Princess Diana voted as the “ideal mother”
When the Church of England ran its UK Mother’s Day poll to crown the “ideal mother”, they certainly didn’t expect this result. After all, wouldn’t churchgoers pick Jesus’ own mother, the Virgin Mary?
But no, the 2,000 respondents to the ComRes survey, which asked, “Thinking of well-known mothers, either fictional or real, or from the past or present – what one person would you name as the ideal mother?” chose none other than the late Princess Diana.
Princes William and Harry’s mother came out on top with five per cent of the vote, closely followed by “my own mother”, then Mother Teresa, the Queen, Michelle Obama, Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter series and Mary Poppins.
Surprisingly, the Virgin Mary came in at eighth, with just one per cent of the vote. The Duchess of Cambridge was also low on the list, with just 11 votes.
The survey also asked respondents to share the most important thing their mother ever did for them, and the top answer (with 33 per cent of the vote) was, “She was always there to support me when I needed her.”
Rounding out the top three responses were, “She taught me to do the right thing,” with 18 per cent of the vote, and “She showed me the value of hard work," with 11 per cent of the vote.
Reverend Dr Sandra Millar, head of life events at the Church of England, said it was refreshing to see people appreciating their mothers beyond the usual stereotypes of cooking and cleaning.
“Being there for you, teaching and modelling good values and working hard are qualities that inspire and shape lives,” she told The Telegraph.
Who is the one person you would name as the "ideal mother"? Tell us in the comments below.