Prince William and Kate Middleton Show a Genuine Interest in People, Just Like Diana Did: Body Language Expert

It has been 25 years since Princess Diana tragically lost her life in a car accident in Paris.

Since then, her legacy—one of kindness, compassion, and the royal star factor—has lived on for royal fans around the world as well as within her own family.

Both of her sons regularly speak about their mother, and do their best to carry on the qualities that people so admired in Diana, and for body language expert Darren Stanton, they have been successful—William especially in the way he interacts with members of the public.

"It’s clear from the way he carries himself that Diana plays an important and integral part in his life every day," Stanton tells Marie Claire on behalf of Betfair Casino (opens in new tab).

"William has definitely inherited many of Diana’s character traits. From his humanitarian work, it’s clear he’s not afraid to get his hands quite dirty and we often see the empathy he has for others during his royal engagements.

"He interacts with the public much like his mother did—often breaking protocol to greet crowds in a more tactile manner."

For the expert, the Duke of Cambridge always had these qualities in him, but it was marrying his duchess that helped him better connect with them.

"While there’s no doubt that Kate has helped William to embrace his compassionate side, even before they married, William was often seen sharing his support and patronage to many charities to do what he could to help," Stanton explains.

"However, Kate’s  willingness when it comes to her royal duties appears to have had a big influence on the way that William now thinks."

For Stanton, the duke chose a partner who embodies many of his mother's best traits.

"We often see Kate getting stuck in during her royal appearances and she has no qualms when it comes to engaging and interacting with others from everyday walks of lives, much like Diana did," he observes.

"You’ll notice that when Kate is interacting with others, she always shows fixed eye contact, her head often tilts to the left—these are signs that a person is taking in and carefully considering what the other is saying.

"This is called active listening and you can tell with Kate she is genuinely interested and soaking up every exchange she has while carrying out her duties. We saw this same non-verbal behavior from Diana, with this 'genuine interest' being a key similarity between the pair."

Even though we lost Diana far too young, it's wonderful to see that she lives on in this beautiful way.