Bj News blog.

Royal baby: thoroughly modern Kate's polka dot dress a tribute to William's late mother Diana

Both Princess Diana and the Duchess of Cambridge chose to wear polka dots as they left the hospital with their newborn sons.

THERE'S no doubt that the Duke and Duchess would have wanted her support as they introduced their boy to the world.

So it's no surprise that many saw Kate's polka dot Jenny Packham dress as a subtle tribute to Princess Diana who wore a green spotted outfit as she left the same hospital with Prince William in 1982.
But the comparisons largley end there, certainly in terms of presenting their bubs.

Overjoyed parents Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William outside St Mary's Hospital.

Diana chose to cover up her figure in the billowing dress with a large collar.
Kate on the other hand stepped out of the Lindo Wing of St Mary's proudly showing off her bump in the simple empire-line shift.
And while Kate was a picture of calm, Diana reportedly burst into tears as they drove away from hospital.
Indeed last night's scenes seemed to be much more relaxed compared with 1982.
Marking the formality of the occasion, Prince Charles wore a shirt and tie and buttoned-up jacket.
Yesterday his son cut a much more relaxed figure in a smart blue and white pinstripe shirt which
he wore unbuttoned at the neck and with his sleeves rolled up to the elbow.

When Diana and Charles left hospital with William, it was a more formal, less relaxed affair.

Yet again, William and Kate have shown that despite the inevitable comparisons, they could not be more different than Charles and Diana.
When Diana emerged onto the steps of St Mary's gently cradling a newborn Prince William in 1982, she cut a shy, vulnerable figure.
Aged just 20, Diana looked overwhelmed by the barrage of photographers. The body language between her and Prince Charles was awkward and the couple barely made eye contact.
Compare that scene with images of a beaming Kate emerging from the Lindo Wing with William placing a protective hand on her shoulder as she walked down the steps.

Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton with his late mother’s engagement ring.

From the moment William popped his late mother's engagement ring on Kate's finger, she has come under scrutiny and copped the inevitable comparisons to Diana.
William himself copped flak from some quarters for giving his beloved Kate his late mother's engagement ring, with some naysayers even going so far as to call it ghoulish.

Prince William gazes at his future bride during a photo call to mark their engagement at St James's Palace.

But in the words of William, his choice of ring was his way of making his mother part of it all."It was my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today and the excitement and the fact that we're going to spend the rest of our lives together,"
The couple's press conference to mark their engagement showed them as the "warm, loving couple'', as described by British Prime Minister David Cameron after the royal birth.
In contrast, the first official interview with Diana and Charles after their engagement announcement was a stilted affair that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Diana and Charles at the photocall for their engagement, during which Charles uttered the phrase: "Whatever love means".
When they were asked - at the photo call - whether they loved each other, Charles's response to Diana's "of course" was: "Whatever love means."
As they continue to bond with their baby boy in Kensington Palace, the next question is what kind of parents will the young royals be?
Like Diana, Kate will no doubt be a hands-on mother. And, as the first commoner to marry a future king since 1660, Kate's extended Middleton clan will play an important - and most likely grounding - part in the life of baby Cambridge.
Of course there will be similarities between Kate and DiIana: the way they handle themselves at public engagements, a beguiling mixture of grace and personal charm; their natural ease with members of the public.
Many commentators also point out that Diana began the process of moulding a new, modern royal generation by familiarising her boys with "normal" life such as trips to McDonald's and family visits to amusement parks.
She was fiercely determined to give her boys some semblance of normality within their cloistered lives, an upbringing opposite to Prince Charles's and her own lonely childhood at Althorp.
But Diana, as so many trailblazers do, faced an uphill battle. And with all their differences and similarities, Kate is Version Two - a thoroughly modern royal; a wife and mother who, most importantly, is truly happy within her own skin.