Royal followers have compared the late Princess Diana to Prince William‘s wife Kate, Princess of Wales since she gained a royal title in 2011.
A competitive sporty streak, her passion for childhood development, her impeccable sense of style, and her nurturing tendencies are all facets of Princess Kate’s personality that are so often compared to that of William’s late mother.
But there is a certain motherhood royal rule that Princess Diana discarded, paving a new path for royal mothers including her daughter-in-law Princess Kate without ever knowing it.
Before the late Princess’ fabulously rebellious ways, royal women were expected to have their babies at home. In fact, the late Queen Elizabeth gave birth to all four of her children at home, meaning the King himself was born at Buckingham Palace.
However, Princess Diana broke royal protocol when she gave birth to Prince William at 9:03 pm on 21 June 1982 at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London making him the first future monarch to be born in hospital.
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Diana then returned to the same hospital two years later to give birth to Prince Harry on 15 September 1984 in the Lindo Wing. It was certainly a case of ‘if it’s good enough for Princess Diana it is good enough for me’ when Princess Kate fell pregnant in 2012.
The Princess of Wales gave birth to Prince George in the same Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital on 22 July 2013 and followed in her late mother-in-law’s footsteps by delivering all three of her children vaginally.
Though Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle planned to have a homebirth as royal rules had intended, she ended up with a hospital birth for both her children Archie, four, and Lilibet, two. Archie was born at the Portland Hospital in London where Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were born, whilst Lilibet was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California.
The comparisons between Meghan Markle and Princess Diana don’t end there. “So much of what Meghan is and how she is, is so similar to my mum,” said the Duke of Sussex in the first episode of the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. “She has the same compassion. She has the same empathy. She has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.”
A hands-on parenting style was important to Princess Diana and is now important to Princess Kate and Meghan. From public observations of the Wales children as well as from clips of Meghan with Archie, it is clear that both women are doting mothers.
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HELLO!’s Online Royal Correspondent Danielle Stacey commented: “Kate is often seen holding her children’s hands or picking them up for cuddles when they were smaller.” She continued: “There are often lots of comforting gestures, such as a pat on the back or stroking their hair. When interacting with other children on her public engagements, Kate often crouches down to their level to engage with them – something that Diana would often do.”
