Queen Elizabeth II reportedly found more joy in the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton than in the 1981 nuptials of her son, Charles, and Princess Diana.<\/p>\n
The Queen<\/a> reportedly saw Kate as more prepared for royal<\/a> life.<\/p>\n According to royal author Tina Brown, Kate had already spent years in the public eye and handled the pressure well.<\/p>\n “For The Queen, the wedding day [of William and Kate] brought a special satisfaction,” Brown wrote in The Palace Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This new, 29-year-old granddaughter-in-law, the future Queen Consort, was unlike the child bride Diana, road-tested in resilience as well as royal life.”<\/p>\n The Queen also took comfort in the stability Kate brought to the monarchy.<\/p>\n PEOPLE previously reported that palace aides described her as “uncharacteristically overjoyed” on the wedding day.<\/p>\n While Kate and Diana shared the spotlight as royal brides, commentators often highlighted how different they were.<\/p>\n “They were both royal brides, but Kate and Diana, for all the comparisons, were two very different women,” wrote royal reporter Katie Nicholl in her book Kate: The Future Queen<\/a>.<\/p>\n