Kate Middleton's Royal Training Included Watching Footage of Princess Diana

Before she officially joined the royal family, Kate Middleton got some media training from the Palace.

According to royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl, Kate was told to watch footage of Princess Diana for examples of how to conduct herself like a royal.

The media training was partially to help Kate avoid Diana's tragic relationship with the paparazzi and the press.

Becoming a member of the royal family takes a lot of work, in the form of intensive training. Before she married Prince Harry, Meghan Markle was reportedly kidnapped as part of her royal training. For Kate Middleton, royal training apparently included watching footage of Princess Diana.

In her book Kate: The Future Queen, royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl describes how the Palace trained Kate to deal with the media back when she was still dating Prince William:

"Bizarrely, she had been advised to watch footage of the late Princess of Wales in order to learn how to deal with the paparazzi, notorious for being aggressive in their pursuit of a picture, taunting their prey in order to get a response. At the Palace, there was a concerted effort not to allow Kate to be exposed to the same ruthless treatment."

The first test of Kate's media training came when she attended the Horse Trials at Gatcombe Park. Even though Will wasn't with her, the press still tried to get her pose for pictures. Kate replied, "If I do it now, then I'll have to keep doing it."

And that diplomatic response was our earliest proof that Kate was going to absolutely crush it as a royal.

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