Kate: What Do You Call Her?

What's so hard about referring to Kate as the Duchess of Cambridge and not Kate Middleton?

     
     Ever since she first appeared under the gaze of the media spotlight, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge has been known in the press as Kate Middleton.

     This practice should have ended upon her marriage to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge in 2011, because on that day, she ceased to be Kate Middleton, and became the Duchess of Cambridge. Yet it has been continued by several media outlets and news publications, and it is somewhat frustrating to hear the Duchess referred to as such.

     Some people may look upon this as trivial, and it is true that regardless of what she is called, it does not change on iota about your own life (or her's either). However, as a matter of proper form and dignity, Kate should not be referred to by her maiden name unless it is in reference to the period of her life before her marriage.

     So if not Kate Middleton, then she must surely be Princess Kate, right? Wrong.

     According to the Letters Patent issued by George V in 1917 (which were most recently amended by the Queen in 2012), the title of Prince or Princess in the United Kingdom is restricted to the children of a monarch, male-line grandchildren of a monarch, and the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.

     In other words, this title and dignity is only for the use for people who are born into the royal family, and not for people who marry into it (though there have been exceptions, as I will explain later).

     So does this mean she is not a Princess? No, wrong again!

     Kate is a Princess, but only because she married a Prince. Like most women who take the feminine form of their husband's name, so did she. Technically speaking, she is also Princess William of Wales, and would be known as such had her husband not received his titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus. But as she does not come from royal blood, Kate is not a Princess in her own right.

     However, there is precedent for making her a stand-alone Princess. In 1957, the Duke of Edinburgh, who had renounced his birthright Greek and Danish royal titles to marry then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 as Philip Mountbatten (with his surname being that of his mother's family in Britain), was made a Prince of the United Kingdom by the Queen, which allowed him to be formally called Prince Philip.

     Could the Queen do the same for Kate? Yes, but the likelihood is low for this simple reason: if Kate gets this treatment, then all other royal wives - including Princess Michael of Kent (wife of Prince Michael of Kent) and the Duchess of Gloucester (wife of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester) - would probably demand the same. 

So to summarize, the proper form of referring to Kate is:

• Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge

It is also OK to call her:

• Catherine (or Kate), Duchess of Cambridge
• The Duchess of Cambridge 

Other names that can correctly be used to describe her are:

• Catherine (or Kate) Cambridge
• Catherine (or Kate) Mountbatten-Windsor
• Duchess Catherine (or Kate)

The incorrect forms are:

• Catherine (or Kate) Middleton
• Princess Catherine (or Kate)

     The colloquial surname Cambridge is in reference to Kate's territorial designation as the Duchess of Cambridge. It is similar to Prince William and Prince Harry being known as William and Harry Wales in the military and in school, based on their formal styles (i.e., Prince Harry of Wales), which in turn is based on their father's territorial designation as the Prince of Wales. 

     It is also proper to refer to Kate via her Scottish title of Countess of Strathearn and her Northern Irish title of Baroness Carrickfergus. 

     Mountbatten-Windsor is the surname adopted for use by non-royal and male-line descendants of the Queen and Prince Philip, but which has been used by members with royal titles, such as Princess Anne when she signed her name on the marriage register during her first wedding in 1973.

     So why is it hard for the media to stop calling her Kate Middleton or Princess Kate? With regard to the former, it's likely because they became used to calling her that for a long time before her marriage, and have not shaken it off. With regard to the latter, it may well be that Princess sounds better than (and superior to) Duchess. Indeed, there were some media personalities on the day of the wedding who were aghast (and shocked!) to find out that the wife of a Prince was a mere Duchess. Since then, they and others in the media have taken it upon themselves to elevate her to the status of a Princess, or to just use her maiden name (which actually takes her down a notch, when you think about it). 

     All of this goes to the way that some media outlets treat Kate and other members of the royal family as mere "celebrities" or entertainment show-pieces with no respect for their status or constitutional role. It is true that several things about monarchy have become relaxed, and this is a positive development, but there are some formalities that need to be observed, such as the use of proper titles in the media.

     For more information about royal titles and the use of them in the United Kingdom, please read Why Kate Is Not Princess Catherine.


Photo Credit: Tom Soper Photography via Fotopedia cc