Whether it is her clothes or jewellery, Diana is never far from the picture when it comes to Will and Harry’s respective wives. And it is never a coincidence when she makes an ‘appearance’, writes Charlotte Cripps
he Princess of Wales has posted a new photo of herself smiling at the peak of Ben Nevis wearing a cagoule with poles on her back, looking bedraggled – as to be expected after climbing the highest peak in Scotland within 24 hours. She’d just completed the Three Peaks Challenge on Saturday as part of a deeply personal mission to highlight life during and after cancer and to raise money for a cancer charity.
“I have taken on the National Three Peaks Challenge, not simply as a physical endeavour but as a chance to explore life beyond diagnosis and to give something back,” she wrote in a heartwarming message, having successfully completed cancer treatment in 2025.
But what stands out in the photo is that, as Kate, 44, made it to the mountain’s top – a gruelling 23-mile trip with an ascent of 3,064 metres – she did so wearing her sapphire and diamond engagement ring.
The iconic ring that belonged to William’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, is centre stage in the image, as Kate places her left hand on the rock. She was met by her cheering family at the finish line, including husband Prince William, children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, as well as her parents Carole and Michael and brother James Middleton.
It’s a perfect photo opportunity for Kate and the ring. And while it is lovely that Diana’s legacy lives on in so many ways, it so often turns into the Diana challenge: Who is really most like Diana and who does it best – Kate or Meghan?
It’s an ongoing battle of paying homage to her outfits, cosplaying her – even sideways glances that remind us of Diana – and it resurfaces constantly. Whether it’s done intentionally, subconsciously – or as a heartfelt nod to their mother-in-law, whom neither of the wives of William and Harry ever met, these kinds of images trigger us to think: “Oh, she is just like Diana”.
I understand the attachment to family heirlooms and other items to remember the person closest to your core. Since my mum died over 20 years ago, my half-sister actually keeps a bottle of my mum’s perfume in the fridge so she can spray herself to smell like her, which is hugely triggering. I look similar to my late mum and I sometimes wear her yellow cut-off shorts all these years later – and her diamond ring, which I inherited and is the equivalent of Kate’s ring in importance in my family.
Kate wore a baby blue Catherine Walker coat dress with white trim for Trooping the Colour earlier this month – which was in direct homage to a pale blue and white outfit Diana wore in 1987 to the royal family’s Easter service – also by Catherine Walker.
When Kate stepped outside the Lindo Wing when Prince George was born in 2013, she famously wore a light blue Jenny Packham polka-dot dress, a nod to the green polka-dot dress Diana wore when showing Prince William to the world at the same hospital in 1982.
Even before marrying into the royal family, Kate wore a bright red puffer jacket with black gloves while skiing in Klosters in 2005 with Prince William, which was an identical look to Diana’s on a ski holiday in the same resort in 1986.
Meghan, of course, nods to Diana’s legacy as much as she can. Meghan’s emerald green Commonwealth Day service fascinator in 2020 mirrored the one Diana wore at the 1982 Trooping the Colour on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
The purple Northwestern University sweatshirt that Meghan wore in a selfie posted to Instagram in 2025 is just like the one Diana wore in the 1990s and what better place to show off Diana’s former Cartier Tank Française watch than on her wrist while baking and making things at home in Montecito on her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
She was accused of “cosplaying” Diana to boost her image, such as when she and Harry made their “humanitarian” trip to Jordan earlier this year, something Diana famously did as the “People’s Princess”. It’s also in the poses, such as Meghan recreating Diana’s famous crossed-leg pose in her Harper’s Bazaar cover shoot last year, which Diana first used in Vogue in 1994.
While Meghan’s 2021 Oprah interview was also compared to Diana’s bombshell 1995 BBC Panorama interview, both royal wives have publicly admitted their struggles with royal life, mental health, and feelings of isolation within the monarchy. The echoes of Diana ringing loud and clear.
Of course, Harry has spoken about how Meghan reminds him of his late mother in the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan. “So much of what Meghan is and how she is is so similar to my mum,” he commented. “She has the same compassion. She has the same empathy; she has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.”
The truth is both Harry and William have both been drawn to women who both have Diana’s traits, whether they try to emulate them strategically – or not.
When we first met her, Meghan’s bright smile and protective hand on Harry’s back had all the mannerisms of shy Di in her engagement era, while later, her Hollywood glamour and nous when it comes to jettisoning herself into the headlines to push out other royal players remind us of Diana the player of her later years.
Meanwhile. Kate’s genuine warmth when it comes to being a normal mum, running in sports day and dropping the kids at school, has clear parallels with Diana’s approach to non-stuffy parenting. But like her mother-in-law, there are hints of an anxious personality, and not always being entirely comfortable in her own skin.
Put these two women together, and you get Diana the complete woman – all her sides are on show.
Men are often drawn to women who resemble their mothers because it feels safe and familiar. Also by choosing a partner with traits similar to their mother, it can be a way to try to find closure with unfinished business from childhood – one with a happy ending. William and Harry were only 15 and 12 years old when Diana tragically died in 1997 – so it’s not surprising they might subconsciously be trying to fix their traumatic experiences through the women they have chosen to be their number ones.
And that’s why it is so ironic that Harry and William are at loggerheads – with their wives often being cited at the heart of their disagreements. The royal brothers are the only people in the world who really know what their childhood was like, but in adulthood, this shared experience has pushed them further apart as their approaches to their past and their present are so vastly different.
William is fuming about what he sees as Harry and Meghan’s lack of discretion and Harry, the “spare”, is trying to navigate what life looks like when history dictates he isn’t William’s equal, even if his mum told him he was never to see himself as less.
The timing of Kate’s latest Diana flex is also significant. It comes just as Harry may or may not come to the UK with Meghan and his children for the first time in four years. Their trip was reported to have included a visit to Althorp to visit Diana’s grave, and it is a long-overdue opportunity for King Charles to spend time with his grandchildren.
But the plans are chopping and changing in light of Harry’s security provision being taken away – or as a way for Harry to highlight the injustice of this.
The fact that King Charles has offered them a royal residence to stay in on the UK visit is also reportedly a sore point for William, who allegedly thinks his father is making a “misjudgement” about offering the Sussexes an olive branch, according to a source in the Mail on Sunday.
That’s why Diana’s engagement ring in full view on top of Ben Nevis shows the Waleses are taking ownership of the UK by shouting “Diana” from the mountain tops. Kate’s ring in the photo is no coincidence – it’s standing out as a flashing beacon, as Meghan’s Cartier Diana watch did in her Netflix show.
For now, Kate’s got the power – and she’s on top of the world.
