Calling her Kate Middleton seems so disrespectful

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In the midst of all this, I hope that anyone who reports on or speaks about the matter can refrain from calling her Kate Middleton. She is the Princess of Wales, and that's that.

Other than that, I sincerely pray that she and the family are offered privacy and respect that they themselves ask for, and deserve.

@BellissimoGecko you seem rather offend by this, for some reason. If it offended Catherine or the RF don’t you think they would put a stop to it? It is quite normal for lots of professional women to be referred to by their family name, even when married.

Not in certain parts of it! You are completely off target there. Both my mother and all my female generations before that were known by their maiden names. Their maiden names are on their gravestones. Don't be so blinkered.

‘Professional women?’ But that doesn’t apply here, does it? In fact, she gave up her name to join the RF, knowing that her title would also change as soon as she married.

When she married she became HRH, the Duchess of Cambridge. She has held many titles since then and the most recent is the Princess of Wales. So why anyone would hark back to her maiden name, God knows. Out of jealousy or cattiness, perhaps?

I also use my maiden name, as it happened - I never changed my name on getting married. So not so hasty with the “blinkered” insult , please. I am no such thing.

Unlike you though, I am very well aware that my personal decision is not reflective of the usual custom in the United Kingdom.

You think ..

A 2016 survey found that around 90% of women in Britain take their husband’s surname on marriage

https://rebecca-mason.com/2022/06/02/whats-in-a-surname/

Mountbatten-Windsor is her legal surname now.

Is it? Debretts states that the official surname of the royal family is Mountbatten-Windsor but some may choose to use different ones, such as the Sussexes who are entitled to all be known as Sussex as their surname.

More senior royals it doesn't confirm use of M-W or any surname at all, and there are references to those of certain status not needing a surname. So it doesn’t seem as simple as that to say that she is Catherine M-W.

I'd like to know what it says on her driving licence. Given the lack of official use of surnames anywhere for William and Catherine I'd think she's as likely to be Catherine Middleton as CM-W on her driving licence.

That's a completely different thing - taking a name in a marriage ceremony is one thing but what they are KNOWN as in their social and work circles and community may be very different. You obviously inhabit the world where every woman becomes Mrs Serenster but that's not the world I inhabit. There are very different cultures within the whole that is Britain.

Kate Middleton as was came from culture where she would have taken her husband’s surname on marriage (see for example her mother Carole Middleton and sister Pippa Matthews) and has married into a culture where she takes her husband’s title upon marriage, and thus does not need a surname from day to day.

Those are the two relevant cultures here, both of which fit into the custom of 90% of the UK.

And again with the personal comments. They are quite unnecessary.

Please forgive my interference! But @foreverblowingbubblessand @Serenster what exactly are you arguing about?
it seems to me a trivial thing for two posters who normally agree to argue about!
The topic of taking your husband’s name on marriage is down to personal preference, the circles you move in .
neither are you are right or wrong, it’s just a difference of opinions.
( I took my husbands name purely because my maiden name was ridiculously long and with my first names , a complete pain on paperwork) .

@jeffgoldblum I didn’t take my husband’s name when we got married (some 20 years ago now!) and have faced near-constant questioning about it ever since from family, friends, colleagues and professional contacts. It’s very tiresome!

I was therefore quite annoyed by foreverblowingbubbless assertion that it was the custom in the UK for people to retain their maiden name. In small pockets of people for cultural or particular societal reasons, perhaps. But generally? Absolutely not!

(I also don’t really have a horse in this race, as I think it’s perfectly normal for Kate to be known to history as Kate Middleton. Like Catherine Parr, Jane Seymour, Anne Boleyn, Wallis Simpson, Katherine Swynford etc. - Queens Consort who didn’t have a title are almost all known by their maiden name!)

I actually got the opposite!! @Serenster, it was normal to take your husband’s name in my circles but my family and friends were aghast that I would do such a thing considering my previous stance and opinions!
I no longer consider it a huge crime against feminism like I did in my youth!
woman are allowed to choose for their own reasons !

and as I haven’t made my feelings on the op title clear !
personally I don’t think it’s disrespectful to call Catherine.. Kate Middleton .
its her name , it’s what the media and people know her as , until she publicly states she doesn’t like it , who are we to judge.

Yup but serenster has to have the last word and prove that my experiences have no validity despite my lived experience. Let's them throw in some " hurty feelz " to try to highlight my post for deletion. 🙄

You are completely off target there… Don't be so blinkered.

Your words, I believe? If you don’t want people to defend themselves/their views, maybe don’t denigrate them?

But you are blinkered to the reality for many ... a whole nation of Scottish women and Irish women would tell you so. They are not a " small pocket" of women.