‘We’ve seen how that ends’: Clooney says Meghan is being ‘vilified’ like Diana

George Clooney has fiercely defended Meghan in an extraordinary speech, comparing the media’s treatment of her to Princess Diana’s own struggles in the spotlight before her tragic death.

The Duchess of Sussex has been in the headlines over the last few days after her father Thomas Markle leaked a private letter from her to the Mail on Sunday, revealing her emotional attempts to mend their estrangement.

Before that, she was the subject of rumours and unsubstantiated claims that she’s been locked in a feud with the Duchess of Cambridge, despite them both appearing more than amicable on public outings together. Those constant claims prompted five of Meghan’s friends, who refused to be named, to give interviews to US magazine People last week in an attempt to defend the duchess against negative reports.

Now Hollywood actor Clooney has also spoken up for the former actress while speaking on a panel at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, California, on Monday.

“They’re just chasing Meghan Markle everywhere, she’s been pursued and vilified,” he told the audience, according to multiple reports. “I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to see that.”

The Mail reports he then added: “She’s a woman who is seven months pregnant and she is being pursued and vilified and chased in the same way that Diana was, and it’s history repeating itself… And we’ve seen how that ends. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to see that.”

Clooney was later asked if he’d be godfather to Meghan and Harry’s unborn baby, but he laughed off the possibility, joking to the crowd: “I’m now a father of twins, I’ve got enough s***. Literally, literally s***.”

It comes after Meghan’s father Thomas shared extracts from a heartbreaking five-page letter – which was allegedly written by the Duchess of Sussex herself – with the Mail on Sunday, showing the depths of his daughter’s grief over their estrangement.

Reportedly written after her wedding, the letter accuses Thomas of “breaking her heart into a million pieces” before pleading with him to stop lying and speaking to tabloid newspapers without first trying to speak to her.

“Daddy, it is with a heavy heart that I write this, not understanding why you have chosen to take this path, turning a blind eye to the pain you are causing,” the letter reads.

Read more: ‘Please stop lying’: Meghan’s heartbreaking letter to her dad ‘revealed’

Meghan goes on to beg: “If you love me, as you tell the press you do, please stop. Please allow us to live our lives in peace,” before adding: “Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband.”

She later hits out at Thomas for attacking Prince Harry in public, despite him always being “patient, kind and understanding” to him, before then accusing her half-sister Samantha of creating a web of lies that Thomas has simply followed.

According to CNN and PA, Clooney addressed the letter on the panel too and said: “You’re taking a letter from a daughter to a father and broadcasting it everywhere… She’s getting a raw deal there, it’s irresponsible. I’m sort of surprised by that.”

Seeing Clooney’s comments, British TV journalist Piers Morgan has since hit out at his views in a fiery column for the Mail Online, saying: “There is absolutely no comparison between the amount of media attention she gets and the amount Diana experienced.

“Diana was the biggest star on the planet; Meghan isn’t even in the top three biggest stars currently living at Kensington Palace… And Clooney is not just wrong about that.”

What do you think of George Clooney’s comments?