The royal family allegedly encouraged Princess Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle to take style cues from their late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.
According to royal expert Omid Scobie’s new book, Endgame, Kate, 41, and Meghan, 42, felt “gentle pushes” from members of The Firm to take style cues from Diana. Page Six excerpted the book on Saturday, November 25, three days before its publication date.
Scobie had allegedly spoken with a royal insider, who “worked with” Diana’s two sons: Prince William and Prince Harry. (William, 41, married Kate in 2011, nearly seven years before Harry, 39, found love with Meghan.) The source claimed that decisions to dress Kate and Meghan like Diana, who died in 1997 at the age of 36, were “always discussed” with the two princes.
“It had been known for someone to go back and pull images of Diana at a certain place or time for ideas,” Scobie wrote. “At the right moment, this can be a sweet gesture, but there is also a slightly queasy feeling when you realize it’s often orchestrated within the same system that contributed to her living misery, and an institution that still wants some of Diana’s shine to rub off on them.”
Diana, nicknamed the People’s Princess, died in a fatal car crash in Paris. She passed away when William and Harry were 15 and 12, respectively. Since her tragic death, William and Harry have made sure to continually honor her legacy. Both of their daughters — Princess Charlotte and Princess Lilibet, respectively — were even given Diana as middle names in tribute. (William and Kate also share sons Prince George and Prince Louis, and Harry is also father to Prince Archie.)
“We’ve got more photos up ’round the house now of her and we talk about her a bit and stuff,” William said in a 2017 ITV documentary about his mother. “It’s hard because, obviously, Catherine didn’t know her, so she cannot really provide that … level of detail. So, I do regularly, [when] putting George or Charlotte to bed, talk about her and just try to remind them that there are two grandmothers — there were two grandmothers — in their lives. It’s important that they know who she was and that she existed.”
Kate and Meghan have also worn many pieces from Diana’s jewelry collection, including their engagement rings. The Prince of Wales presented Kate with Diana’s sapphire bauble from ex-husband King Charles III, while Harry sourced stones from Diana’s collection for his custom ring design.
Kate has since worked to modernize her style choices, now frequently choosing tailored suits for public appearances.
“Kate is saying, ‘Don’t focus so much on my clothes. I am here to do a role. I want to be taken seriously. I am treating this as a proper duty. I’m pledging my allegiance to these charities and causes. … I’m your future queen, and I’m doing the best I can,’” royal fashion expert Miranda Holder exclusively told Us Weekly in October. “It’s sending out a message of business rather than fashion. … [She’s] trying to take away from the world’s — including my [own] — fixation on [her] fashion.”
Holder added: “[Suits] have really become Kate’s uniform of choice, certainly for appointments. [She] is slightly directing us more to her causes and what she would like to get out there into the media.”
