- Meghan Markle is engaged to Prince Harry.
- Prince Harry said in an interview that Markle and Princess Diana would be "best friends," if his mother were still alive.
- Markle and the late princess have a number of things in common, from a love of fashion to a dedication to humanitarian work.
Meghan Markle has more in common with Princess Diana than immediately meets the eye.
On Monday, news broke that Prince Harry was engaged to marry American actress Meghan Markle. The prince designed Markle's engagement ring himself, using two diamonds from the jewelry collection of his late mother, Princess Diana.
When asked what his mother would have thought of Markle, Prince Harry told the BBC that he thought she would have been "best friends with Meghan."
"Oh, they'd be thick as thieves, without question," Harry said. "I think she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, you know so excited for me."
Markle and the late Princess Diana come from very different backgrounds. However, taking a closer look at the pair, it's clear why the prince believes they would be best friends.
Diana's and Markle's lives started very differently.
Diana was born in 1961, into the Spencer family, a British aristocratic family with royal ancestry. She grew up on the grounds of Queen Elizabeth's private estate, Sandringham, in Norfolk.
Markle, meanwhile, was born in Los Angeles in 1981.
Markle comes from a more modest background. Her mother, Doria Ragland, is a yoga instructor and clinical therapist, while her father, Thomas W. Markle is a lighting director, the Telegraph reported. Ragland is African-American, and Markle is Caucasian.
Both Markle and Diana's parents split when their daughters were young. Diana's parents separated in a high-profile case when she was six years old, and Markle's separated when she was just two.
Markle's and Diana's paths to a royal engagement couldn't be more different.
Diana was just 16 when she met Prince Charles. According to The Daily Times, Charles — who was 28 at the time — was visiting the Spencer "ancestral home" and actually dating Diana's elder sister at the time.
The pair didn't grow close until a few years later. In her late teens, Lady Diana was working low-paying jobs and living relatively simply, despite her aristocratic heritage. Before Charles proposed in 1981, Diana was working as an assistant kindergarten teacher and living in a London apartment with three other women.
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