OPINION:
Of all the prerequisites for royal wifedom, being able to navigate the inside of a tank while being photographed does not usually factor highly. Being able to curtsy in six-inch Manolo Blahniks? Suitable fecundity? A willingness to dine on grouse all summer long? Check, check and unfortunately, check.
But getting behind the wheel of an Abrams tank with a certain ladylike elan? That would seem to get left off the list.
Saturday was Armed Services Day in the UK and over the weekend, the Cambridges' Kensington Palace communications outfit marked the event by doing what they do best: Putting out photos of Kate looking like she's having an absolute blast surrounded by strangers.
Last year, I was honoured to spend time with the @BritishArmy to see how they train serving personnel and new recruits. It was wonderful to see first-hand the many important and varied roles the military play day in, day out to protect us all… pic.twitter.com/0AP1WFIFhr
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) June 25, 2022
These particular images were taken when she took part in training exercises last November with squaddies and in each of the four images she looks just so happy! To be hitching a military trailer! Chatting to troops! Chatting to more troops in what looks like the frosty dawn! Sitting in a tank!
And it's that last shot of the now 40-year-old wearing a helmet that the media latched onto immediately, all of which looked quite similar to shots of Diana, Princess of Wales when she too got in a tank during a visit to the Royal Hampshire Regiment in 1988.
"Echoes of Diana as Kate salutes Forces heroes," ran the Daily Mail headline which then reported that the new images "bear an eerie 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 the relentless Diana-ing of Kate.
A few weeks ago, the Duchess of Cambridge turned up to Royal Ascot wearing a polka-dot dress that looked a lot like the one chosen by the late Princess, also in 1988 also for the famed racing meet.
"Seeing double! Kate Middleton channels Princess Diana at Royal Ascot" (Daily Mail), "Kate Middleton's sweet tribute to Princess Diana" (Hello!), "The Duchess Of Cambridge's Royal Ascot Dress Is A Tribute To Diana, Princess Of Wales" (Vogue UK), "Kate Middleton dressed just like Princess Diana for her Royal Ascot 2022 debut" (Marie Claire), and "Kate Middleton channels Princess Diana in polka dots at Royal Ascot" (Page Six).
It was the same deal for Trooping the Colour when Kate chose white coat-dress and wide-brim hat which only vaguely looked like an ensemble once worn by Diana. In that instance we got "Kate Middleton Channels Princess Diana for Jubilee Trooping the Colour" (Newsweek), Kate Middleton salutes Princess Diana's timeless style at Queen's Platinum Jubilee (NY Post), "Kate Middleton Paid Tribute to Princess Diana With Her Trooping the Colour Outfit" (Parade), "Kate Middleton Honored Princess Diana Twice at the 2022 Trooping the Color" (Vogue).
Lud. All this 'honouring' and 'channelling' must take up the poor duchess' every available spare hour.
Okay sure, maybe Kate was deliberately trying to evoke the princess – or maybe she just happened to choose clothing that she either already owned (her Trooping coat) or which is hugely on trend (her Ascot get-up)?
But the issue here is that no matter what Kate does, says or wears she is endlessly compared to Diana.
In 2010, when Prince William finally got down on bended knee it was with the 12-carat sapphire and diamond ring his father had once presented to his mother. While some saw the choice as romantic, others (me included) viewed it as something of a symbolic millstone he was clapping around the young Kate's neck. (Not to mention that ring was symbolic of one of the most famously unhappy marriages in history.)
Ten years, three children, 33 foreign trips, and one Royal Foundation of her very own later and Kate is still held up against Diana with a bilious regularity.
It's a game that Kate can never win.
The Princess of Wales entered royal life as a tremulous teenager, found herself married to an emotionally-stunted prince and was expected to Get On With It. Open a hospital, occasionally come within arms-reach of the sick but heaven forbid don't touch!
Instead the princess, having learnt the ropes, showed a delightfully wilful streak and went rogue. For the Queen and co. it was something of a rude shock when the docile virgin that they thought they were getting transformed herself into a Boudica in Bellville Sasson and sallied forth.
The Queen of the Iceni burnt down London and more than 2000 years later, Diana was up to something similar only this time it was the House of Windsor. She outplayed Buckingham Palace and outsmarted the royal Goliath, in the process winning the unwavering support of the British public.
When Diana's life was cut tragically short in a Paris tunnel in 1997, it set her legacy in amber and saw her elevated to permanent sainthood.
So, how can Kate, who is a very different woman than Diana, ever hope to come out on top in year after year of comparison?
More importantly I think is the fact that Kate has earned the right for us to judge her – her wins, flops and every floaty frock in between – on her own terms.
From day dot, Kate has largely done things her way and set her pace. Was it a tortoise-ish one? Did she only undertake part-time royal duties for the first six years of her marriage? Sure, but the Duchess of Cambridge has come into her own.
Her focus on early years development is aimed at generational change, having tasked herself with helping instigate a gargantuan societal project.
Together with William, Kate is one half of the couple who are doing a reasonable job of making the monarchy seem like a relevant institution in the age of Tik Tok.
The Duchess of Cambridge has been no less of a modernising force than Diana but she has done it so incrementally and with such careful manoeuvring no one seemed to quite realise just how quietly radical she has become as a future Queen. (And is only becoming more so.)
The first joint portrait of the duke and duchess was unveiled over the weekend and it shows Kate was wearing the Collingwood Pearl Drop earrings and three-strand pearl bracelet which both belonged to Diana. Clearly the association with the Princess of Wales is one the Duchess of Cambridge herself wants to keep alive but there is a world of difference between making a choice that is emotionally and personally meaningful and being relentlessly held to another person's standard.
This is a situation which is only going to become magnitudes worse when in the next few years she assumes Diana's title and becomes the Princess of Wales.
It's long past time to break this addiction to reading everything Kate-related through a Diana-shaped lens. She deserves that much.
• Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years' experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.
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