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12 times Meghan and Kate paid tribute to Princess Diana

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Kate and Meghan have paid tribute to Princess Diana in various ways. (photo:Getty/Gallo Images).
Kate and Meghan have paid tribute to Princess Diana in various ways. (photo:Getty/Gallo Images).

Cape Town - It’s not easy following in the footsteps of someone as remarkable and beloved as the late Princess Diana.

Though her daughters-in-law, Kate (36) and Meghan (37), never met her, it appears they’re doing a good job of honouring her memory.

HERE ARE 12 LESSER-KNOWN TIMES THEY PAID TRIBUTE TO DIANA:

1. Kate and William’s wedding

When Kate and William wed in April 2011 in Westminster Abbey – where Diana’s memorial service was also held – Kate walked down the aisle to the song I Was Glad by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.

It’s the same song to which Diana walked down the aisle when she wed Prince Charles in July 1981. The hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer was also sung at Kate and William’s wedding. It’s the same hymn that was sung at the end of Diana’s funeral, CheatSheet Entertainment reports.

Prince William Kate Middleton royal wedding

2. Kate’s choice of photographer

Kate has opted to use the services of Mario Testino on several occasions, including her engagement pictures and Princess Charlotte’s baptism. Testino was a favourite of Diana’s and had taken many well-known pictures of the late princess through the years, according to She Knows.

3. Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s baptisms

Kate and William had Prince George baptised in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, where Diana’s body was kept before burial, according to CheatSheet Entertainment. Charlotte was baptised in the St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, where Diana was also baptised as a baby.

4. Like father, like son

Kate has on numerous occasions dressed little Prince George in outfits similar to those Prince William wore as a child. For example, for Princess Charlotte’s baptism Kate dressed Prince George in a white and red outfit similar to one William wore as a child when he visited his baby brother Harry in hospital for the first time in 1984, Hello! magazine reports.

prince george

5. Off to school

Just like her late mother-in-law Diana, Kate also insisted her children be schooled outside the palace walls. George started Year One at Thomas’s Battersea in South London in September.

6. Meghan’s philanthropy 

Shortly after their engagement Harry and Meghan performed their first royal duty as a couple. ABC News was there when they attended an event to commemorate World Aids Day – a cause that had been close to Diana’s heart and one of the reasons she was dubbed “the people’s princess”.


7. Meghan and Kate’s ‘something blue’

Both Meghan and Kate had a small blue bow that once belonged to Princess Diana sewed into their wedding dresses, Woman’s World reports.

8. White roses

Philippa Craddock, the florist for Meghan and Harry’s wedding, decorated the church with white roses because it was Diana’s favourite flower, Good Housekeeping reports. White roses are also to be found in the White Garden at Kensington Palace - which is where Harry and Meghan announced their engagement. They were planted in Diana’s memory.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle

9. Meghan’s wedding vows

As can be expected from a women’s rights activist such as Meghan she, like her late mother-in-law, also left out the part of the traditional wedding vows in which the bride promises to “obey” her groom, E! Online reports.

10. Keeping it in the family

Diana’s elder sister Lady Jane Fellowes made a speech and read a Bible verse at Harry and Meghan’s wedding, Good Housekeeping reports.

11. The guests

Sir Elton John, who’d been a friend of Princess Diana’s was more than a guest at Harry and Meghan’s May wedding – he also performed at the reception, ABC News reports. He famously performed the song Candle in the Wind at Diana’s funeral service.

12. Diana’s charities 

Instead of wedding gifts, Harry and Meghan requested that guests rather donate to their preferred charities, all of which centre around issues that had been close to Diana’s heart, according to TIME.

 

Sources: TIME, ABC News, Good Housekeeping, E Online, Woman’s World, Good Housekeeping

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