William and Kate are "very different" to Charles and Diana, former royal butler says
They've had a smoother ride, that's for sure.


Soon after Queen Elizabeth II sadly passed away, King Charles named his eldest son William and his wife Kate Prince and Princess of Wales, as it was expected he would do.
This was extremely symbolic, because Charles had been Prince of Wales for 64 years, and his first wife Diana became synonymous with the Princess of Wales title. In fact, though Camilla technically became Princess of Wales upon marrying Charles in 2005, she didn't use that title out of respect for the late Diana.
So now, William and Kate have an unprecedented job to do: to carve their own path after taking over these iconic titles. But for former royal butler Grant Harrold, there's no doubt the new Waleses are up to the task — not least because of the strong marriage they share, as opposed to Charles and Diana's tragedy-laden union.
"It’s a tricky job for them to fill because of the King when he was Prince of Wales and obviously Diana, because there’s a lot of strong memories," Grant told OnlineCasino.ca.
"William and Kate have been married about as long as Charles and Diana were — look at how those two are still a complete 100% team, so it’s very different.
"You look at them already and they’ve only been Prince and Princess of Wales for over a month and we already see them as a Prince and Princess of Wales."
Grant believes Kate's success in her new role lies in her not trying to emulate Diana.
"I think what’s nice for her is she hasn’t got big shoes to fill because Diana was a unique one-off Princess of Wales who we all loved," the butler said.
"Kate’s from a very different background, they’ve been dating from a very similar age, from university age. They’ve grown up together, they’ve had a family. It’s not like he was Prince of Wales then he married her. They’ve become it together so it’s so different."
The other piece to this story is that William and Kate are widely beloved by royal watchers, so people want them to be a wonderful Prince and Princess of Wales.
"I think they don’t put a foot wrong, they never put a foot wrong, just like the Queen," Grant observed.
"I see almost a very mirrored effect between William and Kate and the Queen and Prince Philip but 80 years apart. Two very similar couples, very similar love, very similar dedication to duty, but two very different types of royals, one very traditional and one very modern, and that’s part of this transition."
Well, we wish them all the best as they continue their journey in their new roles!
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