George Clooney has compared the media’s treatment of Meghan Markle to the ultimately tragic pursuit of her late mother-in-law Princess Diana, warning that “history is repeating itself”.

Speaking to reporters in Los Angeles during a promotion for his upcoming Catch 22 television reboot, Clooney said the Duchess of Sussex was being “pursued and vilified”.

“She’s a woman who is seven months pregnant and she has been pursued and vilified and chased in the same way that Diana was, and it’s history repeating itself,” UK media outlet quoted Clooney as saying.

“We’ve seen how that ends,” the Oceans 11 star added.

Diana died in a Paris car crash while being pursued by paparazzi in 1997.

Clooney and his wife, Amal Clooney, attended Meghan’s wedding to Diana’s son, Prince Harry, last year.

It was announced in October 2018 that Meghan and Prince Harry are expecting their first child this year.

In the latest drama to embroil the actress-turned-royal, Meghan’s father Thomas Markle last week released a five-page, handwritten letter the Duchess allegedly sent him, ironically pleading with him to stop speaking to the media.

The letter, sent after the May 19 royal wedding, reportedly said: “Dad, I’m so heartbroken, I love you. I have one father. Please stop victimising me through the media so we can repair our relationship”.

The letter received widespread coverage in Britain, where The Mirror newspaper went so far as to consult a handwriting expert who claimed  that Meghan’s writing reveals her to be “emotionally insecure and self-pitying”.

“You’re taking a letter from a daughter to a father and broadcasting it everywhere,” Clooney said.

“She’s getting a raw deal there, it’s irresponsible. I’m sort of surprised by that,” he said.

Other tabloid stories have accused Meghan of being demanding with staff, throwing tantrums and engaging in a bitter feud with her sister-in-law, and future queen, Kate Middleton.

Clooney’s comments come a week after five of Meghan’s closest friends revealed intimate details of her life to defend her against reports she’s “difficult”.

The friends painted Meghan as a pillar of “elegance, grace, philanthropy” who is devoted to God and can “make a five-star meal out of the garbage in your refrigerator”.

-with agencies