Prince William has always been protective of Kate Middleton.

When they first started dating, the Duke of Cambridge even invoked EU law on behalf of his then-girlfriend.

In the documentary, The Tabloids and the Royals, former The Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie talked about what Prince William did for Middleton.

“If you’re William, you’d seen your mother basically pursued down the high street by photographers. That would have left a scar on him, it was certainly having an effect on him. He wants to protect her so he effectively invokes the law, there’s a European Court of Human Rights law saying everybody has a right to privacy. And he invoked that on Kate’s behalf,” he said.

Royal commentator Camilla Tominey also chimed in by saying that the way that Middleton and Princess Diana were introduced to the public was very different.

Prince William slowly and gradually introduced Middleton as his girlfriend and fiancée. But Princess Diana was thrown into the deep end after her relationship with Prince Charles was made public.

But it is also important to note that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge dated for a couple of years before they got engaged. As such, the public had more time to adjust to their relationship.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana, on the other hand, have only been dating for a few months before they got engaged.

“I think William wanted to avoid the mistakes of the past, that’s why it was a very, very slow drip-feeding of Kate to the press and to the public,” Tominey said.

Meanwhile, in Chasing the Royals, royal experts talked about the time when Middleton was hounded by the paparazzi. And Prince William immediately stepped in to protect his girlfriend.

“Prince William is very unhappy at the paparazzi harassment of his girlfriend,’ read the statement on behalf of William. ‘He wants, more than anything, for it to stop. Miss Middleton should, like any other private individual, be able to go about her everyday business without this kind of intrusion,” the source said.

Years later, Prince Harry experienced the same thing with his then-girlfriend, Meghan Markle. The tabloids, reportedly, made racist remarks against Markle and he released a statement urging the tabloids to stop.

Prince Harry also said that Markle deserves her privacy. Less than two years later, the Sussexes quit the Firm amid their privacy concerns.