The Princess of Wales did two events on Thursday, January 30. She took the helicopter to South Wales and visited the Ty Hafan children’s hospice, which is her new patronage. Then she visited a Welsh textiles manufacturer called Corgi. According to People Magazine’s excessive coverage, Kate “was relaxed, welcoming and stayed longer than expected” at the hospice. At Corgi, Kate basically played on some of the machines and acted like it was just a breezy field trip. I’ve been surprised to see that the photos are not everywhere, and there doesn’t seem to be some new palace briefing in which we are being told that Kate is obviously very brave and hard-working, but she will not continue to work herself to the bone like this. Then I happened upon this curious piece in the Spectator (written by Alexander Larman). The argument is that, obviously, Kate is incredibly popular and she’s the new Princess Diana, but that’s a bad thing! For real. An excerpt:
At a time of great difficulty for the Firm, Catherine remains their greatest reputational asset. The King, Queen and Princess Anne offer reliable dignity, and Prince William, when on form, can be relied upon for matey gravitas. But it is Kate Middleton who is the most straightforwardly likeable and relatable royal, someone who engages with ‘ordinary people’ on an immediate, non-patronising level.
Catherine is, of course, recovering from her own illness, and in an affecting recent trip to the Royal Marsden, spoke about the difficulties and privations that she had undergone in her treatment. While she is now in remission, this is not the same thing as being fully cured, and although she has talked about her hopes for a ‘fulfilling year ahead’, it is inevitable that her public schedule will be a lighter one, with events like the Ty Hafan visit taking place on set-piece occasions rather than with any kind of regularity.
In this, and in many other regards, those around the Princess of Wales could usefully learn from the example of the previous holder of that title, the late Princess Diana. Like Catherine, Diana had a natural rapport with the public that came from her genuine interest in people, and she especially excelled at her interactions with children and the sick. This was noted, and used to the full – some would say exploited – by those courtiers who were desperate for any favourable publicity for their employers. That is, until such time as Diana, tiring of her show pony status, went solo (or rogue) and became a freelance Queen of Hearts, showing up the more protocol-based Firm for the hidebound institution that it inevitably was back then.
The temptation, then, is to rebrand Catherine as the new Diana, a glamorous and photogenic woman who is naturally empathetic and who manages to bring harmony to potential discord through her charitable initiatives and public interactions. Yet as the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death approaches in 2027 – and as her younger son’s glowering estrangement from his family continues to remind us – it is hard to forget that the Firm’s eagerness to push the late princess into the limelight for favourable publicity ended up being catastrophic, both for her and for them. Those who are eagerly adding in future appointments to the Princess of Wales’s schedule should look back on history, and consider dialling it down accordingly.
So much to unpack, my God. What offends me the most is that the royalists’ approach Kate’s PR by flatly telling everyone that of course Kate is the new Diana, despite all evidence to the contrary. But even if you go along with that fantasy… Diana’s story is tragic because of the way her husband mistreated her and the way the Firm mistreated her, the way they punished her, maligned her, gaslighted her and then threw her away. Her story isn’t tragic because she left a legacy of good works, compassion and actual change in her wake. Diana dove into work because that was the only thing she found fulfilling and she genuinely wanted to make a difference and help people. Diana was absolutely exploited by the Firm, but it wasn’t as simplistic as “they forced her to work so that they could get good press!” That’s a total rewrite – the Windsors were incredibly jealous of Diana’s natural charisma, grace, likeability and ease around people. They couldn’t figure it out and they still haven’t figured it out. Which is why they think if they just tell Kate to dress up in Diana cosplay and flash Big Blue, it’s all the same.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
