When Kate Middleton married Prince William in 2011, Queen Elizabeth II gave the newlyweds a ducal title, and they became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. In the Cambridge days, Kate’s “people” would often talk endlessly about how she’s “the future queen” and “don’t forget, she’ll be queen consort one day!” They always skipped over the actual hierarchy of the monarchy, which is that one day, Kate would become the Princess of Wales. As we learned in 2022, Kate never wanted to be called the Princess of Wales. Maybe her eye was always on the true prize (being queen) or maybe she didn’t actually want the title which was so closely associated with Princess Diana. Whatever it was, Kate wasn’t looking forward to being called “the Princess of Wales.” Well, as you can imagine, Russell Myers tries to spin Kate’s reticence (or whatever it was) into a positive in his new book, William & Catherine.

Kate Middleton had mixed feelings about taking on her title as the Princess of Wales, a royal styling that was closely associated with her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.

In the new biography William and Catherine, The Monarchy’s New Era: The Inside Story (out March 10), author Russell Myers traces the couple’s journey, including the change to their royal roles following the 2022 death of Queen Elizabeth, which made Prince William the new heir.

King Charles, 77, announced in his first speech as monarch that William and Kate would be the new Prince and Princess of Wales: “Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I have been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty. With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given.”

Although King Charles had discussed his plans with his son, now 43, and daughter-in-law, now 44, in the years leading up to his accession, Myers explains in his new book that Princess Kate was initially reluctant about taking on the title, as it had last belonged to Princess Diana. (When Charles married the future Queen Camilla in 2005, his new wife opted to be known as the Duchess of Cornwall instead of the Princess of Wales out of deference to Diana.)

“Courtiers said that while Catherine had a full appreciation ofthe history associated with the role, she was determined to find her own path,” Myers writes. “But Catherine had also privately expressed to William and to Charles her reservations about taking over the title, conscious of the British public’s exceptional feeling for, and connection to, Princess Diana even 25 years after her death.”

A former senior aide to William and Kate tells Myers, “This tells you how considered she is. She is benevolent with her intentions, but also wishes to carve out her own role for both herself and her family, which in many ways looks very different to how generations of royals have acted in the past,” the former aide adds. “She is very aware the pace that she wants to progress and the way in which she sees her future role within the institution, and I think when she was convinced to take the title on, and there was a bit of convincing, she felt that while there would be inevitable comparisons with Diana, she could manage it in her own way while having full respect for the way Diana carved out a very different role for herself within the royal family.”

[From People]

I actually think there was some self-awareness on Kate’s part that she would never really be able to compete with Diana or Diana’s memory in any way. Diana was a workhorse – it’s like pulling teeth to get Kate to do two events a month. Diana was one of the most trendsetting fashionistas in the world – Kate wanders around in doll wigs and Meghan cosplay. Diana was vivacious, funny, charming, charismatic and sassy – Kate is none of those things. Incidentally, this is why Camilla never wanted to be called “Princess of Wales” either, even though she technically had that title when she married Charles.

Anyway, I remember what happened right after QEII died – William and Kate immediately embraced the Cornwall ducal title, which came to them automatically. They immediately changed their social media to call themselves the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. I think they were surprised when King Charles, in his first speech, called them the Prince and Princess of Wales. Everyone else was surprised too, because it wasn’t supposed to be automatic, and there was supposed to be some kind of investiture in Wales for the title. William and Kate have always refused to do that investiture though.

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