It's no secret that Kate Middleton was asked to change her name upon joining the British royal family. Prince Harry reported in his 2023 memoir, Spare, that when his brother got engaged, King Charles—then Prince of Wales—and Queen Camilla as Duchess of Cornwall, were concerned that adding another "C" name to the family would be confusing when it came to royal cyphers. Now, a new excerpt from royal biographer Christopher Andersen is corroborating the story, though Kensington Palace has refused to comment.
Kensington Palace Won’t Comment on Kate Middleton Name Change Claim
Prince William was reportedly incensed
Published Aug 13, 2026
•2:39pm
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Andersen is the author of Kate!: The Courage, Grace, and Power of the Woman Who Will Be Queen. The New York Post published quotes from the incident: “Charles and Camilla each had a royal monogram that consisted of interlocking C’s beneath a crown, and they expressed concern that a third royal cypher with a C was overkill. Would Kate mind if she changed the spelling of her full name from ‘Catherine’ to ‘Katherine.'"
At that moment, Andersen reported, Prince William intervened—and he was angry.
“Offended by yet another command from on high essentially aimed at placating Camilla, a fuming William replied on his wife’s behalf. The request was nothing less than ‘insulting,’ he told his father, not only to Kate but to her entire family," Andersen wrote in the biography. The New York Post noted that Kensington Palace told Fox News that it would not comment.
Princess Catherine's full name is Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. The Princess of Wales has a reputation for having a can-do attitude, something that caused King Charles and Queen Camilla to expect that she would happily oblige. They, however, miscalculated, with Andersen writing the monarchs “expected her to go along because she has always been a nice, cooperative team player…but didn’t take into account the fact that she personally prefers to be known as Catherine and feels very strongly about the name her parents gave her.”
At the end of the day, it seems to be water under the bridge. Princess Catherine's body language is nothing but respectful and easy with King Charles. Andersen even notes that Princess Catherine is “genuinely fond” of her father-in-law. And with the two of them handling their respective cancer diagnoses, they both know there are plenty of things more important than a trio of "C"s.
