Catherine, the Princess of Wales in London on June 15, 2024. A new book claims she considered using another royal title.Photo: Getty Images

On September 8, 2022, the day Queen Elizabeth died, Kate Middleton became the Princess of Wales. Yet it seems that—for a time, at least—the princess was unsure about inheriting arguably the most famous royal title.

According to a new book by journalist Robert Jobson, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, Middleton found the prospect of sharing a title with the late Princess Diana daunting. “In marrying the elder son of Prince Charles, Catherine was aware she’d one day have to tread in her late mother-in-law’s footsteps—but the prospect of becoming the Princess of Wales held little appeal,” he wrote. “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. The similarities and differences between the two women were dissected ad infinitum, and even discussed in the royal household.” According to Jobson, Catherine considered opting for another title entirely.

She eventually changed her mind and assumed the title upon her father-in-law’s ascension to the throne in 2023. However, the Princess of Wales is far from the first royal who has worried about the long shadow of Princess Diana.

Camilla Parker Bowles, now Queen Consort, famously chose not to use the title due to its associations with Diana. It wasn’t necessarily the comparisons she worried about, but the blowback: Camilla and Prince Charles had an affair while he was still married to the late princess. In the ’90s, the illicit news was broken explosively in Andrew Morton’s book, Diana: Her True Story, whose primary (if off-the-record) source was Diana herself. Two years later, Charles admitted to the affair on national television. Camilla became a tabloid villain and was deeply unpopular with the British public, who adored Diana.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Camilla’s reputation largely remained that of the “other woman.” Sentiment finally began to shift after she married Charles in 2005—yet she still refused the Princess of Wales title. Camilla was keenly aware of its association with Diana—who had died just eight years earlier—and equally conscious that many blamed her for ruining Charles and Diana’s marriage. (“Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” Diana famously told the BBC in 1995.) Instead, Camilla opted to go by the more neutral title of the Duchess of Cornwall.

Then, there are Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children. When Princess Charlotte was born, many expected her parents to name her after her grandmother. Instead, the couple surprised the world by choosing “Diana” as a third name.

Vanity Fair reported that William and Kate spent two days discussing what to call their daughter among themselves and their family, before eventually deciding on Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. “Many believe that had ‘Diana’ been the princess’s first name, it might have been a millstone around the royal’s neck,” they wrote.

Royal writer and friend of Diana, Richard Kay, told the publication that Diana as a middle name was the right choice: “Had it been the first name, I think it would have been terrible for the child,” he said. “There would have been constant comparisons with Diana, and William wouldn’t have wanted that. This way it’s a tribute to his mother.” (Similarly, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex opted to use Diana as a middle name for their daughter Lilibet.)

For the British royal family, there will only ever be one Diana.