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Originally Posted by AlphaFrog
So, since she's Princess William of Wales, Duchess of Cambridge, but will use the Duchess title as her "official" title, will people (or, I guess are people supposed to) refer to her as Princess Kate, Lady Kate, Duchess Kate??
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I'm sure many will call her Princess Kate, or Princess Catherine (I've heard this on the BBC this morning), though that is totally incorrect. As a general rule, only women born as princesses are called Princess FirstName. Lady Kate would be wrong -- she is now of higher rank now than "Lady." And Duchess FirstName is never correct. The proper way to refer to her is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (or the Duchess of Cambridge), just as Camilla is Duchess of Cornwall.
For what it's worth, Kate's full style and title is Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus, Master of Arts. And here is her new coat of arms, which impales her recently granted arms with William's:
Trivia: The three new titles (Duke/Duchess of Cambridge, Earl/Countess of Strathearn and Baron/Baroness Carrickfergus) include English (Cambridge), Scottish (Stathearn) and Irish (Carrickfergus) titles. The last Duke of Cambridge (Prince William, grandson of George III) refused to enter an arranged marriage because he thought they were doomed to failure. Instead he married a commoner for love. He married an actress, Sarah Louisa Fairbrother --
after he had two children by her and she was pregnant with a third child.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlphaFrog
Other random monarchy questions: if William becomes king someday, is she as a former commoner eligible to become queen? If so, and William dies before her, does she remain queen, or does it pass to the next heir?
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Yes, she will be queen if/when he becomes king. (She'll be a queen consort like Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, not a queen regnant like Elizabeth II.) Once a queen, always a queen (unless you're married to Henry VIII). So if William dies first she will still be Queen Catherine, though at that point, she would be a queen dowager, not a queen consort. If one of her children becames king/queen, she'd be the Queen Mother.