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Princess Diana was one of the most famous royals of the 20th century. Because of this, onlookers often compare her sons’ wives to her. For example, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge—who married Prince William—has dealt with lots of Diana comparisons over the years.

However, Kate is also different than Diana in several ways, and she is praised for carving her own path as a royal.

Photo of Kate Middleton next to photo of Princess Diana
(L) Kate Middleton | Samir Hussein/WireImage, (R) Princess Diana | Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

How is Kate Middleton similar to or different than Princess Diana?

Kate is similar to Diana in that both women have put forth ways to modernize the royal family. Diana was famous for eschewing the traditional royal parenting style of being hands-off from children, and Kate has a similar approach in her parenting style as well.

Both Kate and Diana are also fashion icons, with many women around the world looking at them for style inspirations. Kate, in particular, has even employed sweet nods to Diana in some of her outfits.

However, Kate differs from Diana in many ways. For example, Kate is much more reserved than Diana and is a natural introvert. Unlike her late mother-in-law, Kate does not seek the spotlight and seems okay with being a support act to William. Some have even said that Kate is more similar to Queen Elizabeth than Diana.

Kate Middleton receives praise for carving her own path

Because of Diana’s huge popularity, some people believe Kate should mimic Diana’s path. However, according to former BBC reporter Kevin Connolly, Kate is carving her own royal path and is benefiting a lot from it.

“I think the Duchess of Cambridge has very wisely decided and been very wisely guided towards establishing a very different type of public persona,” Connolly told Express. “There is no sense about Kate Middleton that she aspires to the headline making glamour of Diana – dancing with Wayne Sleep, dancing at the White House or wearing those extraordinary ball gowns that made global front pages.”

Connolly added, “The Duchess of Cambridge is clearly being shaped into a role and is herself shaping a role which is about being the consort to the future King, being the Queen, being the mother of the boy born to be king. She has found a role which I think the British people are extremely attached to.”

Connolly believes royals will continue to be compared to Diana, but at the end of the day, no one “is going to combine that radiant character, that sense of glamour, that sense of compassion with that sense of playfulness that Diana brought to all of these things.”

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According to research firm YouGov, Kate is the third most popular royal after Her Majesty and William, respectively. Royal experts believe Kate’s popularity has risen during the pandemic as well.

“I think some people might say that the lockdown that we’ve experienced here—well, three of them—in many ways was the unlocking of Kate,” royal expert Katie Nicholl said to 60 Minutes Australia. “I think that the public got to see more of the true duchess than they’ve ever been able to see before.”

Nicholl added, “We got to see William and Kate at home at Anmer. We got to see their children clapping for the NHS during the lockdown. We got access to them in a way that we absolutely hadn’t before. I think a lot of that was down to William and Kate recognizing that they couldn’t be seen to be in their ivory tower. They needed to be accessible.”

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