Kate Middleton was reportedly nervous and even apprehensive about eventually inheriting the late Princess Diana's royal title, to the point that she almost considered refusing it entirely.
"She knew she'd inevitably be compared with Diana, whose untimely death had provoked such a tsunami of anger and grief. And she was right," Robert Jobson's writes in his new book Catherine, The Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen, and in an excerpt published in the Daily Mail.
"Kate found all such talk stressful," the passage continues. "Indeed, it got to the point where she felt she might follow Camilla (who opted to become Duchess of Cornwall) in refusing— when the time came—to be known as HRH Princess of Wales."
Obviously, Princess Kate did decide to take on the late Princess Diana's title in 2022, when King Charles acceded to the throne after Queen Elizabeth's passing.
According to Jobson, Kate Middleton "accepted her promotion with good grace, out of respect for her husband and the King."
"Enough time had passed to make the title more palatable, and Catherine had been on the world stage long enough to be appreciated for her own qualities," the author added.
The stress any future Princess of Wales would feel walking in Princess Diana's footsteps was not lost on Prince William. In a 2010 interview after the Prince William and Princess Kate got engaged, the future king said that Middleton should not feel pressured to be the "next Diana," People reported at the time.
"No one is trying to fill my mother's shoes," Prince William said. "It's about carving your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job at that."
Earlier this year, while speaking at the Diana Legacy Awards in London, Prince William discussed his mother's legacy...one that the current Prince and Princess of Wales are dedicated to honoring.
“She taught me that everyone has the potential to give something back, that everyone in need deserves a supporting hand in life," Prince William said at the time. "That legacy is something that both Catherine and I have sought to focus on through our work, as have the 50,000 young people who have received a Diana Award over the past 25 years."
