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The moment Kate Middleton echoed Princess Diana as she stepped out of her carriage at Buckingham Palace on her wedding day has gone viral after being uploaded to video sharing social media platform TikTok.
The two clips taken from Kate's wedding day to Prince William in April 2011 and Diana's to Prince Charles in July 1981 have gained over 600,000 views and achieved in excess of 34,000 likes since being uploaded by TikTok user, 1ladyydianawales.
The video's popularity comes as 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash while traveling at speed through the Pont d'Alma tunnel with then-boyfriend and Harrods heir Dodi Fayed.
Both women in their respective clips are shown emerging from a horse-drawn carriage underneath the porte-cochère at Buckingham Palace following their marriage ceremonies, handling the trains of their wedding dresses as they do so.
@1ladyydianawales Both are very beautiful brides ?? #princessdiana #katemiddleton #fyp #viral ♬ original sound - Lady Diana
Both Diana and Kate have become identified as leading figures of British fashion, with Kate being recently named the most stylish woman of 2022 by society bible Tatler magazine, and Diana's outfits continuing to serve as inspiration to designers and consumers 25 years after her death.
The dress designed for Diana's wedding in 1981 was entrusted to the young design team of David and Elizabeth Emanuel, up-and-coming names in the world of British fashion and an unexpected choice for a future queen to settle on. Traditionalists assumed at the the time that Diana would appoint one of Queen Elizabeth II's favorite designers such as Hardy Amies to assign the commission. The soon-to-be-princess, though, always had an independent streak when it came to her clothes.
The resulting wedding dress for Diana took the form of a large ivory silk taffeta gown with puffed shoulders, full skirt with layers of tulle petticoats and delicate lace embellishment. The level of drama of the design was increased by a 25-foot train, the longest in royal wedding history.
By contrast, Kate's wedding dress, in conforming with the more streamlined aesthetic of the 2010s, was a more subdued design, though it came from just as unexpected a fashion house.
Prince William's bride eschewed the more traditional British society designers of Catherine Walker and Stewart Parvin, going instead to a house founded by the anti-establishment "bad boy" of fashion, Alexander McQueen.
Though McQueen died in 2010, the house was still run to his specifications and aesthetic by right-hand woman Sarah Burton who has since designed many of Kate's most important dresses.
Kate's wedding dress took the form of a white lace embellished gown with trumpet skirt and close fitted bodice with sleeves. Instead of the 25-foot-train length opted for by Diana, Kate selected a more conservative length of around 10-feet.
The TikTok video, as well as showcasing each royal bride's dress to full advantage and the care with which they took over removing them from the carriage, also shows William and Charles as new husbands with their wives.
William is shown taking Kate's hand as she steps down from the carriage and though her bouquet obstructs it, Charles acted similarly for Diana in taking her arm before overseeing the unpacking of the oversized train by the Buckingham Palace footmen.
Commenters on the viral video have praised the royals, most notably Diana, and highlighted the differences and similarities between the daughter- and mother-in-law's fashion choices.
"Diana reminds me of Cinderella there," wrote one user.
"Kate's dress was classic and lovely. Diana's was just big and floofy, but that was the style then," posted another.
One commenter also expressed that they would have liked to see Kate wear the tiara chosen by Diana for her wedding day. Instead, the soon-to-be Duchess of Cambridge was loaned a diamond Cartier tiara by Queen Elizabeth II.
Diana wore the Spencer tiara on her wedding day which is a family heirloom of her family and was loaned to her by her father throughout his lifetime for royal events. Traditionally, a bride would wear a tiara owned by her own family for her wedding day. In the absence of one in the Middleton family, Kate borrowed from her future husband's, something that was replicated by Meghan Markle who was also loaned a diamond tiara by the queen when she married Prince Harry.
Kate and Prince William married 30 years after Charles and Diana and in April 2022, celebrated their eleventh wedding anniversary.
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