Episode seven of the latest season of The Crown on Netflix features a fictional scene in which a young Kate Middleton meets Princess Diana and Prince William.
Kate played by Meg Bellamy, was shopping with her mom Carole Middleton played by Eve Best, in 1996 when they bumped into William played by Ed McVey, and Princess Diana played by Elizabeth Debicki.
In the scene, William and Diana are selling copies of Big Issue, to raise money for the homeless.
Carol then encourages her daughter Kate to buy a copy from the prince.
“That’s very generous, what’s your name?” Diana asks her future daughter-in-law in the show, and after being told encourages her son to: “Say thank you to Kate!”
This charming encounter makes viewers wonder: did Kate really know Princess Diana in real life?
Did Kate ever meet Diana?
According to Kate herself, she sadly never had the opportunity to meet Diana in person.
William and Kate first met in 2001 at university, four years after Diana’s tragic 1997 death in a car accident.
In 2023, Kate publicly commented on now being the custodian of Diana’s famous engagement ring, saying “It’s an honor to be able to carry on wearing it.” However, she remarked, “I never, sadly, got to meet her.”
So, the short answer is: that Kate never met her late mother-in-law before her death in 1997.