Kate and Prince William's “wise” decision to protect Princess Charlotte is something that many fans might not have realised.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have had a lot to consider already when it comes to raising Prince George, Charlotte and Louis. All three are still very young but they’re also the most high-profile of the late Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren and are very high up in the royal line succession. When Princess Charlotte was born, Kate and Prince William made a very important decision to help protect their only daughter and help her navigate her future as a member of the Royal Family.
Speaking previously on Channel 5’s Secrets of the Royal Palaces documentary royal expert Richard Kay described Prince William and Kate were “wise” not to give Princess Charlotte the first name “Diana”. Many fans might’ve expected the couple to call their first daughter after Princess Diana, but the expert believes this would’ve led to Princess Charlotte frequently being “compared” to her late grandmother.
As per The Mirror, he explained, "I think he [Prince 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”.
Prince William and Kate named their daughter Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, opting to honour both Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth with their choice of middle names. Richard believes that this was a clever move, as it ensured Princess Diana was represented in Princess Charlotte’s full name but without the intense comparison that might possibly have arisen from her being named Diana too.
“By giving Diana as the middle name, it means Diana is still there,” Richard continued, before going on to reflect on the many other ways in which Kate and Prince William honoured Princess Diana when Charlotte was born.
As reported by The Mirror, the royal commentator claimed that Prince William “likes the symbolism” and remarked upon how the couple “chose the very church Diana was christened in herself” for Princess Charlotte’s christening.
Kate and Prince William’s “wise” decision that could potentially have helped protect Princess Charlotte from often being compared to Princess Diana is something that Prince Harry and Meghan later mirrored.
Their only daughter Lilibet has the middle name Diana, but the Sussexes chose to nod to Queen Elizabeth’s childhood moniker for her first name instead. Both Prince William and Prince Harry also nodded to their mother with their proposals to Kate and Meghan respectively too.
"He's made it clear he wanted Diana involved on the journey that he embarked on with Kate,” Richard said in the documentary, noting that he presented Kate with his mother’s iconic sapphire engagement ring.
Describing the ring in his and Kate’s engagement interview Prince William said, “It's my mother's engagement ring so I thought it was quite nice because obviously she's not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all - this was my way of keeping her close to it all.”
Meanwhile, Prince Harry incorporated diamonds from Princess Diana’s collection into Meghan’s engagement ring to “make sure she’s with [them] on this crazy journey together”.
