There’s one title the Princess of Wales was always going to miss out on, though Prince William reportedly once hoped a royal exception would be made for her.
She might be primarily referred to as Princess of Wales, but Kate has taken on plenty of other titles since she became a member of the Royal Family. Some, like her Duchess of Rothesay title, are only used when she’s in a certain part of the UK, whilst others like her Countess of Chester title might not be known to fans at all. However, it’s the Duchess of Cambridge title that Kate has been known by for the longest time as a royal. She became Duchess of Cambridge on her wedding day, though it was previously alleged that Prince William was keen for his wife to be known as Princess Catherine instead - something that was unlikely to ever happen.
According to The Telegraph, a courtier previously claimed, "He says he was born Prince William and wants to continue to be known as that. He wants Kate to become Princess Catherine."
When the Prince and Princess of Wales married, Kate technically became Princess William of Wales as she took on the feminine forms of her husband's titles. This was one she never used and she would never have become Princess Catherine in her own right as she wasn’t born royal.
This was remarked upon by royal historian Kenneth Rose, who claimed to the publication that whilst Her Majesty had made an exception before, it was unlikely she’d do so here.
"Kate is a commoner and could not be known as 'Princess Catherine'. However, it is up to the Queen what title she gives her and there have been one or two exceptions," the expert alleged. "When Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester died, the Queen gave the Duchess of Gloucester the title Princess Alice. This was, though, to reward her for years of loyal service."
In Kenneth’s opinion, if Kate had become Princess Catherine, it would have potentially have led to other members of the extended Royal Family making a request to have their own titles changed.
"If this happened, I am pretty certain that Princess Michael of Kent, for example, would ask to become Princess Marie-Christine. I should think that there will be some pressure put on him [William] not to change the system," the expert added.
Princess Michael of Kent is married to Queen Elizabeth's cousin Prince Michael of Kent, but as she wasn’t born a royal, she isn’t entitled to be known as Princess Marie-Christine. Whatever title discussions went on at the time, Kate never become Princess Catherine in her own right and Queen Elizabeth conferred the Dukedom of Cambridge upon Prince William on the Wales's wedding day.
Even now, 13 years later, Her Royal Highness is Catherine, The Princess of Wales and not Princess Catherine. This isn’t something that the couple likely dwell on at all and in recent years the future King and Queen have been taking an increasingly modern approach, signing off plenty of messages simply ‘W’ and ‘C’, rather than with their official titles.
Whilst they might not use them so much publicly now, their titles do change things for their children, who are said to use ‘Wales’ as their surname at school, after previously being known as George, Charlotte and Louis Cambridge. King Charles is also said to be called ‘Grandpa Wales’ by them in a nod to his former title as Prince of Wales.
