Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

[Jen_94]

I watch her live speech yesterday, Think she did very well.

Thanks for the link

[Alixz]

I truly like Catherine. I think she is much more likable than Diana.  Even at her best, Diana, to me, was a spoiled brat who never grew up and expected the world to love and suffer with her.

She did grow into the good works she did later in her life, but she still acted like a "Hollywood starlet" in her social scandals and faux pas.

Catherine has the grace and morals of a great future queen. Will is indeed a lucky man.

[Lucien]

Good!

The Duke and Duchess were re-united as William returned from his mission abroad!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17458841

[Grace]

I truly like Catherine. I think she is much more likable than Diana.  Even at her best, Diana, to me, was a spoiled brat who never grew up and expected the world to love and suffer with her.

She did grow into the good works she did later in her life, but she still acted like a "Hollywood starlet" in her social scandals and faux pas.

Catherine has the grace and morals of a great future queen. Will is indeed a lucky man.

Not sure how you can come to this lofty conclusion less than 12 months after Catherine joined the royal family.  Her public profile has been far less than the late Diana's was a year after she became royal and it's pretty obvious Catherine has the love and support from her husband to a degree Diana never enjoyed, not to mention that she appears to be being eased into royal duties far more carefully than Diana ever was.  I do find her quite likeable, but she's got a long way to go before proving her worth as a royal, in my view.  She has not really been tested so far.

[Lucien]

Catherine Duchess of Cambridge is a complete and absolute natural.Not a lofty conclusion at all,just look at her,
well educated,bright and absolutely lovely without making a spectacle of herself nor using false eyelashes to
convince the crowds what a fake saint she is.No,Catherine is a gift,a jewel in the Crown,one made of the right
stuff to become a Queen Consort eventually.For anything else I totally agree with Alixz,yes I know,but who's right
is right,you can never beat the thruth.

[Grace]

Time will tell...let's hope you are right.  Many of Diana's most vocal critics were probably praising her to the skies in the first few months of her marriage also...

[Lucien]

Time will tell...let's hope you are right.  Many of Diana's most vocal critics were probably praising her to the skies in the first few months of her marriage also...

No,afraid not....

But William and Catherine is a different story alltogether!

[feodorovna]

I wonder how these two women can possibly be compared. One was a gauche teenager, flung into engagement, publicity, public duties, pregnancy and motherhood all in just over 12 months. She was given little by way of support from her husband and his family and I imagine, that in the early days everything she did was about gaining her husband's approval. She had lived, before marriage, in a very small world, partly because she wasn't intellectual enough to spread her wings further but also because that was how it was for girls like her.

The other woman has been eased very slowly and gently into the position she now holds. She met her man on neutral territory as an equal. I imagine they became friends before they became lovers but certainly, by the time they married, she was able to walk tall and proudly confident in his love for and protection of her. Thank God they are being given this precious time to enjoy each other and their marriage before they become parents.

[CHRISinUSA]

Each of these recent posts about Catherine and Diana make excellent valid points, and Feodorovna's summary is spot on - these are two utterly different women in two utterly different situations. 

Certainly, serious damaging mistakes were made 31 years ago when Charles and Diana wed.  It's wonderful that the hard lessons were obviously learned, and are being corrected this time around.  Catherine, William and the entire monarchy will be so much the better off.

But again, those two women are also utterly different people - and so are their husbands.  Society is also vastly different today than in 1981. 
We are not able to assume "what might have been" if Diana had been given the same benefits that Catherine is now.  All the careful hand-holding in the world would probably have made the path easier, but wouldn't have changed the fact that Diana and Charles were not a well matched couple.  It wouldn't have erased the age or upbringing differences that made neither of them able to give the other what was needed emotionally.

[Alixz]

I just like Catherine's style and relaxed presentation of herself. She looks directly into the eyes of the person (child or adult) to whom she is talking and gives everyone her complete attention.

Another woman I always admired and felt I would like to meet is Barbara Bush, the wife of GHW Bush. She also made me feel that she was relaxed and comfortable in her own skin.

Michelle Obama has some of that charisma, but not as much as either the Duchess of Cambridge or Mrs. Bush.

While it is true that Diana was in over her heard and certainly not supported as Catherine is, I have never forgotten the sad, mascara smudged, "Panda" eyed Princess of Wales in her interview discussing "three in her marriage". I thought it was Hollywood at its best and undignified for a woman in her position.

[Jen_94]

Well said Feodorovna, they are two different women.

I agree with Alixz about Catherine, I always see, when she is talking to somebody, she always makes eye contact, listens and actually shows an interest in what that person is saying. I always think she carries herself well and acts natural.

[OctoberLily]

 

But again, those two women are also utterly different people - and so are their husbands.  Society is also vastly different today than in 1981. 
We are not able to assume "what might have been" if Diana had been given the same benefits that Catherine is now.  All the careful hand-holding in the world would probably have made the path easier, but wouldn't have changed the fact that Diana and Charles were not a well matched couple.  It wouldn't have erased the age or upbringing differences that made neither of them able to give the other what was needed emotionally.

I agree with Chris and feodorovna.  These two women are totally different people.  Diana was so young and was thrust into a world she was woefully unprepared in which to live.  Catherine is older and has had a much more "normal" relationship with William.  Lest we forget, these two have been together for several years and by that fact alone Catherine has had the greater benefit.

I am very impressed with Catherine.  And, like Alixz, I like how she's relaxed and presents herself so well.  She seems to have stepped into her royal role so naturally.  Good for her, good for William and good for the British monarchy.

[Suzanne]

Catherine's recent speech is the latest example of the involvement of royal women in patient care

http://www.royalhistorian.com/catherine-duchess-of-cambridge-makes-her-first-public-speech-at-the-east-anglia-childrens-hospice-in-ipswitch/

[Lucien]

The Duke and Duchess are off on a ski break.Good!

[Grace]

Why?