Royal fans have taken to social media to question the BBC's "terribly disrespectful" blunder during the Princess of Wales' Armistice Day appearance. The royal attended the Armistice Day Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire on November 11. During live coverage of the service, BBC News referred to the royal as 'Kate Middleton' rather than her royal title Catherine, Princess of Wales. The awkward on-air blunder has since been met with a big reaction from fans on social media.
"Shame the BBC News referred to her as 'Kate Middleton' while announcing her arrival," one person wrote on X. Someone else said the commentator calling the Princess of Wales by Kate Middleton "sounds terribly disrespectful". Another agreed it was "disrespectful to use her maiden name and had previously asked that her name Catherine be used". "May I respectfully remind you that she is not a Middleton & hasn’t been so since she married Prince William of Wales," another viewer pointed out. Meanwhile, one viewer said it was "sad" the mishap had happened "at a moment we were honouring fallen soldiers".
The royal was first granted the title of Duchess of Cambridge by the late Queen Elizabeth II when she married Prince William in April 2011. She held the Duchess title for more than a decade. In 2022, Kate and William were bestowed the Prince and Princess of Wales titles by King Charles III following Queen Elizabeth II's death and Charles' accession to the throne. Kate has since been officially referred to as Catherine, Princess of Wales.
The Princess of Wales attended the Armistice Day Service on Tuesday. During the service, she laid a wreath to honour the fallen at the Armed Forces Memorial. The official Kensington Palace account on Instagram shared a video of the royal's public appearance where afterwards she met with D-Day veterans. "Armistice Day. A moment to remember. To honour the fallen. To reflect on the peace for which they gave so much to protect," the palace wrote of the sombre occasion. For her outing, the Princess wore a black Catherine Walker coatdress and a matching Jane Taylor hat. She was met with praise at the event after being seen crouching down to speak to and hold the hand of 100-year-old D-Day veteran Mr Redston. Kate said the arboretum was a "special place".
Days earlier, Kate joined her husband Prince William and other members of the Royal Family at the Remembrance Sunday Service. King Charles III, Queen Camilla and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were all in attendance for the annual event held in Whitehall.