BREAKING: Prince William and Princess Catherine make ‘wise’ decision over Princess Charlotte’s…
BREAKING: Prince William and Princess Catherine make ‘wise’ decision over Princess Charlotte’s name
Prince William and Princess Kate put a lot of thought into choosing their daughter’s name, including the comparisons it could draw with other family members, according to a royal expert. The couple’s middle child was named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana after her birth on May 2, 2015, paying homage to a number of significant relatives, but the order in which they were arranged is thought to be very deliberate.
The Prince and Princess of Wales wanted to honour King Charles, by using the feminine form of his name, as well as William’s mother Princess Diana and the late Queen Elizabeth II. But they were conscious of not wanting to give their daughter a first name that would invite constant comparison to royal women of the past, commentator Richard Kay said.
Speaking in the Channel 5 documentary Secrets of the Royal Palaces, he added: “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 instead using ‘Diana’ as a middle name, William ensured his mother’s legacy was honoured without placing an additional burden on his daughter’s shoulders, Mr Kay said.
Simone Simmons, a close friend of Diana, said the prince’s mother would have been “over the moon” with her granddaughter’s name after it was confirmed by Buckingham Palace.
Ms Simmons told Vanity Fair: “It’s William’s way of honouring his mother’s memory, a way of making sure Diana’s legacy lives on. This way she will never be forgotten.”
She added that William had promised his mother to restore her HRH title upon coming to the throne, suggesting this was his way of fulfilling the promise.
Prince Harry also honoured his late grandmother by giving her name to his daughter Lilibet, named after a nickname for the late queen which was used when she was a toddler and unable to pronounce ‘Elizabeth’ correctly.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes, who moved to Los Angeles after quitting their roles as senior royals, said they wouldn’t have used the name had she “not been supportive”.
This claim was disputed in a biography of King Charles III by Robert Hardman, however, who said Queen Elizabeth was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after the announcement.
“When the Sussexes tried to co-opt the palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed,” he added
