New photos released by the Duchess of Cambridge’s Kensington Palace reveal a growing problem that will only continue to haunt the future queen.
Of all the prerequisites for the royal woman, being able to navigate the inside of a tank while photographing does not usually have a big factor. Being able to bow to six-inch Manolo Blahniks? Adequate fertility? Do you want to have dinner with capercaillie all summer long? Check, check, and unfortunately check.
But getting behind the wheel of an Abrams tank with a certain lady elan? Looks like he’s left out of the list.
Saturday was Armed Services Day in the UK and over the weekend, the communications team at Kensington Palace in Cambridges marked the event by doing what they do best: posting photos of Kate looking like she’s passing an absolute explosion surrounded by strangers.
These particular images were taken when he participated in training exercises last November with the teams and in each of the four images he looks very happy! Be hitching a military trailer! Chatting with the troops! Chatting with more troops in what looks like icy dawn! Sitting in a tank!
And it’s the latest photo of the now 40-year-old wearing a helmet that the media immediately grabbed, quite similar to the photos of Diana, Princess of Wales, when she also boarded a tank during a visit to the Royal Royal. Hampshire Regiment in 1988.
“Diana echoes as Kate greets the heroes of the Forces,” he said Daily mail headline that later reported that the new images “have a strange resemblance” to those of Diana.
The reason this matters is that this is the third time in less than a month that we have seen Kate’s relentless Diana-ing.
A few weeks ago, the Duchess of Cambridge showed up at Royal Ascot in a polka dot dress that closely resembled the one chosen by the late princess, also in 1988 also for the famous racing meet.
“See double! Kate Middleton channels Princess Diana to Royal Ascot” (Daily mail), “Kate Middleton’s Sweet Tribute to Princess Diana” (Hello!), “The Royal Ascot dress of the Duchess of Cambridge is a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales” (Vogue United Kingdom), “Kate Middleton dressed just like Princess Diana for her debut at Royal Ascot 2022” (Marie Claire), and “Kate Middleton channels Princess Diana with polka dots to Royal Ascot” (Page six).
It was the same for Trooping the Color when Kate chose a white coat dress and a wide-brimmed hat that only vaguely looked like a set worn by Diana. In this case, we have “Kate Middleton channels Princess Diana for Jubilee Trooping the Color” (Newsweek), Kate Middleton greets Princess Diana’s timeless style at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (NY Post), “Kate Middleton paid tribute to Princess Diana in her colorful dress” (Parade), “Kate Middleton paid tribute to Princess Diana twice at Trooping the Color 2022” (Vogue).
Lud. All this “honor” and “channeling” must occupy the poor duchess every hour available.
Okay, sure, maybe Kate was deliberately trying to conjure up the princess, or maybe she just chose clothes she already had (her Trooping coat) or is very fashionable (her Ascot dress)?
But the problem here is that no matter what Kate does, says or wears, she is infinitely compared to Diana.
In 2010, when Prince William finally knelt down, it was with the 12-carat sapphire and diamond ring that his father had once given to his mother. While some saw the choice as romantic, others (myself included) saw it as a symbolic millstone applauding young Kate’s neck. (Not to mention this ring was symbolic of one of the most famous unhappy marriages in history.)
Ten years, three children, 33 trips abroad and a royal foundation of her own later and Kate still faces Diana with a biliary regularity.
It’s a game Kate will never be able to win.
The Princess of Wales entered royal life as a trembling teenager, found herself married to an emotionally atrophied prince and was expected to continue with this. Open a hospital, from time to time you come within reach of the sick, but the sky does not touch it!
Instead, the princess, having learned the ropes, showed a delicious and willing streak and became a rascal. For the queen and company. it was something of a rude shock when the docile virgin they thought they were getting turned into a Boudica at Bellville Sasson and left.
The queen of the Iceni set fire to London and more than 2000 years later, Diana did something similar only this time it was the house of Windsor. He overcame Buckingham Palace and overtook the royal Goliath, in the process gaining the unwavering support of the British public.
When Diana’s life was tragically shortened in a Paris tunnel in 1997, she put her legacy in amber and saw her elevated to permanent holiness.
So how can Kate, who is a very different woman from Diana, ever expect to come out on top year after year of comparison?
Most important, I think, is the fact that Kate has earned the right to judge her – her victories, failures, and all the floating suits in between, in her own terms.
From the start of the day, Kate has done things her way and set her pace. Was she a turtle? Did he only assume royal duties part-time during the first six years of his marriage? Sure, but the Duchess of Cambridge has come true.
His focus on the development of the early years is aimed at generational change, having been tasked with helping to drive a huge social project.
Along with William, Kate is half of the couple who are doing a reasonable job of making the monarchy look like a relevant institution in the Tik Tok era.
The Duchess of Cambridge has been no less a modernizing force than Diana, but she has done so gradually and with such careful maneuvers, no one seemed to realize the radicalism she has become a future queen. (And it’s just more.)
The first joint portrait of the Duke and Duchess was unveiled over the weekend and shows Kate wearing the Collingwood Pearl Drop earrings and the three-strand pearl bracelet that belonged to Diana. Clearly, the partnership with the Princess of Wales is one that the Duchess of Cambridge herself wants to keep alive, but there is a world of difference between making a decision that is emotionally and personally meaningful and staying relentlessly in the another person’s standard.
This is a situation that will only get worse when in the next few years she takes on the title of Diana and becomes Princess of Wales.
It’s time to break this addiction to reading everything related to Kate through a lens in the shape of Diana. She deserves so much.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with over 15 years of experience working with several of Australia’s leading media titles.