Princess Diana’s brother says Prince Harry ‌and his wife Meghan Markle should have official security because the media is treating them much as it did his sister was ‌in the years before her death.

Diana died aged 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash as photographers pursued her on motorbikes.

Her death sparked an outpouring of grief and a ‌reckoning over whether the media bore some responsibility after years of splashing details of the princess’s life across front pages.

Charles Spencer spoke to the BBC on Sunday (British time) ahead of this week’s publication of his book about Diana. It is highly critical of her former husband, the now-King Charles.

It also follows the return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to live in Britain, six years after they quit royal duties and moved to the US.

“From a security aspect, as an uncle who’s seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, I would veer towards protection,” ‌Spencer told the ‌BBC, citing Harry’s position as ⁠fifth-in-line to the British throne and as a former soldier.

He said the tabloid treatment of both Diana, and ​Harry and Meghan, could be “really, really unpleasant”, that it was “beholden on people” to learn from that experience.

Spencer’s book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, has already made headlines around the world.

The earl has accused the then-Prince of Wales, of sounding “giddily elated” in the hours after Diana’s death. He said an angry prince told him the world would forget Diana soon enough.

Buckingham Palace hit back in a rare public rebuke, saying the King was “mindful that the ‌pain of fraternal ​grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss”.

Asked by the BBC how he could ​prove the conversations ‌that he claimed, Spencer said he had included a specific line in his much-lauded eulogy at Diana’s funeral to counter the comments, ending it by saying she ​would “never be extinguished from our minds”.

Spencer said he had written the book, ahead of the 30th anniversary of her death, to celebrate her life. He said their childhood had never had a dull moment.

“We both have ADHD. She was never diagnosed, but clearly we did,” he said.

Diana’s family accused the royals of showing a lack of support or care towards the princess before her death. The charge was repeated by Harry and Meghan before they quit royal duties in 2020 to move to North America.

Harry has criticised the British government’s decision to strip him and his family of automatic police protection afforded to other senior royals, after he quit royal duties. He has fought an ongoing battle to have it restored and the decision is now under review.

Spencer said his revelations would not come as a surprise ​to Harry or his older brother Prince William. The Prince of Wales has made no public comments about the book.

The earl said he knew many more details about the King but had chosen not to ​include them in the upcoming book.

-AAP