Prince Harry told Meghan Markle not to take a photograph in front of the Taj Mahal during her solo visit to India in 2018, because he did not want her to be compared to his late mother, Princess Diana.
The request revealed in Spare
Harry revealed the instruction in his memoir, Spare. He wrote: "On the subject of India: we laughed about the advice I'd given Meg before she'd left: 'Do not take a photo in front of the Taj Mahal'."
He explained: "She'd asked why, and I'd said: 'My mum'. I'd explained that my mother had posed for a photo there, and it had become iconic, and I didn't want anyone thinking Meg was trying to mimic my mother."
Meghan, he said, had never seen the photograph and "found the whole thing baffling". Harry added: "I loved her for being baffled."
Diana's iconic 1992 photograph
Diana, Princess of Wales, was pictured in front of the Taj Mahal in 1992. The image later became a symbol of her loneliness, taken just months before she and the now-King Charles separated.
The picture confused many royal fans at the time, as the visit was a joint trip for Diana and Charles. The late princess looked contemplatively at the camera, and some people said it marked the end of their marriage; they announced their split later that year. Diana died aged 36 in 1997.
The couple's later life
Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals in 2020, less than two years after their wedding day in May 2018. They later welcomed their son, Prince Archie, and a year after moving to the US with him, they welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet, in 2021.
