Prince William is said to be “furious” with his brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan Markle because the pair have “deliberately” refused to call his wife by her name

A source has claimed that Prince William is furious with Prince Harry and Meghan over how they address his wife (Image: (Image: Getty))

Prince William is reportedly “furious” with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for “deliberately” referring to his wife as Kate instead of Catherine.

Before her Royal wedding, the Princess of Wales had asked her friends to call her Catherine, which is her preferred name.

However, a friend of the couple has revealed that the Duke of Sussex and his wife have upset the Prince of Wales by publicly calling his wife Kate, even in their get-well-soon messages following her cancer diagnosis.

A close associate of William and Catherine told The Daily Beast: “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’.”, reports the Express.

“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.”

Another friend of the couple stated that it was “bloody rude” of Harry and Meghan to refer to the Princess of Wales as Kate.

“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,” said the friend.

“If Harry and Meghan were serious about healing their issue, a good first step would be to call her Catherine.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales pictured with their three children (Image: (Image: Getty))
The perceived reluctance by Harry and Meghan to address the Princess of Wales by her preferred name stands as “an entirely unnecessary and deliberate irritation” potentially playing a part in William and Kate’s decision not to acknowledge Harry and Meghan’s expressions of sympathy following the diagnosis of cancer.

Kate’s request for using her name came in 2008 – a whole two years prior to William’s marriage proposal.

In his explosive memoir ‘Spare’, Prince Harry also revealed that his father “asked his daughter-in-law to change the spelling of her first name”.

The ex-senior Royal asserted that during this time, his own father expressed a preference for Kate to spell her name with a K rather than a C.

Recalling a conversation about their father’s proposition, the Duke of Sussex penned: “I turned to Willy, gave him a look that said: ‘You listening to this? ‘ His face was blank.”

Kensington Palace has been contacted but has yet to respond.