According to UK publication Mirror, Ferguson (who was affectionately known as Fergie) was welcomed into the royal family and adapted to the lifestyle much quicker than Princess Diana. The former married into the royal family in 1986, while the latter wed Prince Charles in 1981.

Royal expert Jennie Bond during the UK Channel 5’s documentary Fergie Vs Diana: Royal Wives at War, “She fitted in really well. Fergie really threw herself into the family life,” adding that, “Often Diana would be seen to be the moody one, and Fergie was the good fun, frolicking girl who was a breath of fresh air in the family.”

The contrast between the two were stark, despite them both being outsiders and appearing close on the surface. Prince Charles made everything worse with a scathing comment he made to Di.

Psychologist Jo Hemmings revealed during the UK Channel 5’s documentary Fergie Vs Diana: Royal Wives at War that at one point, Charles had said: “why can’t you be more Fergie?”

“For someone whose self-esteem is already pretty low, who is feeling very vulnerable. That wasn’t just a rebuke,” Hemmings continued. “The would have been one of the most cutting, hurtful remarks that her husband could have made to her.”

Royal commentator Kate Nicholl also noted that Di and Fergie grew apart, since Diana admitted that she got “terribly jealous” of her sister-in-law.

“The Queen and Sarah seemed to have an easier rapport,” Nicholl explained, via Express UK. “Sarah made falling into this Royal Family look easy while Princess Diana had said she was struggling to survive.”

Ultimately, the marriage between Diana and Charles was ill-fated. Between extramarital affairs and an almost-13-year age gap, the strain on their marriage was increasingly publicized.

Despite their different experiences settling into the royal family, Diana and Fergie both divorced from their respective princes. Both couples separated in 1992, and were officially divorced by 1996.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles share two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. She died in August 1997 in horrific car crash in Paris, France, while the driver was fleeing paparazzi. Since, Charles re-married in 2005, this time to Camilla Parker Bowles.

Fergie and Prince Andrew share daughters Beatrice and Eugenie.