Why is Kate still Kate Middleton?

[SecondhandRose]

If Sophie is Sophie Wessex shouldn't Kate be Cambridge or Wales? The press still refer to her has Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.

[AKissIsNotAContract]

Maybe she kept her own surname upon marriage.

[KateSpade]

I do not understand why she is not Princess Kate?
Everyone I have asked seems to have no idea..

[GoldPlatedNineDoors]

I think she is only Kate Middleton in the media. Any formal announcements / programmes etc she is Catherine, Dutchess of Cambridge.

She refers to herself as Mrs Cambridge.

[MontBlanc]

I'm not sure she is, I think it's just the media that like to continue to call her that!

KateSpade apparently bumping her up to a more senior title than the Duchess of Cornwall would have been frowned upon as Camila needs to be more senior being married to next in line to the throne...

[GoldPlatedNineDoors]

Ooops Duchess.

[nancy75]

It was the same with Diana, she was always lady di to the press

[GoldPlatedNineDoors]

Also, Prince Williams official title is Duke of Cambridge so he would be married to a Duchess, not a Princess. Once PoW becomes King or pops it, he will become Prince of Wales, and she will be re-titled accordingly.

[MontBlanc]

Ha Mrs Cambridge is her joke undercover title though isn't it that she gives to the locals when ordering sausages at the butcher etc.!

[KateSpade]

Aah, how nasty of Camilla!

[sooperdooper]

Yeah, I think it's just a media thing, offically she's refered to at the Dutchess of Cambridge, so she'd never be Princess Kate as officially that's not her title

[sooperdooper]

How is that nasty of Camilla? I'm sure that's royal protocol, not a personal request, lol

[Pascha]

Kate is not automatically a princess because she was not born a princess. Officially if she takes any princess title it would traditionally be her husbands title: Princess William of Wales (as in Princess Michael of Kent) but there is no law that demands she do that at all and no need as she is created Duchess of Cambridge which is poncey enough as it is.

[Pascha]

Oops. Princess William of Wales assumes that Charles is already King. Oh dear, more coffee for me I think...

[perceptionreality]

She's not a princess and technically Diana wasn't 'Princess Diana' , although her title was 'Diana, Princess of Wales'. I thought to be a princess, you had to be born to a king or queen?

[SecondhandRose]

Not expecting her to be a princess as her husband is a duke so that would def make her a duchess. But I am still none the wiser why she is still a Middleton.

[difficultpickle]

If you have to be born to a king or queen to be a princess then how come we have 'Princess' Eugenie and 'Princess' Beatrice?

[EdithWeston]

She is a Princess, but the title would be Princess William of Wales (like Princess Michael of Kent) and they appear to have (quite rightly) abandoned this convention. So she uses her married title as a Royal duchess instead (as did Sarah Ferguson).

It's partly down to the difference between titles and styles. The Queen's children are all styled Prince/ss simply because of their parentage. They acquired titles only when given them (Prince of Wales, Princess Royal, Duke of York, Earl of Wessex) only when older. Spouses their titles from the titles, not the styles (Duke of Cornwall is a secondary title of the Prince of Wales).

Perhaps she is a Middleton because she wants to be. It is certainly the name used for her on French legal papers (not sure if that's a French norm or her active choice, or both).

[Saltire]

There is a thing called letters patent , and in it ,the children and grandchildren - in the male line - of the monarch have the title prince or Princess.
hence we Princess Alexandra - grandaughter of George the5th. Prince Edward - grandson of George the 6th (and obv son of monarch) , Princess Beatrice - granddaughter of monarch (through the male line)
and also the reason why we have Mr Peter Phillips and Mrs Zara Tindall (grandchildren of monarch but not prince or princess,a nd because their mother didn't accept a title for capt Phillips, the are jsut Mr and Miss/Mrs)

[EdithWeston]

You don't have to be born to to a king/queen to be styled prince/ss; grandchildren qualify too (eg the current Queen was styles Princess from birth)

[Saltire]

Also, as far as I know, she is only called Kate middleton by the media. In offcial court circulars she is called Duchess of Cambridge

[Trills]

It's not that she is Kate Middleton, it's that we call her* Kate Middleton.

And we/the media/whatever do it because that's the name we have known her by.

When I'm talking about my friend Firstname to my other friends and want to distinguish her from someone else with the same name I often refer to her as Firstname Maidenname rather than Firstname Marriedname, because it's more familiar.

[Trills]

bolding fail

[AThingInYourLife]

Absolutely, Trills.

Lots of women of my Granny's generation continued to be known by their birth name in the communities who knew them before marriage.

I think the thing of insisting everyone address you by your new name after marriage is of pretty recent vintage.

[SecondhandRose]

As already suggested it might well be choice as she cant be a Princess in her own right but could she have been Princess William of Wales/Windsor like Princess Michael of Kent? Her husband is a duke.