Prince William’s response to the request

In Spare, Harry described how William reacted when the suggestion was raised. He recalled: “There were already two royal cyphers with a ‘C’ and a crown above: Charles and Camilla. It would be too confusing to have another. Make it ‘Katherine’ with a K, they suggested. I wondered now what came of that suggestion.”

He added: “I turned to Willy, gave him a look that said, ‘You listening to this?’ His face was blank.”

Kate, of course, ignored the request and continued to introduce herself as Catherine with a C.

Catherine with a C

Evidence of her preference appears often. When signing social media posts, she ends them with a simple “C.” In public, Prince William also refers to her as Catherine.

Royal biographer Robert Jobson wrote that, before her wedding, she even sent a lighthearted email to her close friends and family asking them to call her Catherine rather than Kate.

According to Jobson, it signaled that she recognized the shift coming in her life and wanted to prepare for a more formal role. “It was unclear if she disliked ‘Kate’ or simply wanted a name that matched her new position, but it showed a genuine desire to use her full name,” he explained.

Kate Middleton’s new royal title

Following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing in September 2022 and King Charles’s accession, William and Kate became the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Since then, many have referred to her as Princess Kate, a title she had not used previously. On her wedding day, she and William were named the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge by the late queen, and technically she could have been styled Princess William. Instead, she embraced the Cambridge title, as did their children, who used Cambridge as their surname at school. Now, they are believed to use Wales instead.