Kate Middleton considered not using the Princess of Wales title that was so closely associated with her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.
According to an excerpt from Robert Jobson’s new book Catherine, The Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen, the author writes that Princess Kate considered “refusing” the royal title synonymous with her late mother-in-law when the time came one day. Jobson writes that Prince William’s wife mulled the weight of comparisons to the beloved “People’s Princess,” who died following a car accident in Paris in 1997 at age 36.
Robert Jobson writes in his new bookCatherine, The Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen that after her wedding to Prince William, Kate was hesitant to take on the royal title synonymous with Diana, who died following a car accident in Paris in 1997 at age 36, when her husband became the heir to the throne.
“She knew she’d inevitably be compared with Diana, whose untimely death had provoked such a tsunami of anger and grief. And she was right,” Jobson says, per an excerpt published in the Daily Mail on July 26. The author adds the subject was even discussed among the royal household.
“Kate found all such talk stressful. Indeed, it got to the point where she felt she might follow Camilla (who opted to become Duchess of Cornwall) in refusing — when the time came — to be known as HRH Princess of Wales,” Jobson writes.
When King Charles acceded to the throne in Sept. 2022, however, Princess Kate “accepted her promotion with good grace, out of respect for her husband and the King. Enough time had passed to make the title more palatable, and Catherine had been on the world stage long enough to be appreciated for her own qualities,” Jobson writes in the text, which will be published in the U.S. on Aug. 6.
Lady Diana Spencer became the Princess of Wales when she married the future King Charles in 1981, and was known as Diana, Princess of Wales following their divorce in 1996. The Prince of Wales has been the traditional title for the male heir apparent to the throne since around 1301, and Charles was thought to be the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history before his accession in September 2022.
When Charles married the future Queen Camilla in 2005, his new wife opted to be known as the Duchess of Cornwall instead of the Princess of Wales out of deference to Diana.
When it came time for his engagement to Kate in 2010, Prince William honored his late mother by proposing with her famous 18-carat sapphire engagement ring from Charles. During their engagement interview, he stressed that there was no pressure on his fiancée to be the “next Diana.” “No one is trying to fill my mother’s shoes,” Prince William said. “It’s about carving your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job at that.”
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth in Sept. 2022, King Charles used his first speech as monarch to announce that Prince William would take on the title of Prince of Wales, making Kate the new Princess of Wales.
When William and Kate, both 42, took on their new titles, a royal source told PEOPLE the couple was focused on “deepening the trust and respect of the people of Wales over time.”
“The Prince and Princess of Wales will approach their roles in the modest and humble way they’ve approached their work previously,” the source said.
As Princess Kate embraced her elevated royal role as the Princess of Wales, a royal source told PEOPLE, “the new Princess of Wales appreciates the history associated with this role but will understandably want to look to the future as she creates her own path.”
Princess Kate often honors Princess Diana through fashion and even revealed that her heirloom engagement fits her perfectly.
“Same ring,” Princess Kate said during a walkabout in Wales in 2023. “And exactly the same — the same size.”
The Princess of Wales added that she was “honored” to wear the jewelry and said Princess Diana would have been a “brilliant” grandmother to her and William’s three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
“We miss her every day,” Princess Kate said.
