The Duchess of Cambridge: Will she become more popular than Diana?


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Diana had a charm that we see rarely in many people. While I'm sure Catherine is a lovely girl, only time will tell if she has the same magnetism that Princess Diana had. I hope for her a much happier life than Diana, no matter which way the public tide turns.
 
Diana was popular in her time & Kate will be popular in her time, I don't like comparing people because nobody is the same. I think the reason became popular was of what she went through & her work for charity. Kate seems to be growing popularity faster than I thought, I see her being as popular & as photographed but in a different way than Diana as times are changing.
 
i would agree with posts but Kate not yet as Princess but Diana still as legacy Princess and she still popular Princess since her marriages to Prince Charles in 1981

Yes, most certainly is a Princess! The Princess William of Wales IS one of her titles but she and William will officially use their Dukenom titles. I did some reading.
 
Yes, most certainly is a Princess! The Princess William of Wales IS one of her titles but she and William will officially use their Dukenom titles. I did some reading.


Sara wrote that comment about Kate not being a princess in 2006 - when she was still just the girlfriend.
 
surely, media will try to make a new Diana of Kate, though I c her as a down to earth woman, a solid, strong woman, while our beloved Di was so frail, even in her appearence, she blushed so easily in the first times, she was shy, at first, when I saw her on the day of her wed, she looked just as a fairytale creature, what have they got in common the 2s? nothing at all! this makes me think.... how come William chose a woman so different from his late mum, it's obvious Kate will do very good in the Establishment..... where Di failed on the whole- maybe, that's why Wills chose her-
And here was me thinking he fell in love and, when he was sure she knew what she was getting into and could cope with it, he married her. Silly me! No love and romance for our William it seems, rather a marriage of convenience. :eek: NOT!

Surprisingly Diana was rather more than 5 when she married and, for all her ostensible shyness, frailty and fairytaleness (is that even a word), had the nature of a steel butterfly!

If Catherine does becomes more popular than Diana I believe it will be for totally different reasons. So far, she is everything we could have wanted for William, both a lover and a partner, and a dynamite double act during public engagements. Given time we will see more of her as a wife a mother and a future Queen, getting to know more about her. I think we will approve wholeheartedly.
 
I am sure she will be as popular as Diana was.
 
I don't believe Catherine will endear herself to the public as much as Diana did, and I don't believe Catherine would want too.

Catherine, I feel, will model her role as wife and consort much the same way Camilla has and that could either play in her favour or work against her. Time will tell.

They are just married and need time to settle and adjust and they should be accorded that time, but I firmly believe there will be a public expectation that the Duchess of Cambridge should have a consistent public presence in the not so distant future. I don't think any attempt be seen primarily as a supportive wife with little focus for her own causes will to be met with much enthusiasm myself.

Whether they would like to think it or not (?), William and Catherine have become the 21st century faces of the monarchy and for that reason alone, they will need to be seen to engage themselves with the public on a regular basis.

I think Catherine will experience the almost bipolar like severity of media scrutiny and I think we'll see that happen relatively early on in comparison to Diana.

She'll be loved one day and a topic of exasperation the next.

These are my opinions and mine alone, but I really feel that Catherine will have a harder time with the media than William. And I also believe Catherine will be expected to prove herself in ways that aren't necessarily expected of William being that he was born royal which is kind of pointing out the obvious really.
 
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Madame Royale said:
I don't believe Catherine will endear herself to the public as much as Diana did, and I don't believe Catherine would want too.

Catherine, I feel, will model her role as wife and consort much the same way Camilla has and that could either play in her favour or work against her. Time will tell..

Yes, agreed. And this from someone who actually likes her better then I liked Diana...

Madame Royale said:
They are just married and need time to settle and adjust and they should be accorded that time, but I firmly believe there will be a public expectation that the Duchess of Cambridge should have a consistent public presence in the not so distant future. I don't think any attempt to be seen primarily as a supportive wife with little focus for her own causes will to be met with much enthusiasm myself.
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Agreed- and it's already happening. She is not undertaking any of her own engagements for 2 years but only ones with him, which while maybe great for them, I think it's a bit long and does little to contridict her already out ther image of 'lazy' (for lack of a better word). The public is fickle, they love her now but if she barely surfaces for 2 years aside from solely his public events I do believe she'll get some backlash and overall this will not lend itself to making her as popular as Diana, though I agree she probably isn't concern about that.
 
Yes, agreed. And this from someone who actually likes her better then I liked Diana...



Agreed- and it's already happening. She is not undertaking any of her own engagements for 2 years but only ones with him, which while maybe great for them, I think it's a bit long and does little to contridict her already out ther image of 'lazy' (for lack of a better word). The public is fickle, they love her now but if she barely surfaces for 2 years aside from solely his public events I do believe she'll get some backlash and overall this will not lend itself to making her as popular as Diana, though I agree she probably isn't concern about that.

Agreed. However, they have already done 4 events prior to the wedding and have a trip to Canada and America (rumors) planned. It seems to me they are moving right along with getting her out and them working together. So far, the PR has been nothing but brilliant in how they are introducing her and the venues they are choosing. I think she and William are really going to make a huge impact on the RF as a very dynamic duo. It's really exciting to watch!
 
I think Kate has the potential to be as popular as Diana, She comes across as modest, polite and understanding the public love her as she clearly adores William. Kate is a private person who clearly enjoys a normal life unlike Diana she is not obliged to perform public duties daily so the media scrutiny should be less intense in the coming months.
 
My answer is NO. I don´t think she will be more popular than Diana. Well, Catherine will be popular because media and many people will see her like new Diana, but she´s diffrent. She likes privacy and enjoys a normal life with William.
 
Diana died at the height of her beauty and popularity so we didn't have the opportunity to see if it would stand the test of time. Her popularity could have eventually faltered if she had married Dodi Fayed and made other missteps in her choices. Public sympathy only takes you so far, and eventually she may have tired of the attention and chosen a more private life.

I don't see that Catherine has the insecurities or limitless needs that Diana had. nor do I see her manipulating the press as Diana did. She seems very grounded and mature, and I don't see her airing dirty laundry in public or doing anything to embarrass the RF. I see her as a team with William and growing in her role where she will have the opportunity to make her own mark.

I think she WILL be more popular because I see her there for the long haul. By the time William becomes King and she becomes Queen, she will be well established and I see her and William being well loved and affective in their roles.
 
I agree with texankitcat. I think over the long haul she has a very good chance but I'm thinking maybe more in a support role similar to the Queen Mother who passed away in March 2002. I think someone else has already mentioned that here.
 
We must remember that Diana's role was changed when Charles left her after Harry was born and she had to find a way to make her life meaningful. I think she did an excellent job of making her life important, even without a loving marriage.
 
I don't know about "popularity", but I really like Catherine better than Diana, in that I have great respect for Catherine and what she has done so far. So while she might not become as "popular" as Diana was, I think she'll gain more respect and perhaps even become one of the more respected member of the Family, along with William and the Queen and few others.

JMHO...
 
I don't know about "popularity", but I really like Catherine better than Diana, in that I have great respect for Catherine and what she has done so far. So while she might not become as "popular" as Diana was, I think she'll gain more respect and perhaps even become one of the more respected member of the Family, along with William and the Queen and few others.

JMHO...

I think this is the key difference between Diana and Kate while we all like Diana and appreciate her work we respect Kate, Many reasons but for me because she seems solely interested in her marriage to William not the spotlight or designer clothes which Diana loved.
 
I really find this thread distasteful!
Catherine is herself and this is not the competition with her Mother-in-Law that it would have been if Diana was alive.
She is obviously mature and well adjusted enough to recognise that her primary role is to support her husband, not upstage him!
 
i think she will be just as popular...which is sad in a sense
 
Diana was popular in her time & Kate will be popular in her time, I don't like comparing people because nobody is the same. I think the reason became popular was of what she went through & her work for charity. Kate seems to be growing popularity faster than I thought, I see her being as popular & as photographed but in a different way than Diana as times are changing.

Well said I agree. The constant comparisons between Diana and Kate are starting to become annoying.
I think Kate should be praised for her own merits than being compared to Diana or putting Diana down in order to praise Kate.
I do like her very much, despite that she hasn't done much yet in her new role; hopefully her transition into TBRF will be an easy one.
 
Diana is a myth. Myths usually have tragical lives and/or deaths. I wish Catherine a better life. Probably she will be very popular, not quite as much as Diana, although she will be much happier.
 
Diana is a myth. Myths usually have tragical lives and/or deaths. I wish Catherine a better life. Probably she will be very popular, not quite as much as Diana, although she will be much happier.

Very good observation on human nature.:flowers:
 
The Duchess can hope to be popular. She really seems to be more like Sophie and Camilla than Diana and Sarah. She knows what she's doing, and can handle the media. It's for this same reason, though, that I don't think she will be as iconic as Diana (and they're very different things. Princess Grace was iconic, Princess Anne is popular) She's just too grounded to have much glamour. This is a very good thing, though. Royals shouldn't just be celebrities, and besides, Diana's fame destroyed her. It enhanced the emotional problems her childhood gave her (the bad childhood isn't an issue for Kate*, but all the attention would still make her life difficult) and it was partly responsible for her death. I wish The Duchess of Cambridge a much longer and happier life in The Royal Family :flowers:

*This is another reason she won't be as iconic as Diana. There's just nothing glamorous about happily growing up with Mum, Dad, and two Siblings. Icons are more often than not, figures who bore the scars of a bad childhood. None of this is meant in a disturbing "nurnny nurnny nur nur" way. My own upbringing was virtually identical to Kate's, and as I mentioned before, the sort of life that makes someone iconic, is not enviable.
 
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The fact that she has a husband that loves her, is a huge difference compared to Diana. But I´m afraid that whatever she does, she will be measured against her MIL. I hope for her, that she can take inspiration from CP Maxima and use her education in her role as princess/Queen
 
Times have changed and to compare the two women is futile. Diana was the last of the mythical royal brides. She was young, beautiful and of proper lineage.She was uneducated and innocent. She developed into a woman that the world could not get enough of. She was extraordinarily photogenic and the stories about Camilla and Charles just made her more loved. Diana also broke ground with AIDS at a time when the world was very confused and poorly informed about the illness and its consequenses.

During her life there were not internet so any photo of her was eagerly waited for. No instantaneous news around the clock and over exposure.

Catherine is a modern woman. She is educated and much older when she got married. William took his time in getting to know his bride. Catherine will no doubt become very popular and well respected if she learns the ropes and the balance of being reachable for the people and distant enough to be royal.

Diana will always be a very special person. The myth will live on and she died young and still beautiful. Catherine will most likely be well liked and popular but I certainly hope there will not be any sordid details of her husband seeing someone behind her back the way Charles did.

And hopefully we will see Catherine live a long life. To die young will always put you and a pedestal.
 
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In seven years' time, Kate will be the same as as Diana was when she died.:ermm: I think that she'll inevitably be compared to Diana when she has her family and raises them into their teens, but then the comparisons will lessen. I think that by the time the Duchess is in her mid-and-late-40s and early 50s, her children will likely be older than William and Harry were when Diana died; and then Kate will really come into her own. There will be no comparisons between Kate and Diana as mothers of young adults, mothers of the bride/groom or, later, between Kate and Diana as grandmothers. Also, Kate will be a more mature woman when William becomes Duke of Cornwall and, likely, Prince of Wales--both in terms of physical age and of emotional growth. Because of these factors, I think that Kate could be a very, very popular person by middle-age.


But I´m afraid that whatever she does, she will be measured against her MIL.
 
Unfortunately there are too many people who want to compare the two. But no I don't think Kate will be as popular nor do I think she wants to be. Half of Diana's popularity was spurned on by her and her need to feel love from somewhere. Kate seems to be more of a secure and mature woman who probably won't feel the need to upstage her husband or his family.
 
Unfortunately there are too many people who want to compare the two. But no I don't think Kate will be as popular nor do I think she wants to be. Half of Diana's popularity was spurned on by her and her need to feel love from somewhere. Kate seems to be more of a secure and mature woman who probably won't feel the need to upstage her husband or his family.

I pretty much think this hits the nail on the head. Whereas Diana was one of the most popular women in the world, for good or for bad, Kate is going to be more of a team player. Her popularity I think will reflect on the popularity of the Monarchy rather than on herself personally.
 
I share your vibe. I hope for Williams sake she'll shake the work-shy image and prove those who doubt her (myself included) wrong.

William needs to shake HIS notorious work-shy image. He's stubborn and lazy to a fault.
 
William needs to shake HIS notorious work-shy image. He's stubborn and lazy to a fault.

How do you know he is stubborn and lazy to a fault? Are you part of his inner circle?
 
Unfortunately there are too many people who want to compare the two. But no I don't think Kate will be as popular nor do I think she wants to be. Half of Diana's popularity was spurned on by her and her need to feel love from somewhere. Kate seems to be more of a secure and mature woman who probably won't feel the need to upstage her husband or his family.

Yes, secure in the sense that everybody has handed her everything her entire life and she's never had to work for anything. Mature? Nothing mature about putting everything and everybody else on hold to desperately run after a Prince.
I say secure and mature women are those who have well-rounded lives and accomplishments. Kate has really accomplished nothing. Oh, snagging a Prince.
 
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