Following Queen Elizabeth II's death on September 8, 2022, King Charles III acceded the throne. Prince William and Kate Middleton subsequently gained new titles, becoming known as the Prince and Princess of Wales. But according to a new report, Prince William had hoped that his wife would be given the Princess title much earlier.
William and Kate tied the knot in a fairytale royal wedding ceremony on April 29, 2011. Speaking to The Telegraph, a royal courtier revealed that Prince William asked the Queen to make his wife a Princess upon their marriage.
Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth denied his request, citing royal tradition as the reason. Instead, Kate and William became known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
"He says he was born Prince William and wants to continue to be known as that," the courtier explained. "William also had views on the name Kate should have taken on."
"He wants Kate to become Princess Catherine," the courtier continued. However, the decision of whether or not to make someone a Princess was entirely down to the monarch.
"Kate is a commoner and could not be known as 'Princess Catherine,'" the source told The Telegraph. "However, it is up to the Queen what title she gives her and there have been one or two exceptions."
"When Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester died, the Queen gave the Duchess of Gloucester the title Princess Alice," they revealed. "This was, though, to reward her for years of loyal service."
The courtier also speculated that the Queen wanted to avoid changing tradition, which could open the floodgates to many more requests from other royals.
"I should think that there will be some pressure put on him [William] not to change the system," the courtier told the outlet.
While William's original request was denied by the Queen, his wife has now received her formal Princess title. And one day in the future, of course, Princess Kate will become the Queen.
