Friends say Harry and Meghan’s “bloody rude” refusal to accept that the Princess of Wales wants to be called Catherine is a key factor in the ongoing feud between the brothers.

Friends of Prince William and Kate Middleton have told the Daily Beast that William took offense at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle publicly referring to his wife as Kate rather than Catherine, “even when they were sending her get-well-soon messages after her cancer diagnosis.”

The apparent reluctance on Harry and Meghan’s part to call the Princess of Wales by her preferred name was “an entirely unnecessary and deliberate irritation” the friend said, and may have contributed to William and Kate’s refusal to respond to Harry and Meghan’s expressions of sympathy, as revealed in a bombshell report in London’s Sunday Times this week, the friend said.

Kate has long let it be known that she prefers to be called Catherine. It is the name her friends and family use, it is the name William uses in private, and it is how she introduces herself to others.

The Daily Beast, in common with many American media outlets, still uses Kate and Kate Middleton, which is how she is still universally known in the U.S. and around the world.

Although she was widely known as Kate at school and university, she made a deliberate switch to her full name, Catherine, shortly before marrying William.

In Harry’s book, Spare, he always refers to Catherine as Kate, apart from in one episode when he recalls Charles calling her Catherine and Harry says he “flinched” on hearing the name.

Of course, any irritation about Harry’s chosen term of address for Kate in his book were swamped by the extraordinary extent of the allegations Harry made about other members of the family, and the revelations he made about himself.

However, a source now says that William was annoyed when Harry and Meghan chose to refer to her as “Kate” in a March 2024 statement, released after the Princess of Wales revealed she had cancer.

The brief statement said: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.”

A friend of William and Kate said: “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.’

“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.

“I wonder if the private card began, ‘Dear Kate…’”

Another friend of the Waleses said, “No-one’s saying it’s responsible for all the trouble, but deliberately calling someone by a name they don’t like is just bloody rude. If Harry and Meghan were serious about healing their issue, a good first step would be to call her Catherine.”

The offices of the Waleses and the Sussexes did not respond to a request for comment.