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The Princess of Wales has become the subject of a viral video on TikTok after her response to a question about Princess Diana during a joint-interview with Prince William resurfaced online.
Over the course of her two-decade-long relationship with William, which includes 12 years as his wife, Kate has very rarely spoken about the prince's late mother, despite the two women often being compared. Diana died at the age of 36 after a car crash in Paris in 1997.
One exception to Kate's usual silence on the highly emotional subject for her husband, was made in November 2010.
Following the official announcement of their engagement from Buckingham Palace the couple took part in what is, to date, their only major television interview together, discussing their relationship and their plans for the future.
Uploaded to TikTok by user, princessmiddleton_, interview footage of Kate's description of Diana as "an inspirational woman" has gone viral, gaining more than 250,000 views in 48 hours.
Kate made the comment after ITV network broadcaster, Tom Bradby, raised the subject of Diana after discussing the engagement ring that had formerly belonged to her and with which William had proposed.
"William's mother was this massive iconic figure. The most famous figure of our age. Is that worrying? Is that intimidating? Do you think about that?" he asked.
"Well, obviously I would have loved to have met her," Kate replied. "She's obviously…she's an inspirational woman to look up to."
Not shown in the TikTok clip, William appeared to come to his future wife's defense, making clear that it wasn't her responsibility to live up to the legacy of his mother.
"There's no pressure though," he said. "There's no pressure, because like Kate said it is about carving your own future. No one is going to try to fill my mother's shoes, what she did was fantastic. It's about making your own future and your own destiny and Kate will do a very good job of that."
@princessmiddleton_ Diana and Catherine would've been a powerful duo ? #princessofwales #katemiddleton #princesscatherine #princessdiana #theroyalfamily #foryoupage #fyp #dianaprincessofwales #catherineprincessofwales #princesskate #royalfamily ♬ original sound - ~Princess Catherine~
The viral clip, which also included footage of both Kate and Diana's public engagements over the years, has received in excess of 22,000 likes and 2,000 comments so far, many of which have praised the royals.
"Two icons," wrote one TikTok user.
"Diana would of loved you Kate so much 🙏," posted another, with a further comment reading: "Princess Catherine is continuing Diana's journey. She would have been proud of you and loved you."
Since 2010 Kate has made very few public comments about Diana, but was recently filmed during a royal walkabout in Wales being asked about her late-mother-in-law by a crowd members.
In April, Kate was overheard in the town of Merthyr Tydfil discussing her engagement ring with a member of the public, explaining: "It's the same ring [as Diana's] and it's exactly the same size as when I tried it on, yeah. So it's very, very special. It's an honor to be able to carry on wearing it."
The diamond and sapphire ring had been given to Diana in 1981 by Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and had been inherited along with the rest of her jewelry collection by her sons William and Harry after her death.
Continuing her comments about the princess, Kate then told the well-wisher how the princess would have been a "brilliant" grandmother to her three children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
"I never, sadly, got to meet her [Diana]," she said. "I never met her, no, sadly. Obviously now with the children—her grandchildren—her being a grandmother...she'd be brilliant. You know, we miss her every day and that's what's important."
In addition to her engagement ring, Kate recently inherited another important legacy from Diana, when King Charles made her the new Princess of Wales following his accession to the throne in September 2022.
In one of his first acts as king, Charles made William the Prince of Wales, with Kate then becoming the first Princess of Wales to use the historic title since Diana's death.
Queen Camilla was legally the Princess of Wales from her marriage in 2005 until September 2022, however, she did not use the title out of respect for the late Diana.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more