Prince William's parenting moment with his youngest son, Prince Louis, has been linked to footage of Princess Diana captured three decades earlier and has gone viral on social-media site TikTok.
William's relationship with his three children—Prince George (10), Princess Charlotte (9) and Louis (6)—was pulled into public focus earlier this year as he took a break from royal duties to support them and his wife, Princess Kate, following her cancer diagnosis.
In recent years, William has spoken about fatherhood and the importance he places on the role as a part of his personal and public lives. During official ceremonies such as Trooping the Colour each June, the prince has been photographed supervising his children on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London. He often explains elements of the events to them and, when they were younger, held them in his arms to get a better view of the proceedings.
Credited as one of the major influences on his life, William's mother, Princess Diana, has remained the subject of praise for her parenting and relationships with children, even almost 27 years after her tragic death.
Uploaded to TikTok by user @princess__jo on May 3, footage comparing matching parenting moments between Diana and her eldest son has gone viral, gaining over half-a-million views on the platform so far.
The video includes footage of Diana and an infant William with Prince Harry at Aberdeen Airport in Scotland, captured on August 18, 1986.
The royals had arrived at the airport to begin their annual Scottish summer holiday at Queen Elizabeth II's Balmoral Castle. As the princess guided her two children down the steps of the royal plane and onto the tarmac, she stopped to instruct William to shake the hand of an official helping them.
The viral clip then compares the footage to that taken of William with his youngest son, Louis, captured at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England, on Easter Sunday in 2023.
At St. George's Chapel following a church service, William was spotted gesturing for his own son to shake the hand of a member of the clergy who had waited to see them out.
The compilation has received in excess of 9,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised William and Diana's leading examples.
"The Prince is just like his mother," wrote one user. "He also teaches his son to say hello like when he was little."
"Those are true values sown and being reaped," posted another, with a further comment reading: "Wonderful mother."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
