So alike yet so different: Kate and Diana share the same style, says designer Elizabeth Emanuel, but the two young royals are very contrasting women

By Elizabeth Emanuel


Daring: Diana (left) dazzles the world in a plunging dress at her first public event after her engagement. Double take: Kate (right) wears a similar black gown to an awards ceremony earlier this week

What could be more appropriate? The Duchess of Cambridge causes a stir on Monday night by appearing in a daring, strapless black dress at an awards ceremony with Prince William.

In the same week, it’s revealed another black dress worn by another beautiful royal bride, which caused an even greater sensation, will go on display at Kensington Palace for the first time next year.

I’m talking about the strapless floor-length black gown which the late Princess of Wales wore on her first-ever public engagement in March 1981 with her new fiance, Prince Charles.


It was daring. It was sexy. It showcased her slender figure and, in the flash of a hundred camera bulbs, it catapulted the timid 19-year-old nursery school teacher into the limelight.

I recall that moment well. Diana stepped out of the car, the camera lights exploded, there was an almost audible gasp and, in that moment, Diana became a star.

Within months, she was the most photographed woman in the world.

That grown-up dress, that bashful pose in the spotlight as the world became aware of a budding fashion icon — that moment changed Diana’s life, for ever.

Before then, she had only ever been seen in clothes that were either girly or a little boring — definitely nothing sexy.

Lovely in lace: Diana in 1995 at the Beaufort Hunt and Kate during June's tour of Canada

I designed that dress with my then husband, David. And looking at photos of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, this week, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by memories of the young woman I knew all those years ago — the woman who would have been Kate’s mother-in-law.

Did Kate — who happily wears Diana’s engagement ring — pick that particular dress to draw comparisons? I’m certain not. But many of us who recall that earlier dress can’t help but make them.

Two royal women, two unwitting fashion leaders, two daring black dresses. The parallels are uncanny. Yet, the two women have led two very different lives.

Back to black: Diana at a London Fashion event in 1994 and Kate shopping before her April wedding

Diana at 19 was shy, barely on the cusp of womanhood.

Remembering her in that dress, I see a girl at the start of a huge adventure. She was nervous about getting things wrong. She wanted to appear mature and womanly, but — although she looked beautiful — she wasn’t confident.

Kate, on the other hand, is 29. She is at ease with who she is and what’s expected of her. She is relaxed, self-assured and totally happy with her style.

Monochrome magic: Diana in 1991 at a concert in Salisbury and Kate at an event last Christmas

She's been schooled in a way Diana never was. She wore that wonderful figure-hugging black Alexander McQueen dress with total confidence.

I vividly recall the day Diana chose her dress. She had come into our lives entirely by accident.

David and I were just starting out and had a little studio in London’s Mayfair, around the corner from Vogue magazine.

Because our studio was so close, we often got asked at the last minute to provide clothes for photographic shoots.

Smart-casual: Diana in 1997 during a tour of Bosnia and Kate last July in Canada

One day Anna Harvey, the fashion editor, rang to ask if we could get some clothes over to her for a top-secret celebrity shoot.

Lord Snowdon was photographing a famous woman for the magazine but, of course, we didn’t know who. She needed a high-necked top. We happened to have a pink blouse which sounded as though it might do. So off it went.

The next thing we knew was when we saw the photo: Lord Snowdon’s official engagement photograph. And there was Diana in our blouse. We were thrilled.

Ladies in red: Diana at an event in Whitehall and Kate at a charity engagement in October

A week later, Diana arrived in our studio. I hadn’t recognised her voice when she’d made an appointment. It was a shock when Charles’s fiancee arrived with only a single detective.

We went on to design several dresses before the wedding.

On one visit, she explained that she was attending an evening function with Charles and needed a dress.

She was excited. She knew it was a big deal, as it would be the first time she and Charles were to attend a public function together since their engagement. She was nervous but excited. For Diana it was all terrifyingly new.


Nautical but nice: Diana at the Guards polo club in 1987 and Kate in Canada in July

Silk wonder: Diana in 1985 on a tour of Florida and Kate dining with the in-laws in July

Our small studio meant all our stock was on display. We happened to have just finished designing a collection of black dresses. Diana picked one right off the rail. It was silk taffeta with sequins and sparkly frill at the bust. It didn’t have a name. We just called it ‘the one with the plunge neckline.’

She disappeared into the changing room and, when she re-emerged, we knew it was the one. She looked so elegant.

As she posed in front of the mirror, she announced: ‘It’s perfect.’

It honestly never occurred to any of us that it was very low-cut. It was a sample size 12 and we didn’t need to alter it. We just sent it off to Buckingham Palace.

As for the colour, we didn’t know the royal family traditionally only wear black in mourning. Neither did she.

She had moved into Buckingham Palace after the engagement, but she had no stylist, no one to advise her.

What could be more different than Kate’s life? She had a decade in which to prepare for her place in the spotlight; to learn the ropes and discover the protocols of royal life.

We knew that Diana would be photographed. But none of us realised she would be snapped from every angle — coming out of the car, walking up the steps and bending forward.

Setting the tone: Diana at Ascot in 1988 and Kate at Windsor in June

It’s commonplace now. Kate is schooled in the pitfalls to avoid whenever she is pictured.

The dress caused such an impact it even knocked the Budget off the newspaper front pages. David and I received postbags full of letters and Prudence Glynn, the fashion editor of The Times, wrote a scathing attack, slamming us for designing something so unsuitable for our future queen. We were gutted.

But Diana loved the dress, and the fuss it caused. We had a giggle about it, too. She said Prince Charles had liked it.

Flower power: Diana on a hospital visit in 1991 and Kate on an evening out in 2006

By then she had already chosen us to make her wedding dress.

Over the coming months, we watched her mature and develop her own style — all in the media spotlight of course. And it is with considerable interest that I now watch Kate’s style blossom.

For Diana, it was a steep learning curve. She was developing her style and, at first, everything she wore caused a stir. She loved making a statement.


Suitably dressed: Diana at a 1995 London charity and Kate in Lancashire last April

With Diana, you never knew what to expect. With Kate, you know there isn’t going to be anything controversial.

So yes, Diana was a trailblazer. Her appearance in that dress heralded the start of an incredible journey.

Diana did it first — and in the process she became a unique role model.


source:dailymail

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Diana's diamonds: William gives Kate his mother's favourite earrings

By Daily Mail Reporter


Prince William has given a pair of his mother's earrings to new wife Kate.

The Duchess of Cambridge wore the diamond and sapphire gems during the couple's official visit to Canada and America.

Kate, 29, had Diana's heavy studs remodelled into drop earrings and wore them for the first time when she watched Andy Murray from the Royal Box at Wimbledon last month.

Favourite: Kate wore the remodelled earrings on tour in Canada and Diana was regularly spotted wearing the jewellery


The earrings were thought to be among Diana's most precious jewels and she was spotted wearing them at dozens of events during the 1980s and 1990s.

A courtier told the Sunday Mirror: 'Now they're married William wanted her to have some of his mother's favourite pieces.'

It is not the first time the Duchess' style has been compared with the late Princess Diana's.

Comparisons: From the Duchess' wedding day commentators were already comparing the couple to Princess Diana and Prince Charles

Kate wore a similar outfit to that of Princess Diana when she visited Canada by donning a maple leaf hat.

Both sported red hats with white dresses during their official visits but Princess Diana made a slightly bolder statement by wearing a matching red scarf.

Crowds across the globe were eager to make comparisons as Diana and Charles made a similar tour in 1983.

The People's Princess: Diana devoted her time to charity work..

And Kate was seen to be equally interested in speaking to people on the official Canada tour, doing impromptu walkabouts


Princess Diana was the main attraction with thousands of people waved flags and shouted the slogan 'We Want Di'.

And Prince William's new wife was also a real crowd pleaser and her wardrobe had been one of the main topics of discussion.

The couple are currently deciding on a permanent London base, and are tipped to take Apartment 1a in Kensington Palace, a lavish 19-room suite that was once the home of the late Princess Margaret.

It was reported the couple also considered Apartments 8 and 9, the former marital home of Charles and Diana where William grew up, but Kate is said to have been uncomfortable with the idea.

'They have been to look around Margaret's apartment and like it very much,' said a source.


source:dailymail

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How Kate and William' Royal Wedding compares with Charles and Diana's big day

By Lauren Paxman


Leaving the church: Princess Diana and the Princess of Wales looked away from each other as they left St Paul's, the new Duke and Duchess couldn't take their eyes off each other


As Kate Middleton walked up the seemingly endless aisle at Westminster Abbey in her stunning white dress and 2.7 metre train, millions will have remembered another young bride making a very similar journey 30 years ago.

Princess Diana's wedding to Prince Charles also gripped the nation, and many will have recognised similarities in everything from the red carpets the brides walked down to the way the couples waved to their supporters from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

But there were also some notable differences.


Tell-tale signs perhaps showed that there was trouble ahead for Diana and Charles, while Kate and William clearly proved they are meant for each other.

As Charles and Diana left St Paul's Cathedral, they both looked away from each other and towards their crowds of supporters.

In contrast, the newly wed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge could not keep their eyes off each other as they stepped out of Westminster Abbey.

The similarities definitely outweighed the differences though and it was touching to see that William and Kate had looked to his parents' wedding for inspiration.

Similarities: Diana and her father Earl Spencer (left), and Kate and her father Michael Middleton looked remarkably similar as they walked towards the altar

Paternal pride: Both fathers looked proud and composed as they led their daughters up the aisle


The bridesmaids at both weddings were dressed in white, wearing crowns of flowers in their hair.

Both fathers looked proud and composed as they led their daughters up the aisle and both couples smiled as they took their first strolls as man and wife back towards the doors of their respective churches.

Diana and Kate's dresses were very, very different - Diana's Eighties number looks very dated - but both featured nipped in waists that showed off the brides' svelte figures, and both women wore impressive tiaras.

Newly-weds: Diana kept her veil on at the alter, but Kate took her veil off almost as soon as she joined her husband

Man and wife: Diana's longer train meant that there was more distance between the couple and their bridesmaids than at William and Kate's wedding - but otherwise, the similarities were startling


Kate looked much more at ease as she led her husband's hand while they walked out of the Abbey. Diana, on the other hand, had her arm limply linked through Charles'.

The photographs of the balcony scenes at Buckingham Palace look as similar as those from the wedding ceremonies.

But when you compare the scenes, telling differences emerge.

Crowd pleaser: Diana leans in for a kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace

And again: Last Friday, the initiative came from Prince William, with him suggesting both the first and second balcony kisses


Diana clearly leaned in towards Charles when she kissed him in front of crowds of fans.

But last Friday, the initiative came from Prince William, with him suggesting both the first and second kisses - and his wife happily obliging.

As the couple stepped back into the palace they gave a wave to the crowds that was almost identical to the one William's parents gave 30 years before them. Only the newlyweds were standing much closer together the second time around.

Royal wave: Kate and William stood much closer together than Charles and Diana as they gave one last wave to the crowds below them


Perhaps the starkest example of the differences between the two couples, though is in their official engagement photos.

Both the brides to be wore blue - to match the same ring they wore on their wedding ring finger. But Charles and Diana looked much more uneasy than William and Kate who were both grinning for the cameras.

Engagement photo: Both the brides to be wore blue - and the same ring - but Charles and Diana looked much more uneasy than William and Kate


Some similarities between the two wedding were just a result of both couples following age-old traditions. Both wedding cakes, for example, were white, tiered and very elaborate.

But Prince William said as soon as he got engaged that he would find ways to make it feel like his mother was by his side at his wedding - and taking inspiration from the ceremony she chose was a very touching tribute.

Majestic cakes: Both couples had beautiful white tiered wedding cakes that were elaborately decorated


source:dailymail

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Media queen: Kate Middleton is poised to overtake Princess Diana as the most talked-about woman in the world

By Daily Mail Reporter


-29-year-old is topping Internet and social network sites

-Diana remains the most popular woman online despite dying before Google and social media existed

Popular: Kate Middleton, who marries Prince William next week, is on the verge of overtaking Diana, Princess Of Wales as the world's most-talked about woman


With just 11 days to go before she walks down the aisle, royal bride-to-be Kate Middleton's profile is rocketing sky high.

The 29-year-old, who marries Prince William in Westminster Abbey on April 29, is on the verge of overtaking her fiancé's mother Diana, Princess Of Wales as the most-talked about woman in the world, according to researchers.

She is already posting Diana-type numbers in terms of news worthiness and celebrity status on top global media websites as well as the Internet and social media in general, the study said.


Paul JJ Payack, of Global Language Monitor in Texas, said: 'Kate Middleton is set to eclipse Princess Di as the media star of the royal family.

'In fact, Kate could surpass all Internet, social media, and global print and electronic media citations by the time the royal wedding-related stories are compiled.'

The study compared media citations of Miss Middleton with those of the late Diana, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and Camilla Parker Bowles.

For the leading global media, the citations were measured over the last three months, as well as all the archives available.

Mr Payack said Diana is cited in hundred of thousands of news stories, even though her death in a 1997 car crash came before Google, social media, and smartphones existed.

'The study demonstrates the enduring legacy of Princess Di some 14 years after her death,' he said.


William and his mother in 1991. Diana is still the most discussed woman on the planet despite dying in 1997, before the birth of Google and social media
Yet Kate's Internet and social media citations surpass every member of the royal family. Prince William comes in as a close second, followed by Diana.

In traditional print and electronic media, Prince William and his fiancée both enjoy double the references than Queen Elizabeth and quadruple those of Prince Charles.

Global Language Monitor uses an algorithm to analyse and measure global discourse in traditional print and electronic media, the Internet and social media including Twitter.


source:dailymail

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