Kate Middleton's 40th birthday portrait looks like Princess Diana's new portrait - and why?

The Duchess of Cambridge celebrated her 40th birthday on January 9, 2022, with three special portraits by renowned photographer Paolo Roversi. In them, she wore earrings that once belonged to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.

But after the Kensington Palace exhibition "Life Through a Royal Lens" opened in early March, people began to see another nod to Princess Diana in the photographs. They compared one of the portraits in the series with a previously unseen portrait of Princess Diana included in the exhibition (this one by David Bailey).

Claudia Acott Williams, curator of the exhibition, sees similarities between the two images, but is skeptical of the theory that Princess Catherine and Roversi drew inspiration from Princess Diana and Bailey. In fact, experts believe that the two drew inspiration from the same school of imagery.

"I think both of them are again referring to earlier ones," Williams tells Marie Claire.

"I don't think the Duchess of Cambridge is referencing Princess Diana's portrait. But I think what both of them are doing is referencing the style of the Victorian and early Edwardian royal portraits, the profile shots"

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"I think the portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge is more like a late 19th century portrait in the style of Winterhalter, referencing something like Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, or an early Queen by (Cecil) Beaton. So I think both of those are references to earlier things."

It makes sense: the image of the Royal Family is not left to chance.