The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s names in Scotland
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in Glasgow for a two-day visit to Scotland as part of a UK-wide tour for the couple to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year.
Kate, 40, and Prince William, 39, will spend two days visiting Scotland focusing on public engagements surrounding mental health as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, starting in Glasgow and moving on to Edinburgh.
But things are a little bit more complicated in the moniker department when the royal couple visits Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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As if you didn’t have enough things to think about when meeting members of the royal family, it turns out that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge go by completely different names when they visit north of the border.
Not only was Kate given her title, the Duchess of Cambridge, to match her husband, the Duke of Cambridge when the couple married in 2011, but the pair were given other titles, too.
As per the royal tradition, which states that senior married members of the royal family are also given regional titles, Kate and William were also given Scottish titles on their wedding day.
Read more: Unforgettable photos from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s royal wedding in 2011
Prince William was given the title Earl of Strathearn upon his marriage to Kate, making her the Countess of Strathearn.
This is because Scotland has a different nobility system to that of England and Wales, and rather than being a duke, William was gifted the additional Earldom by the Queen.
The nobility refers to the region of Strathearn in southern Perthshire, which was a sweet nod to the couple’s meeting place of nearby St Andrews University.
But it’s not just Scotland where William and Kate’s monikers are different; their titles change once again upon visiting Northern Ireland.
There, they are known as Baron and Lady Carrickfergus, another title they were gifted by the Queen on their wedding day.
Prince Charles is also referred to by a different title in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Prince of Wales assumes the title of Duke of Rothesay when north of the border, which was historically the title held by the heir to the Scottish throne before the Union of the Crowns – when Scotland and England unified under a single monarchy – in the early 1600s.
Watch: William and Kate take part in school empathy programme
