Kate Middleton copies Princess Diana's behavior in public, speech expert reveals

Kate Middleton’s public persona is very similar to that of Princess Diana’s, according to a broadcaster and speech expert. 

• Kate Middleton's speech body language has many parallels with that of Princess Diana, says speech expert Jon Briggs.
• The Duchess of Cambridge shares numerous behavioral traits with the late Princess of Wales, especially when engaging with the public. 
• In other royal news, Prince William and Kate Middleton wish Ireland a Happy St. Patrick's Day with this thoughtful gesture.
  

Jon Briggs, the voice behind the Weakest Link and Apple’s Siri, has identified several parallels between the Duchess of Cambridge and the late Lady Diana’s behavior when speaking with people - and suggested the reasons behind the uncanny resemblance. 

“Kate will adopt a listening position, her head slightly tilted to one side, much like William’s mother Princess Diana used to do,” he told the Express. 

"It's a position that says 'I'm interested and listening to you - and ensuring that you know my status doesn't get in the way of this conversation.'"

Jon also compared Kate’s speech to that of Princess Diana, citing their proximity in age as a major factor in the similarity. "Generationally there is much less difference between the two of them than say Princess Anne or the Queen,” he added. 

Kate’s upper-class intonation may not feel as natural to the duchess as it sounds, however. Jon believes her vocals underwent a royal transformation after she married Prince William in 2011 and became fully immersed in aristocratic life. 

"While Kate always spoke well, she may not have had quite such a pronounced accent when she first joined the family and we tend to like to blend in with our surroundings,” he said. 

"I suspect her accent will have migrated towards what we regard as 'the Queen's English' (quite literally) during the past 10 years to fit in. It's something we all do when surrounded by people who speak differently to us."

These micro-behaviors have become easier to detect with the rise of virtual communication during the pandemic. Many of these royal engagements with the public, which previously took place in more intimate settings, are now recorded for the world to see. Kate has repeatedly shown herself to be interested and sympathetic, offering her full attention to everyone she meets through the screen. Like Diana, she wishes to emphasize that her power does not override her humanity. 

This isn’t the first time the two royal icons have been compared. Kate’s parenting style has been likened to that of Diana, who defied royal convention by taking a hands-on approach to raising Prince William and Prince Harry. 

"They're always fixated on their children, even with the chaos around them,” Susan Constantine, a human behavioral expert, said in reference to the two women in an interview with Good Housekeeping. Both mothers have been known to show affection towards their children in public, by leaning down to be at their level and holding their hands.