Kate: Why she's the anti-diva

There’s a famous saying in football that goes: “Form is temporary, class is permanent.”

It may seem crude to apply it to a member of the Royal Family, especially during the jubilee bank holiday, but when it comes to Kate Middleton, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, call her what you will, it seems particularly apt to apply an unusual measuring stick.

She doesn’t play by the rules we’ve come to expect of someone with celebrity status, let alone the wife of the second-in-line to the throne.

In fact, Kate’s refusal to conform with previous conventions is forging a whole new phenomenon that the world is following, even copying – the anti-diva.

But when deciding what to wear on such a high-profile occasion, who else but Kate would have concluded: "You know what? I quite liked that sleeveless frock Tulisa was wearing at the X Factor auditions last year."

She has often come from left-field when it comes to fashion, notably championing the high street and re-wearing the same outfits on different occasions, a choice that would have had royal circles aghast in any other generation.

Take the outfit she wore at the Queen’s 1,000-boat River Thames pageant on Sunday, for example.

For those not in the know, it was a pretty red dress designed by Alexander McQueen. No surprise there.

But when deciding what to wear on such a high-profile occasion, who else but Kate would have concluded: “You know what? I quite liked that sleeveless frock Tulisa was wearing at the X Factor auditions last year. You know the one. Kim Kardashian wore it too. Only can I have it with sleeves? It’s a bit nippy out there on the royal barge today. Oh, and can someone dig out that maple-leaf hat everyone saw me wear in Canada last year. They’ll go great together.” She was right, of course.

A global audience of a billion may be watching her but she’s always cool, always calm, in situations where many famous people would crumble.

It’s a thought process unlike any other that speaks volumes about her refreshingly carefree attitude towards her status.

The duchess is undoubtedly utterly dedicated in her public duties but what gets many people hot under the Alexander McQueen collar is that she isn’t the diva they so desperately want her to be.

A global audience of a billion may be watching her but she’s always cool, always calm, in situations where many famous people would crumble as dramatically as Bjork after a long-haul flight to Bangkok International Airport.

And don’t for one moment think that’s an unfair comparison.

No one causes more of a frenzy than Kate. Her ovaries are the most talked about on the planet. She is scrutinised microscopically by the world’s media.

Yet it’s impossible to imagine her having a diva-like hissy fit, rushed against her will into bringing an heir into the royal family, or let her celebrity mask slip, for the beautifully simple reason that she has no such mask.

She’s the epitome of the opposite of what celebrities usually are.

Class is permanent. Arise, the anti-diva.

Adam Postans is a journalist and commentator on all things celebrity, showbiz and television. Twitter: @couchpotatoadam