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New title, new profile. Prince William and Princess Kate changed their Instagram name after King Charles III officially named them Prince and Princess of Wales.
As of Sunday, September 11, the married couple, both 40, are no longer listed as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Instagram. They’ve changed their handle to @PrinceAndPrincessOfWales and removed mentions of their lesser titles, including their new titles of Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.
“The official Instagram account of The Prince and Princess of Wales, based at Kensington Palace,” the bio reads.
The old handle goes to an empty profile redirecting people to the new page. All 14 million followers of the old account were automatically migrated to the new one.
Their bio was first changed on Thursday, September 8, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at age 96. William’s father became King Charles III, which transfers the new sovereign’s other titles to his son. “The official Instagram account of The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, based at Kensington Palace,” their profile revealed at the time.
One day later, Charles officially dubbed the two the Prince and Princess of Wales, which is the title reserved for the heir apparent.
“With Catherine beside him, our new prince and princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the center ground where vital help can be given,” the sovereign stated in his first video address as the monarch.
The royal family‘s website has also been updated to reflect everyone’s new titles. King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla retired their Clarence House Instagram as well. “This account is no longer being updated. Please follow @theroyalfamily for updates on His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty The Queen Consort,” the bio reads.
William and Kate retain their titles as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which the queen gave them when they married in April 2011. Though they also recently became the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, the Prince and Princess of Wales titles rank higher, so they’ll primarily be referred to by their highest-ranking monikers.
“It has a huge emotional weight,” royal expert Gareth Russell exclusively told Us Weekly about the Cambridges’ new titles. “Princess Diana had such a great impact across the world with both her charisma and her fame and also her humanitarian and charitable activities.”
Camilla never took on the title due to the controversy surrounding her marriage to now-king, making Kate’s new title even more of an honor.
“I think it is quite moving for a lot of people that the last person to hold [the Princess of Wales title] was William’s mother and now it’s his wife,” the royal historian elaborated. “I think it puts a good kind of pressure [on the Cambridges] because it brings a lot of the … emotional collateral charisma that Princess Diana had … and invests that title with a certain emotional appeal to people.”
William spoke about his new label with Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford on Sunday. “The Prince acknowledged his and the Princess’s deep affection for Wales, having made their first family home in Anglesey, including during the earliest months of Prince George’s life,” Kensington Palace said in a statement on Sunday. “The Prince and Princess will spend the months and years ahead deepening their relationship with communities across Wales.”
The statement added: “They want to do their part to support the aspirations of the Welsh people and to shine a spotlight on both the challenges and opportunities in front of them.”
