Kate Middleton “insisted” on breaking one of the most essential royal protocols when Prince George was born.
Members of the media and fans eagerly camped outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital for weeks, waiting for Kate and her husband, Prince William, the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to welcome their first baby in 2013. However, when Prince George was finally born at 4:24 p.m. on July 22, the couple chose to keep his birth a secret for a while before sharing the news with the world.
In his upcoming biography, Kate! The Courage, Grace, and Power of the Woman Who Will Be Queen, royal expert Christopher Andersen claimed that Kate and William kept the news private for a lot longer than the palace usually would. This comes after Kate’s first overseas trip since her cancer treatment was confirmed.
Andersen said, “It was customary to proclaim a royal birth to the waiting world without delay.” The palace knew interest was especially high since the Waleses’ firstborn would be a future monarch. George was born high in the line of succession, third in line behind his father.
However, Andersen claims that the Princess “insisted, with her husband’s backing, that the Palace wait four hours so that they could savor the moment in private ‘as any young family would.'”
An official press release was distributed that evening. Meanwhile, the traditional formal notice of George’s birth was displayed on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.
For those four hours, William and Kate soaked up every moment of being new parents.
Elsewhere in Andersen’s book, he claims the Royal Family reportedly “offended” Kate by making an unusual request of her before she wed William.
He writes that before the now-Princess of Wales, 44, officially became a member of the British Royal Family on April 29, 2011, the then-Prince Charles, 77, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 78, issued the strange request.
They allegedly wanted her to change her name from Catherine to Katherine, claiming that having three “C” names in the family felt like “overkill.”
Andersen claims Camilla felt the change was a “logical progression” because the world already knew her future daughter-in-law as Kate.
However, the bride was “offended” by the suggestion, and William was left “fuming,” per Marie Claire.
According to Andersen, William found the idea “insulting, not only to Kate but to her entire family,” the Middletons, with whom he is famously close.
However, the idea of Kate changing her name was obviously dropped. After Charles ascended the throne upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, Kate became known as Catherine, Princess of Wales, alongside her husband, the new Prince of Wales.
Andersen is not the first royal insider to highlight the name-change incident. Prince Harry also recalled Charles and Camilla’s unusual request in his 2023 bombshell memoir, Spare.
“I remembered the time [Charles] and Camilla wanted Kate to change the spelling of her name, because there were already two royal cyphers with a C and a crown above,” he wrote. “Charles and Camilla. It would be too confusing to have another. Make it Katherine with a K, they suggested. I wondered now what came of that suggestion.”
Kate is now set to make her first international royal engagement following her cancer treatment.
The mother of three will head to Italy on May 13 for a two-day working visit on behalf of the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, Kensington Palace said. Kate launched the foundation in 2021 to raise awareness of how early childhood experiences can shape later life.
The princess will take her mission onto the international stage by visiting the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia for a research trip. She’ll meet with educators, families, and community leaders while exploring the city’s world-renowned trademarked educational philosophy, the Reggio Emilia Approach.
The Italian city has become a global leader in innovative approaches to supporting young children and their careers, viewing children as active, central figures in their own learning. The Reggio Emilia Approach believes educational centers should be tailored to children’s various ways of thinking and communicating.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
