According to Spencer, someone who grows up inside the royal family may have a better understanding of how the institution works and what is expected of them.
Marrying into it, he suggested, can be a very different experience.
“Well, there are people who endure it,” Spencer said. “I think there are 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, “If you look at the wives of those who’ve married in, it’s tough,” adding that the monarchy follows “a way of thinking that is very specific.”
His comments inevitably bring Diana’s own experience into focus.
She married Charles in 1981, becoming one of the most recognisable members of the royal family. Their marriage was followed by the birth of their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, but the couple eventually separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.
Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, aged 36. Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via REUTERS.
