To find it annoying how Kate (Duchess of Cambridge) is referred to as Catherine?

[Dongdingdong]

I read an interview with James Middleton today in which he referred to his sister as Catherine rather than Kate. Prince William also calls her Catherine in interviews.

I don't know why, but I find it mildly grating that since she got together with Prince William, her family and friends have suddenly begun referring to her by a different, longer version of her first name - especially when they presumably always called her Kate before, still do in private and everybody else refers to her as Kate anyway.

It just seems very contrived and a little pretentious or something I suppose. AIBU to wonder why Prince William and her family can't just call her Kate in public?

Also my dd had a long name. I always call her by her full name, always. Some of her friends call her by a deminutive version of her name.

My ds is called Sebastian. Most of the time I call him Seb... But when I mention him to people we don't know on a family/friends basis I call him Sebastian. It's his name. Lots of people do this. It's more odd that you find it odd!

Also, I wonder if you might need a hobby or some sort of task to undertake because your days are clearly empty.

And yet you've found the time to read my post and respond with not one, but two replies LostInShoebiz. Oh the irony.

A friend's daughter was at uni with them both and said everyone called her Kate, including William.

Interesting Clawdy. So what I don't understand is why her friends and family have reverted to Catherine after she met PW.

BUt if it's coming from the palace, why isn't Harry 'Henry'?

My friend is Kat to us. Her husband calls her Kat, Kitty and Katherine interchangeably. They are all versions of her name!

Exactly. Her family never call her Kate in public because they never call her Kate in private.

And you know this how exactly, Insomniac? At least three posters have said they knew of her in her uni years or have links to her family and that she is known to them as Kate.

She was always Catherine at school

I have a 3 syllable name. Almost everyone, including me, abbreviates it in 2 different ways but when I’m being introduced or doing something even semiformal or am in trouble then I’ll and other people immediately snap back to my full name. It’s not pretentious, it’s appropriate.

why isn't Harry 'Henry'?

Because he won’t be king.

Interesting Clawdy. So what I don't understand is why her friends and family have reverted to Catherine after she met PW.

Just because she was known as Kate at university doesn't mean other people (including friends and family) didn't refer to her as Catherine. Why do you find it so "interesting" that a person is referred to by different versions of her given name? It's totally normal.

I’m certain I recall It being said at the time me of Harry’s birth that he would be known as Harry. It’s why at his wedding his name Henry was initially used and thereafter he was Harry.

I thought she was called Kate(y) because it rhymed a bit better with Waitey.

Do you not have anyone in your life who goes by different versions of their name?

I can't believe you are unaware that it is a thing.

One of my DC has a name that pretty much only I use, friends, teachers etc use a shortened nickname and I'm sure have no clue that I use the full name, would you assume I was the one in the wrong, I think you need to get out more.

A friend's daughter was at uni with them both and said everyone called her Kate, including William.

It's quite common for a family to use the full name and the friends to use the shortened version. My Dad more than once said wrong number if someone called and asked for Chris. He wasn't being awkward, it just never occurred to him that it was me!

It’s interesting though that in an extremely honest and thought-provoking interview, the thing OP chooses to publicly deride is the fact he called his sister by her name.

I thought he was known as Harry as Diana didn’t like Henry and nothing to do with his likelihood of beingcrowned.

Actually OP I agree with you, but wouldn't be brave enough to start a thread on here. It does sound contrived to me too, I wondered if she rebranded herself as Catherine after marrying into the royal family.

On another note, I also find those patronising "I couldn't muster up the energy to care.." etc posts incredibly irritating.

I can't see the issue at all with this. I call my DH by a short version of his name, as do most of his friends, but when I refer to him by name to anyone who isn't family or a friend then I use his proper name. Same for me, sometimes DH or my immediate family shorten my name, but it would sound weird as fuck coming out of someone else's mouth and I would correct them to use my proper name.

I had thought that was completely normal, to have a preferred name (not necessarily exactly as on your birth cert) for everyone in general to use but to be comfortable with the people close to you using a variation or an entirely different pet name. Are other people not the same?

Never mind Kate. I like Billy Big Bollocks. I so hope this is her pet name for him in private

I had a friend who had been called 'Elizabeth' until the age of 18 when she arrived at university and people started calling her 'Lizzy' (their choice, not hers).

Perhaps it's the same with Kate/Catherine? 'Catherine' with family/friends until she went to uni and her new mates nicknamed her 'Kate'?

My mum was known by a common diminutive of her first name from babyhood. She always hated it and when she got to her 40s, she started insisting that any new acquaintances use her full first name. My father, on the other hand, was always called his full name by family but friends and acquittances took it on themselves to use a diminutive.

It's her name. Do people calling the queen 'Elizabeth' rather than 'Lilibet' annoy you too?

I’m sure I remember an announcement being made after the engagement that said she would know be known as ‘Catherine’ in the media and interviews. No idea what they called her in private before that but I agree with a PP who said that a family who shortened Phillipa would probably shorten Catherine too. Cathy or Katie are more logical shortening of Catherine to me though, so I would be surprised if the press decided to refer to her as Kate without having some knowledge of that being her preferrred shortening.

Never mind Kate. I like Billy Big Bollocks. I so hope this is her pet name for him in private

She apparently called him "babe" at the Chelsea Flower Show, but then one of the exhibitors contradicted this and said she actually called him "darling", which is much more royal sounding!

How can she call him babe!!!, calling him Dog would be more appropriate.
How any woman could sleep with him is beyond my understanding.

She apparently called him "babe" at the Chelsea Flower Show, but then one of the exhibitors contradicted this and said she actually called him "darling", which is much more royal sounding!

At least it wasn't babeZ. That scores a home run on my top ten cringey terms of endearment.

I'd love for her to refer to him as her "baby daddy" though.

William calls her Kate in their engagement interview. It's only now that he only refers to her as Catherine. And I remember seeing something where she was mentioned in the St Andrew's newsletter as Kate.