The surprising but 'wise' decision Kate Middleton and Prince William made to protect Princess Charlotte

Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Prince William surprised royal fans when Princess Charlotte was born, but their shock decision was a 'wise' one designed to protect their daughter, a royal expert has said.

All parents have to make big decisions when it comes to parenting, and it's no different for the Prince and Princess of Wales. Their three children, Prince George, Charlotte and Louis, may still be very young, but their lives are lived out in the public eye as they are the most high-profile of the late Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren and hold very prominent positions in the royal line succession - and that means Kate and William have to make some very important decisions in order to protect them.

When it comes to Princess Charlotte, the tough decisions started before she was even born. In order to protect their only daughter and help her navigate her future life as a working royal, they made one very important decision about her name that shocked everyone.

Many royal fans expected Charlotte to be named Diana, after William's late mother Princess Diana. But, speaking previously on Channel 5’s Secrets of the Royal Palaces documentary, royal expert Richard Kay called William and Kate's decision to avoid the name 'wise' as it would’ve led to Princess Charlotte frequently being 'compared' to her late grandmother.

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As per The Mirror, he explained, "I think he [Prince William] very wisely decided not to give Charlotte his mother's name as her first name. Everything she did and said would have been compared with her”.

While Charlotte doesn't share her grandmother's first name, Prince William and Kate did include a tribute to her elsewhere. Charlotte's full name is Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, with her full name honoring both Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth through its middle names. Royal expert Richard believes that this was a clever move, balancing the tribute with Charlotte's own personality and letting her avoid any intense comparison that might have arisen from her being named Diana too.

“By giving Diana as the middle name, it means Diana is still there,” Richard continued, before going on to reflect on the many other ways in which Kate and Prince William honored Princess Diana when Charlotte was born.

A sweet tribute that many might have missed was the fact that, according to the royal commentator, Prince William 'chose the very church Diana was christened in herself' for Princess Charlotte’s christening as he 'likes the symbolism.'

It's not just Princess Charlotte who has benefited from the 'wise' decision her parents made to protect her. When their daughter was born, it's something that her uncle Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took note of.

Their only daughter Lilibet has the middle name Diana just like her cousin. And her name also includes a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth. The Sussexes chose a more obvious nod to the monarch though, with Lilibet's name being the childhood moniker the Queen once went by.

It's not just through their children that both Prince William and Prince Harry have honored their mother. They've also found ways to include her in their proposals to Kate and Meghan respectively too.

"He's made it clear he wanted Diana involved on the journey that he embarked on with Kate,” Richard said in the documentary, noting that he presented Kate with his mother’s iconic sapphire engagement ring.

Describing the ring in his and Kate’s engagement interview Prince William said, “It's my mother's engagement ring so I thought it was quite nice because obviously she's not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all - this was my way of keeping her close to it all.”

Meanwhile, Prince Harry incorporated diamonds from Princess Diana’s collection into Meghan’s engagement ring to “make sure she’s with [them] on this crazy journey together”.