We remember Diana during the upcoming Celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

She would have featured prominently with her son and daughter-in-law this coming weekend had she lived.

DIANA WOULD HAVE LOVED KATE ACCORDING TO PRINCE WILLIAM

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chat with Prince Harry before a luncheon as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

Prince William: Diana would have loved Catherine

 

Prince William knows there’s a lot of speculation about when he’ll be adding a new member to the royal family, and he made it clear he’s excited for the day it happens.

But William, the Duke of Cambridge, said in an interview with Katie Couric on ABC that he still hasn’t gotten used to all the media attention devoted to tracking his plans for a family with his wife, Catherine.

“It is quite strange reading about it, but I try not to let it bother me,” he said. “I’m just very keen to have a family, and both Catherine and I, you know, are looking forward to having a family in the future.”

So did he have any news on that front to share?

“You won’t get anything out of me. Tight-lipped,” William quipped.

The interview was part of ABC’s coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. In the interview, William and his brother, Prince Harry, spoke frankly about last year’s royal wedding, their relationship with their grandmother and how they miss their mother, Princess Diana.

The Duke of Cambridge said he was nervous before the wedding but also extremely excited to make Catherine a permanent part of his life. Harry cracked jokes with him before the ceremony to try to ease his nerves.

“Honestly, it was one of those days where you feel very elated. Also completely terrified,” William said. “I have to be honest, the prospect of the billions of people watching was quite daunting.”

William said he particularly missed his mother as he said his vows to Catherine at Westminster Abbey, where Diana’s funeral had taken place nearly 15 years earlier.

“It was very difficult. I sort of prepared myself beforehand so that I was sort of mentally prepared. … I didn’t want any wobbly lips or anything going on,” he said. “It’s the one time since she’s died, where I’ve thought to myself it would be fantastic if she was here, and just how sad really for her, more than anything, not being able to see it because I think she would have loved the day, and I think, hopefully, she’d be very proud of us both for the day. I’m just very sad that she’s never going to get a chance to meet Kate.”

 

Harry said he knows how hard it was on the family for his mother not to be present.

“I think she had the best seat in the house, probably,” he said. “But yeah, she would have loved to have been there; she would have loved Kate.”

William credits so much of who he is today, and even the kind of person he will be, to Diana.

“She played a huge part in my life and Harry’s growing up, how we saw things and how we experienced things,” he said. “She very much wanted to take us away from the sort of royal aspect of life and get us to see the rawness of real life. And I can’t thank her enough for that because reality bites, in a big way. And it was one of the biggest lessons – just how lucky so many of us are.”

As his grandmother celebrates the milestone of 60 years on the throne, William said he only hopes he can measure up to what she has done for the United Kingdom.

“Hopefully, I can try and do her some kind of justice,” he said. “She set an incredible example for me, for others, to follow. Her incredible leadership, her duty, her sacrifice. She was a young woman in a man’s world, carving her own way through life.”

William said that Queen Elizabeth, in private, is a good listener but generally lets her grandchildren make their own decisions. He recalled his frustration during wedding planning when he was handed a guest list of 777 people, none of whom he said he knew. Upset that family and friends weren’t on the list, he called in the queen for backup.

“She said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Get rid of the list and start with your friends,’ ” the Duke of Cambridge recalled.

Harry said that he calls the queen “Granny” and can’t imagine calling her “Her Majesty.”

But he also said his experience in the military has made him respect her on a different level.

“Once you’re in the military, she means a lot more to you than just a grandmother. She is the queen,” Harry told ABC. “And then you suddenly, it’s like (you) start realizing, you know, wow, this is quite a big deal.”

Harry said that he has the utmost respect for his grandmother, who he believes has helped the monarchy keep up with changing times.

And the prince, who has spent a good deal of time in combat and military service, said he is looking forward to a future that involves a family just like his older brother.

“I’ve longed for kids since I was very, very young,” he said. “And so … I’m waiting to find the right person, someone who’s willing to take on the job.”

The Blue Chanel Suit with Pillbox Hat

Wedding Notebook on Diana’s Wedding Dress by Elizabeth Emanuel for sale

Royal wedding fever is alive and well — but this time around, it has nothing to do with Will or Kate.

A scrapbook from Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding, which went up for sale on Wednesday, is expected to cause a bidding frenzy among royal family enthusiasts. According to experts, the memento could fetch as much as $8,080 (£5,000) in an online auction.

The scrapbook was created by Princess of Wales’ wedding dress designer, Elizabeth Emanuel, who fashioned the book out of lace and fabrics from Princess Diana’s wedding gown and her bridesmaid’s dresses.

The five-page scrapbook incorporates the specially commissioned Nottingham lace used on the bodice of Princess Diana’s bridal gown on the cover, and fragments of bridal tulle, ivory faille bow, pearl beads, lace used on the hem and two swatches of silk all taken from the late Princess of Wales’ bridal gown fabric, according to the auction website.

The memento also features an original watercolor sketch of the gown, press clippings from the wedding and an autograph from Emanuel herself.

Catherine Walker Safari Style Ensemble

Whimsical Princess Diana Wallpaper at Kensington Palace Display

Kensington Palace, which has been closed for over a year whilst comprehensive refurbishments to both the public and private sides of the house, where William and Kate will live, was reopened recently by the Queen.
In the public area, one of the corridors is decorated with this extraordinary wallpaper, handmade by Colefax and Fowler to drawings by fashion illustrator Julie Verhoeven, who has reinterpreted some of the most iconic images of Diana for the print.