The Gist
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There are some areas in which Princess Diana and Kate Middleton “could not be further apart,” but royal biographer Ingrid Seward said they have one “main link.”
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It’s not Prince William—Diana’s son and Kate’s husband—or their shared Princess of Wales title, but rather their mutual love of children, Seward explained.
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Seward is the author of the new book Catherine and Diana: The Inside Story of How the Princesses of Wales Shaped the Modern Monarchy.
Princess Diana and Kate Middleton share a royal title—the Princess of Wales—and are two of the most famous women in the world (and this still rings true for Diana almost 30 years after her tragic death). But, according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the two women have one “main link”: their mutual love of children.
“They both absolutely had—and have—a magic with children, and I think they would have talked about that,” Seward told Hello!. “Diana’s legacy is her sons and the way she changed the face of royal engagements, and Catherine has completely taken up the mantle [on that].”
Seward is the author of the forthcoming book Catherine and Diana: The Inside Story of How the Princesses of Wales Shaped the Modern Monarchy, and noted that the two women “both love fashion.”
“When I first met Catherine, it was at a polo match, and they had all these beautiful clothes for sale and she was really digging into those,” Seward said. “She and Diana both loved clothes and they both looked completely stunning in them.”
“Both fashion icons, both beauties in their different styles, both, when they married, counted among the most famous women on the planet,” Seward added of their similarities. As Princess of Wales, the two women are not just “acting as a decorative accessory” but as “ a force for good” to “champion big issues,” she continued.
Yet, she explained, “They could not be further apart in background, temperament, character, or even looks—yet the world did and does adore them both.” Their royal experience is also vastly different—while Kate has the full support and love of her husband Prince William, Diana did not have that in Prince Charles (now King Charles).
“It’s one of the tragedies of Diana’s story that she was adored by millions, yet emotionally denied by the few who mattered most,” Seward told Hello!. “And that is where the contrast with Catherine is most striking. Her life is not perfect, but it is rooted in a shared understanding with William, her husband, Diana’s son. They face the institution together. Diana faced it alone.”
Kate also comes from “an incredibly close-knit family,” which is something “that Diana didn’t have,” Seward added. Kate also had the benefit of taking “lessons from Diana,” she continued. “She saw that Diana gave so much of herself to people, but it exposed her too much. Catherine learned from that—just give enough, but don’t give too much, because you’re too vulnerable that way, and people are going to strip you bare if you do that.”