When Princess Diana passed away, she left her personal jewelry collection to her sons, to be divided up between Harry and William however they saw fit. Most of the pieces worn by Kate are either Royal Collection pieces strongly associated with Diana, or some of the bigger sapphire pieces Diana received to “match” her engagement ring. Between the Duchess of Sussex and Princess of Wales, we’ve seen a lot of Diana’s pieces, and I honestly think Meghan got the better end of it – she got the aquamarine “freedom ring,” some of Diana’s smaller (and most beloved) casual pieces (simple earrings and bracelets), and Diana’s Cartier watch. Beyond the jewelry connections, both of Diana’s daughters-in-law have done some homages to Diana. Personally, I think there’s a distinction between “an homage/reference to Diana” versus “Diana cosplay.” Meghan will sometimes reference Diana’s style but she has never (to my knowledge) fully cosplayed Diana like Kate has done frequently, for years and years. Well, Omid Scobie’s Endgame includes some information about how palace staff *encouraged* that cosplay.

The Princess of Wales and Meghan Markle have both been encouraged to dress like Diana so a bit of her ‘shine could rub off on them’, according to a new book. Omid Scobie, who has long been closely associated with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, claims in his new book about the royal family that the pair were urged to essentially ‘cosplay’ as their husbands’ mother-in-law.

The Sussexes’ biographer writes that Kate, 41, and Meghan, 42, would sometimes be given outfits based on ideas which used photos of the late Princess of Wales for inspiration. The 42-year-old quotes a royal source as saying that William, 41, and Harry, 39, were consulted anytime it was suggested that their wives be dressed in a style similar to their late mother.

In [Endgame], Scobie writes that Kate and Meghan both wear jewellery that once belonged to their late mother-in-law, adding that a ‘huge amount of effort’ is put into ‘channelling her exact look’ and this is ‘sometimes beyond the pale’.

He adds: ‘During the past thirteen years, Diana cosplay has become a royal staple… Were there gentle pushes from others? At times, yes. It had been known for someone to go back and pull images of Diana at a certain place or time for ideas. At the right moment this can be a sweet gesture, but there is also a slightly queasy feeling when you realise it’s often orchestrated within the same system that contributed to her living misery, and an institution that still wants some of Diana’s shine to rub off on them.’

[From The Daily Mail]

It would not surprise me if “It had been known for someone to go back and pull images of Diana at a certain place or time for ideas” is only true about Kate and not Meghan. When Meghan lived in the UK, those same staffers were terrified that Meghan had Diana-like potential to overshadow everyone else. The last thing they wanted to do was draw a direct visual comparison between Diana and Meghan. But I’m saying that as someone who has found Kate’s Diana cosplay to be extremely creepy for a long time. At least we know that it wasn’t Kate alone, creating her Diana lookbooks and Meghan lookbooks. It’s a group effort within the palace to somehow try to create a personality for Kate by dressing her up like a Diana or Meghan doll.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.