Princess William, What's in a name?

Picture retrieved from here on 9/4/2012.

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you all had a great long weekend. Labor Day weekend is one of my favorites. It's always complete with relaxation, good friends, and an all you can eat breakfast at the local United Methodist Church.

While I was doing all of that good stuff I was totally working on the blog!

Not.

So today I have decided to do another Tuesday Edition of Middleton Mondays. I'm usually mostly about Kate's fashion but today I figured we would look into something a bit more intellectual. Is she or is she not a princess?

A conversation popped up between one of my friends and I about Kate Middleton. I always refer to her as the Princess or Princess Kate but the reality of it is that she is not a Princess in her own right.

Before Kate married William her name was Miss Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. She has no noble lineage and held no titles. But on the day of her marriage she became Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge. Duchess not Princess.

Now if you called her Princess William, then you could be correct.

Confusing, huh?

The Duchesses full official name is Her Royal Highness, Princess William, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness of Carrickfergus. Now that is a mouth full.

And not to make things more complicated but when she married she also lost her last name. Although when she needs to use one she uses Mountbatten-Windsor.

So now that we have a gaggle of names let's get back to the issue. Princess or no?

Duchess Catherine was bestowed the title of duchess by the Queen on her wedding day. The Queen could have given her the title of princess but stuck with tradition. She will become a princess when her in-laws become the next king and queen.

The thing that makes most people scratch their heads is you would actually describe her as a princess. Just not call her one.

And of course, when Prince William ascends to the thrown she will then be Queen Catherine.

I hope I was able to be clear enough on this! Even more confusing...who bows to who! But that is for another post.

Until next time, dust off your tiara's and practice your wave

Queen Cara