All the ones you list as “incorrect” are, indeed, incorrect, including and perhaps especially ‘Duchess Catherine’, given that it nevertheless pops up again in the comments on this article! Of course, ultimately, your conclusion that the “best option” is Duchess of Cambridge is the wisest and most technically correct course. It is true that the Duchess may be addressed as the Countess of Strathearn in Scotland and as Lady Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland but I would adjudge it unusual (in the same way as the Queen is technically ‘Duke of Lancaster’ when in Lancashire and toasted as ‘the Duke of Normandy’ on the Channel Islands). Down that road, republican barbs about ‘Mrs Windsor’ lie! As far as the Mountbatten-Windsor surname is concerned, it is employed only on such occasions where a surname is legally required and no good monarchist should ever concede that the Royal Family even have a surname! They have a name given to their dynasty and that is all. I would never regard it as ‘correct’ in any sense to refer to the Duchess as ‘Catherine Cambridge’ or ‘Catherine Mountbatten-Windsor’, informally or otherwise, as this is to strip her of all royal titles altogether. Similarly, while technically correct, it would be pretty bizarre to refer to Her Royal Highness as ‘Princess William’. ‘Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge’, for example, while probably broadly-speaking acceptable, is more befitting of a divorcee than a married woman. Must cause terrific confusion if father and son walk in and out of the room a lot for any reason!Ī useful and informative guide, albeit with one or two minor errors several of the forms listed as ‘correct’ would never, to my mind, be correct. If the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge are both at an event and both their husbands are present then the Duchess of Cambridge curtsies to the Duchess of Cornwall but if the Prince of Wales is absent then the Duchess of Cornwall must curtsey to the Duchess of Cambridge! If both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge are absent, then it reverts to normal and the Duchess of Cambridge goes back to curtseying to the Duchess of Cornwall. If the Prince is absent, then the Duchess must curtsey to the Princess. That’s not the half of it! Similar rules apply to the Duchess of Cornwall, who only outranks the Princess Royal if she in accompanying the Prince of Wales. When she is alone, she must ‘yeild precedence’ (ie, curtsey) to ‘Princesses of the Blood’ – ie, TRH Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York. As she was born a commoner, the Duchess of Cambridge only enjoys her precedence when in the company of her husband. However, the waters are muddied by the intricacies of royal protocol. Just as a follow-on to this, the current Order of Precedence for Ladies stipulates that HRH The Duchess of Cambridge must yeild precedence to HM The Queen (obviously) and TRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Countess of Wessex and The Princess Royal (in that order). Photo credit: Jason Simpson via photopin cc Play it safe and always try to refer to her as ‘The Duchess Of Cambridge’, if needed you can always call her ‘Kate Cambridge’ as a last resort, but don’t jump on the ‘Kate Middleton’ bandwagon – it undermines her position and title! Kate, as well as being Duchess Of Cambridge, is known as The Countess Of Strathearn in Scotland and The Baroness Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. Duchess Kate is incorrect because there is a designation in her title, names don’t enter into it! Princess Kate is just wrong as the title of Princess is reserved for royalty by birth, however taking the female form of William’s title, Kate can be styled as Princess William. The Duchess Of Cambridge hasn’t been a Middleton since her wedding day and officially has no surname now. We hope this short guide is helpful to anyone desiring to clear up once and for all any title misconceptions they had. We have been in conversation recently with a lot of people about what is correct form for Kate and where the line is drawn. This post is essentially quite a short and informal yes/no guide to what the Duchess Of Cambridge’s actual titles are.
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