Meghan Markle, Prince Harry may struggle without 'royal-style logistics,' Princess Diana's ex secretary says

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Princess Diana's former private secretary is voicing some concerns he has with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's new chapter after they step down as senior royals.

Patrick Jephson, who was employed as a private secretary for the late "People's Princess," compared her struggle after leaving royal duties to her son Harry's impending situation, stressing that "Megxit" may not be easy for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after all.

"The unwelcome reality is harsh but simple: to deliver the kind of humanitarian message associated with her brand, and to maintain the profile her philanthropic ambitions required, there was no substitute for the royal-style logistics that previously surrounded Diana," Jephson wrote in a piece for Vanity Fair.

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Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York. (Kristy Wigglesworth/AFP via Getty Images)

Jephson hinted at some of the struggles that could come for Meghan and Harry, who jointly announced on Jan. 8 their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family and work independently, splitting their time between the United Kingdom and North America.

For starters, the former secretary said money could impact their desires, as it did for Princess Diana.

"Deprived of full royal status, she inevitably fell back on the practical benefits -- planes, limousine and bodyguards -- that only wealth could provide," Jephson wrote.

MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY TO REUNITE WITH PRINCE WILLIAM, KATE MIDDLETON DESPITE REPORTED RIFT

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced in January their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family.  (Andrew Milligan/Pool Photo via AP)

"By throwing off the restrictions of royalty, she just swapped one set of shackles for another."

According to the former private secretary, Prince Harry and Meghan are still in need of some of the luxury that comes along with being a royal.

"They need the stuff only wealth can provide, but chafe at the obligations and scrutiny of royalty," he wrote. "Yet without royal status, their long-term earning potential could be in doubt—and the power of their celebrity may also diminish the longer they stay away from Buckingham Palace."

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will reunite with Prince William and Kate Middleton on March 9. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Despite the Duke and Duchess' already established circle of famous pals that could bring forward new projects for the pair, Archie's parents may also encounter unexpected downsides of retreating to a life outside of the United Kingdom and the British royal family's jam-packed schedule.

"Not this year perhaps, or even next, but eventually the lost familiarity of habit, tradition, and a comforting routine may tug at the Duke's heart," the private security wrote of Harry. "It's often been observed that Harry seemed happiest in the Army -- with all those rules and regulations and discipline and responsibilities, those irksome, stifling, mundane duties."

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Jephson's perspective comes days after the couple are set to publicly reunite with Prince William and Kate Middleton amid reports of the family rift.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will join the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall for Commonwealth Day on Monday, March 9, Buckingham Palace confirmed. The British royals will be at Westminster Abbey for the annual service.