Kate Middleton Given New Titles by King Charles

Kate, the Princess of Wales, who has seen her role within the royal family increase significantly since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year, has been honored by King Charles III with a series of new military titles.

Buckingham Palace announced on Friday that Charles had made 21 new honorary military appointments for members of the royal family, including Kate, many of which had previously been held by the late Queen Elizabeth.

Kate, who was made Princess of Wales by Charles in the days after becoming king, has been given three additional titles. The princess is now the Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm of the British Navy, the Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards of the British Army, and the Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF [Royal Air Force] Coningsby.

The appointments have special significance for the princess, who holds honorary positions within the three main branches of the armed forces, and whose most senior military title was bestowed on her last year by King Charles—that of Colonel of the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army.

Kate's new role as Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm (the air division of the Royal Navy) has been assigned to her from the group of military patronages that were stripped from Prince Andrew in 2022. The prince gave up his roles following his public fall from grace over denied allegations of sexual misconduct and scrutiny over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The princess' husband, Prince William, undertook an attachment with the Royal Navy during his military career, spending time learning navigation skills with sailors and the Royal Marines.

Kate's Navy links also extend to being the sponsor of the warship HMS Glasgow, which was a role bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II in 2021. Kate met with the ship's company in one of her first audiences as Princess of Wales at Windsor Castle in September 2022.

The new army appointment as Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards, is a role that Charles has passed down to Kate himself and holds a special personal meaning to him.

Charles took on being colonel-in-chief of the regiment, which has previously served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, in 2003. The prince inherited the appointment from his much-loved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who died in 2002.

The regiment is nicknamed "the Welsh cavalry" and its headquarters is in Wales, making the new Princess of Wales a fitting choice for their new colonel-in-chief.

Kate's third appointment is Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Coningsby, a station in England that is home to two frontline, combat-ready squadrons of aircraft and the training site for Typhoon fighter pilots.

The role is perhaps the most personally linked to Kate. The princess is not only the wife of a former RAF pilot, with William having served as a search and rescue helicopter pilot during the first years of their marriage, but she is also the granddaughter of Captain Peter Middleton, who served as a fighter pilot during World War II and co-piloted flights with Prince Philip during a 1960s royal tour.

The RAF Coningsby role was previously held by Queen Elizabeth's sister, Princess Margaret, and it was taken up by Prince William in 2008.

In her new roles, Kate is expected to keep abreast of developments within the companies, regularly meet with their high ranking officers and attend important milestone events.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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