When Kate received the title Duchess of Cambridge on her and Prince William’s wedding day in 2011, royal watchers hoping for a new Princess stifled sighs of disappointment.
Since then, commentators have been careful to refer to the Duchess by her full title, and even her referring to her by her maiden name Kate Middleton is acceptable, but it’s taken the arrival of a new royal to make us realise we’ve had a Princess all along. Maybe.
When Prince William went to register his son’s birth and mouthful of a name — His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge — he was also required to disclose Kate’s name and occupation.
Her occupation was listed as “Princess of the United Kingdom”, which has caused a great deal of confusion, even within the palace.
Kensington Palace was quick to defend Kate’s job description, although it contradicted statements they had made previously about how she was to be referred to.
Although she was given the title of Duchess, Kate is, by rank, a princess as she is married to a prince, and can be accurately be referred to as Princess William of Wales, a Palace spokesperson said on Friday.
But Palace officials have previously insisted that like the late Queen Mother and Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, she is not a princess.
The Express today reports there is inter-Palace confusion about Kate’s title and job description, with a senior aide from Buckingham Palace guessing perhaps William had taken it upon himself that his wife was a Princess.
“I will check further, but I’m getting the impression there are no hard and fast rules in this area,” spokesman James Roscoe told the paper.
Following the 2011 royal wedding a spokesperson from Clarence House said the Duchess “would have been Her Royal Highness Princess William if she had not been given her new title, but it is not correct to say she is a Princess now”.
“You don’t automatically become a Princess when you marry a Prince. She’s not a Princess, though we’re quite relaxed about it and realise some people will call her a Princess,” a Clarence House secretary said in 2011, the Express reports.
The confusion has prompted inquiries into Kate’s official title and job description, with Buckingham Palace expected to provide a full explanation today.
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