The stamp of approval! Katie Couric is confident that the late Princess Diana would’ve had a special bond with her daughters-in-law, Duchess Kate and Duchess Meghan.
“I think she would love them,” the journalist, 62, told Us Weekly exclusively at Dada Films and The Cinema Society’s Jim Allison: Breakthrough premiere at The Landmark at 57 West in New York City on Sunday, September 15. “They’re thoroughly modern women, and I think they exhibit the best of Diana’s qualities, which include caring about something greater than yourself and committing yourself to worthwhile causes.”
Couric is especially sad that Diana never had a chance to see her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, grow up and start families. (William, 37, married Kate, also 37, in 2011, and they share Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 16 months. Harry, 35, wed Meghan, 38, in 2018, and they share Archie, 4 months.)
“I’m so sorry that she can’t see her grandchildren or be with her daughters-in-law,” the former Today show cohost told Us, adding that she thinks the Princess of Wales and the duchesses “would get along famously” despite people trying to “concoct a lot of drama among them.”
Couric interviewed Diana at a luncheon in Chicago in June 1996, one year before the royal died at the age of 36 in a car accident in Paris. The TV host recalled their candid off-camera conversation in an essay published by InStyle in August ahead of the 22nd anniversary of Diana’s death.
“I said something like, ‘You must be exhausted traveling and meeting so many people and having to shake hands with all these strangers. Are you excited to go home?’ I will never forget her response: ‘I would be, but I’m going home to an empty house.’ This was as she was finalizing her divorce from Prince Charles, and she seemed a bit melancholy and lonely,” Couric wrote. “My heart broke a little for her. ‘Why don’t you invite some friends over and have a slumber party?’ I playfully suggested. She just tilted her head and looked at me quizzically.”
The former Yahoo! global news anchor told Us on Sunday that she knew Diana “was going through a hard time” when they sat down together.
“I think a lot of people are lonelier than you might think,” she said. “It made me sad for her. It kind of reminded me what’s important — and that’s your family and your friends.”
With reporting by Nicki Gostin
