morton as saying, “Margaret often felt that she was in Elizabeth's shadow.” “She was four years younger, and tried to make up for the age difference by wearing the same clothes and doing the same things as her older sister, but there was a hierarchy and Margaret always came behind the Queen. She found out very soon in life that she would be number two .”

Harry raised fears over “history repeating itself” during Markle and Harry's candid interview with Oprah Winfrey last month.

Seeing the interview was like being “put into a time machine,” according to Morton.

“It reminded me so much of what Diana used to say, talking about her sense of isolation, her loneliness, the fact that she wasn't being helped and the words were virtually identical.”

Morton adds that Markle's suggestion that the Royal Family would not offer her the support she wanted for her mental wellbeing shocked him, particularly because Harry's godmother is Julia Samuel, a well-known psychotherapist.

“Mental health is talked about inside the Royal Family,” he says, adding that Margaret received help from a psychotherapist in London when she needed it.