Which name do you prefer for Kate (Catherine) Middleton?

[Paula**]

I voted for Kate, but i think Catherine is more royal so if she becomes royal she should use Catherine.

[Penny Lane]

I voted for Kate I have just always liked the name it may well be Catherine if the become engaged or when she is given a title but I think Kate would work just as well.

[lise]

I voted for Catherine because I like that name and it sounds regal to me.

[Incas]

For now, I'll go with Kate. However, if there is a announcement later, I'll go with whatever name she decides to be formally known as. She should have the final say.

[MoonlightRhapsody]

For now, "Kate" is a nice and approachable-sounding name. It's very unintimidating and friendly. However, *if/when* she becomes a princess, "Catherine" would be the best/only choice for an official name.

[Frothy]

I'm using Kate since everybody calls her that and I've yet to hear from her own lips that she prefers Catherine... and on TRF "Kate" is quicker to type! But I fully agree with Incas, I will use whatever name she decides to use.

If she is engaged she will give an engagement interview I expect and then she will be able to say.

But in terms of titles, her real name won't appear in her title, whatever it is. She will never be "HRH Catherine, the Duchess of Clarence" or whatever. She'll just be "The Duchess of Clarence" or "Princess William of Wales" and her name wouldn't be in her title unless she got divorced, which I hope would never happen!

[Frothy]

She would join a long line of Queens named Catherine:

Catherine de Valois (Henry V)
Catherine of Aragorn (Henry VIII)
Catherine Howard (Henry VIII)
Catherine Parr (Henry VIII)
Catherine of Braganza (Charles II)

(before standard spelling there were many variants on the name, and still are, but it's the same name!)

[Quality Blonde]

Yes, evidently she would/should use her full christened name. But many people have family nick names or names of endearment from their partners. So I doubt they go around calling each other Catherine and William.

Well observed Frothy, just what I was thinking.

[Princess_K]

She'll be HRH the Duchess of Cambridge.

If she was Princess anything it would be because William hadn't been given a dukedom yet, in which case she would be HRH Princess William of Wales.

[Elspeth]

She'll only be the Duchess of Cambridge if William is created Duke of Cambridge, which isn't certain.

[wittykitty]

Kate is a cute and popular nick name for a little girl and Willian and her close friends and famiy use it in private But in public I think now that she's in the work force and an adult and possible Consort and she likes Catherine so I thinks it's respectul to use it.
Wittykitty

[TonyaR]

I chose Catherine because it's her name. It was given to her at birth, and a person has a right to be called by their own name if that's what they prefer. It is their name, after all. It really doesn't matter if it sounds regal or not, her name is what it is.
It amazes me that someone has said they don't want to call her Catherine because she isn't a princess. What does one thing have to do with the other? If her name is Catherine then it's Catherine! It doesn't matter whether it sounds like it belongs to a street sweeper, a street walker, or a Queen.
It's not like referring to her as Catherine instead of Kate is some sort of reward for princess-like behaviour, and referring to her as Kate is more appropriate if you don't like her! Catherine is her name. Why not call her by her name if that's what she likes?

[Toledo]

Catherine has more impact than plain Princess Kate, too informal for a future crowned queen consort. Kate should remain just as a nickname for those close to her. Now one other question, will it be Catherine with a C or Katherine with a K?

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by Toledo

Catherine has more impact than plain Princess Kate, too informal for a future crowned queen consort. Kate should remain just as a nickname for those close to her. Now one other question, will it be Catherine with a C or Katherine with a K?

Her given name is Catherine, so the press have been unable to even get that bit right. If they have got to shorten it, at least shorten it with the right spelling!

Originally Posted by sereta

It was well documented quite awhile back that Kate had asked everyone at school to call her Kate so she could blend in. I don't know if it was during regular school or university though.

I must have missed these articles in the UK, can you point me in the right direction?

[CasiraghiTrio]

I'm sure it is true that chums call her Kate. The paparazzi probably heard her called that way ages ago at St. Andrew's and the name stuck. I doubt it came from nowhere. But of course, Skydragon does have a point. She might spell it Cate, not Kate, and the tabloids would have no way of knowing it, short of rifling through her trash for discarded notes, letters, etc.

It doesn't matter what she's called, though. People called "Di" and "Fergie" whatever they (the people) wanted to call them. These names just have a way of sticking and they don't go away without a good fight.

[ysbel]

I think the real truth is that Kate was perfectly fine with being known as Kate when she was a university student but now that she is getting very serious with William, she's re-thinking it and wants to be known as Catherine.

Reason why I think this?

The press has been calling her Kate for a some years now and although Kate and her family have made complaints about the press intrusion from the beginning, they've never made a complaint about Kate's nickname until now.

Diana's family, on the other hand, made it very clear from the start when the press started calling her Di that Diana was never called Di and did not like the name.

I don't fault Kate for it. Catherine is more dignified than Kate but it is a bit late to try to change what everybody calls her.

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by ysbel

The press has been calling her Kate for a some years now and although Kate and her family have made complaints about the press intrusion from the beginning, they've never made a complaint about Kate's nickname until now.

They probably realised that people would pay as much attention to a request to call her by her given name, as they have about giving her some privacy. Any statement or request from them in the early days, would have been seen as presumptious as 'she is only Williams girlfriend, not a princess, yet'!
Let's be honest, it wouldn't matter what she is called, it would be altered by the media. They could call her midi and there is not a thing the poor girl could do about it!

[Chiyo]

What, no one's suggested Salomé yet?

[Sister Morphine]

Nah, she looks like an Ashley to me. Or an Amy.

[WindsorIII]

I also like Kate for now because this is how we know her. But if she were ever to become queen, I think Catherine fits more when you look at history.

I like Queen Catherine or even Princess Catherine. Princess Kate sounds too childish and unroyal But I like it for now. She looks like a Kate.

No matter what her name is for public reasons, IMO William will always call her Kate.