• When she married Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, Lady Diana Spencer became the Princess of Wales.
  • It was a title she carried all of her royal life, and one that her daughter-in-law Kate Middleton now holds.
  • The two women are “too different to be compared,” a royal commentator said.

They may have both at one point carried the same royal title—the Princess of Wales—but Princess Diana and Kate Middleton are two different women.

The current Princess of Wales has faced comparisons to Diana all of her royal life, and even before it technically began. During their November 16, 2010 interview, Prince William—after giving Kate his mother’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring—eschewed comparisons of his mother and his bride-to-be. “No one is trying to fill my mother’s shoes,” he said at the time. “It’s about carving your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job at that.”

Prince William and Kate Middleton pose for photographs on November 16, 2010 following the announcement of their engagement.

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On January 9, the future queen turned 44 years old. As she grows deeper into her role as Princess of Wales—a role she’s held since September 2022—she continues to forge a path that’s different than her mother-in-law’s, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Daily Mail, who said that the two women “are too different to be compared.”

“Catherine’s legacy will be one of total loyalty to her husband and the institution of the monarchy,” he said, adding that, though Diana “reached out to others brilliantly,” she was also “deeply unhappy.”

Princess Diana.

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Of Kate—who often honors Diana through her fashion choices—Fitzwilliams added, “She is regal yet also has a contemporary look. Her fashion choices are iconic, and she will be known as one who was fashionable and famous, but in a relatable way.”

Fitzwilliams called the job of a future queen “one of the world’s most demanding jobs,” adding that “one of Kate’s legacies is certain to be as someone who, together with William, prioritized work-life balance successfully.”

“She, together with William, brought up three children, ensuring they were shielded—save on special occasions—from the glare of the international media in an age of social media,” Fitzwilliams continued. “This will have been a challenge.”

Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, 2025.

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So concerned was Kate about avoiding “stressful” comparisons to Diana that royal biographer Robert Jobson said that she debated turning down the prestigious Princess of Wales title, one Diana made so famous before her death in 1997 at just 36 years old.

“She knew she’d inevitably be compared with Diana, whose untimely death had provoked such a tsunami of anger and grief. And she was right,” Jobson wrote in his book Catherine, The Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen. “Kate found all such talk stressful. Indeed, it got to the point where she felt she might follow Camilla (who opted to become Duchess of Cornwall) in refusing—when the time came—to be known as HRH Princess of Wales.”

Kate Middleton on March 17, 2025.

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Ultimately, of course, Kate accepted the title—but a royal source told People that “the new Princess of Wales appreciates the history associated with this role but will understandably want to look to the future as she creates her own path.”