Why Prince Harry 'pushes William's buttons' when it comes to Princess Kate

The Princess of Wales has taken on a number of different titles since joining the royal family. When it was publicly confirmed that she was dating Prince William in 2004, she was often referred to as Kate or Kate Middleton by the British public, and ahead of her wedding to William in 2011 she was increasingly styled as Catherine. After tying the knot, the couple were given the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge titles from the late Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift, and upon the monarch's death in 2022 they were passed the Prince and Princess of Wales titles.

Across the world, the future Queen consort is still known as Kate, Kate Middleton or Princess Kate, but the royal family refer to her as Catherine in an official capacity. She also reportedly emailed friends when her relationship with William started to get serious, asking them to start using Catherine, too.

However, throughout his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry referred to his sister-in-law as Kate, and in a message wishing her well after her cancer diagnosis in March he wrote, alongside wife Meghan: "We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace."

According to a new report in The Daily Beast, William takes 'offence' at the Sussexes referring to his wife as 'Kate', with a source telling the publication that while it's an 'utterly trivial thing' it's something that 'pushes William's buttons'.

The friend of the Wales' claimed: "The fact that Harry and Meghan were unable to bring themselves to use her chosen name, even when they were sending her get-well-soon messages after her cancer diagnosis, was noted. William takes offence at people calling Catherine 'Kate', because she has asked to be known as Catherine. It’s a fairly simple wish to respect. I’m sure Meghan wouldn’t like it if William started publicly calling her ‘Meghan Markle."

They added: "Of course it’s an utterly trivial thing, but those of us who know William know that it is one of the things that pushes his buttons. Pushing his buttons while he was going through his wife’s cancer seemed an entirely unnecessary and deliberate irritation."

Prince William and Prince Harry's fractured relationship shows no signs of mending according to insiders, with one source recently claiming that the Duke of Sussex will not be invited to Balmoral this summer.