A royal expert has revealed the ‘wise’ reason Prince William and Kate Middleton chose not to name their daughter Princess Charlotte after her late grandmother Princess Diana – and we never would have thought of it!
Kate Middleton has been incredibly candid and vocal about the challenges of raising royal children over the years. As is the case for many parents, both her and Prince William struggle to find a good work/life balance, with Kate previously urging employers to prioritise ‘parental wellbeing’ in the workplace, and they take a lot of care to make sure their royal duties don’t overshadow their parenting ones.
But one of the biggest struggles they’ve faced as parents has seemingly been choosing their kids’ names. It’s a difficult thing for all parents with so many baby name choices out there. You’ve got cool baby names, spring-inspired baby names – even baby names inspired by Bluey!
It was recently revealed that Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, very nearly had different names as Kate Middleton ‘set her heart’ on a moniker with a sweet link to the late Queen Elizabeth II, but the parents ultimately decided against it.
But for Princess Charlotte in particular, there were a few names on the table before she was born. And while her name is full of hidden tributes to Royal Family, a royal expert has revealed the ‘wise’ reason William and Kate opted for Charlotte and not a name inspired by the child’s late grandmother Princess Diana.
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“I think [William] very wisely decided not to give Charlotte his mother’s name as her first name. Everything she did and said would have been compared with her. By giving Diana as the middle name, it means Diana is still there,” royal expert Richard Kay said in the Channel 5 documentary Secrets of the Royal Palaces.
He explained how being called Diana would likely have put Charlotte in an ‘uncomfortable position’ throughout her life, with William and Kate also opting to keep any references to any royal woman out of her first name to ensure she isn’t constantly compared those who came before her.
But just because her first name isn’t a tribute to any royal, that doesn’t mean the rest of Charlotte’s name is royal-reference free. Her full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana and beyond the obvious tributes to her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth and her paternal grandmother, the late Princess Diana who passed away in 1997, there are a few more family names in there too.
The middle name Elizabeth Charlotte shares with Kate, as well as Kate’s mum Carole, who reportedly set her daughter up with William when they were at university. Not only this, but the name also pays homage to Kate’s grandmother, Elizabeth Harrison, who died when the now Princess of Wales was only nine-years-old.
In other royal news, Queen Elizabeth is in full mum-mode in never-before-seen photo released by Buckingham Palace and Prince Louis inherited mischievous personality from his dad as unearthed clips show Prince William getting ‘told off’ by the late Queen. Plus, Princess Lilibet has taken after grandmother Princess Diana with her new ‘favourite’ hobby, reveals Meghan Markle.
