King Charles III Had Asked Kate Middleton to Rechristen Her Name to Avoid Future Royal Clash

King Charles III had a major suggestion for changing the Princess of Wales, widely known as Kate Middleton's name. The British monarch wanted her to change the spelling of her name to suit the royal protocols. Years before her marriage to Prince William, Kate changed her name to Catherine by which the British Royal Family now refers to her. Interestingly King Charles had asked Kate to change the spelling of her name from Catherine, which was her full name to "Katherine" to avoid a royal clash.

According to Prince Harry's memoir Spare, the Princess of Wales was pressed to alter the spelling upon the King and Queen Camilla's strict suggestion. The bombshell memoir which exposed the family dynamics of the British Royal Family shared how the British monarch asked the Duchess of Cambridge to change the initial of her name from "C" to "K." The Duke of Sussex noted the reason in the memoir: "There were already two royal cyphers with a C and a crown above: Charles and Camilla. It would be too confusing to have another. They suggested making it Katherine with a K. I wondered now what came of that suggestion," as reported by Ok!

Sharing what happened next, he added, "I turned to Willy, gave him a look that said 'You listening to this?' His face was blank." However, the request was not adhered to and Catherine didn't change her initials but this did not impact her relationship with the royal in-laws as they share a warm relationship. According to Vanity Fair, Professor Anrianna Chernock shared why Catherine went with her nickname Kate during her college days. "It doesn't hurt her that the American press especially refers to her as Kate Middleton. It's precisely her middle-class origins, and that name, that won her over to so many people in the first place. So that reminder can only help her." 

Back in 2008 according to Daily Mail, Kate asked her friends to address her as Catherine. Her friends, however, expressed their surprise over the decision. "Everyone knows it's about to happen with Kate and William, but we were a little surprised about the request to call her Catherine. There's a distinct feeling that she has started to become very aware of her position." The friend said, "No one ever referred to her as Kate, ever. It doesn't irritate her, even when the photographers shout her name out. She's not so precious as to correct them. But her family and close friends have always called her Catherine and that's the way she prefers it." The future Queen often uses her initials to sign her official emails. Including her messages and posts on social media, such as X (formerly known as Twitter) Princess Catherine would sign her name with a simple "C" which was the potential reason for the King's fear of future clashes among the royals.