'Make It Katherine With a K': Kate Middleton Ignored King Charles' Eccentric Request That She Spell Her Name Differently

In Prince Harry's memoir Spare, he delves into a variety of personal and familial anecdotes, one of which involves King Charles and Queen Camilla's request for Kate Middleton to alter the spelling of her name.

However, Catherine was not amused by the request.

The request was for Kate to change her name from "Catherine" to "Katherine," with the rationale being to avoid having too many royals with names starting with the letter "C." This concern arose because Charles and Camilla both have names that start with "C," and the thought was that an additional "C" might create unnecessary confusion, particularly concerning royal ciphers and public image.​

Despite this unusual request, Kate chose not to change the spelling of her name, opting to remain "Catherine," although she is popularly known by the nickname of "Kate." This decision reflects her autonomy and perhaps a subtle defiance of royal eccentricities. It's also worth noting that this was one of the many revelations in Prince Harry's memoir that shed light on the internal dynamics and sometimes peculiar requests within the royal family.

"Make it Katherine with a K, they suggested. I wondered now what came of that suggestion," Harry pondered in his 2023 bestseller.

In British royal history, there have been several Queen Consorts named "Catherine," and Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII's first wife, even requested to have her name spelled with a "K," but most queens spelled their name with a "C."

As The Royal Observer previously reported, the Montecito royal rebel frequently used the future queen as a comparison tool against Meghan Markle's negative press attention in Britain. Also in the book were allegations that Kate, along with Prince William, goaded the then-20-year-old prince to wear a Nazi uniform to a party in 2005. He also claimed that the then-Duchess of Cambridge was the architect behind the 2018 Princess Charlotte bridesmaid dress drama that made Meghan cry.

The fifth in line to the throne also wrote about how the Duchess of Sussex said that Kate had a "baby brain" during the disagreement since she gave birth to Prince Louis roughly a month before Harry and Meghan eloped. The future queen apparently took offense to the remark as a slight against her intelligence.

Kate and Harry's feud is all part of the wider rift between what was once dubbed "the Fab Four" of millennial royals once Meghan joined the royal scene in late 2017. When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex suddenly abandoned their royal duties and left Britain for good, William and Kate are said to have taken their decision personally. The 2021 Oprah interview, the 2022 Netflix documentary and Spare have created a chasm that cannot be bridged.

Daily Mirror reported on the Spare excerpts.