Princess Kate is one of the most popular members of the royal family in Britain and America, regularly topping favorability polls on either side of the Atlantic and winning praise from commentators and fans—but the princess has not always won universal praise.
Though Kate has garnered large waves of public support and has regularly received positive coverage from tabloids and news outlets since her relationship with Prince William first became public in 2004, her time in the media spotlight has not always been easy.
In the 2000s Kate faced invasive media investigation, harassment from photographers and scrutiny from members of the British public, but she also faced a succession of hurtful reports, including the use of a nickname that has continued to be raised 13 years after her marriage.
Prince William photographed with Kate Middleton before their engagement in April 2008. Kate faced a number of tabloid putdowns during her early relationship with William.
POOL/ Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images
“Waity Katie” was first used in British tabloid stories published after William and Kate rekindled their romance following a brief split in 2007. The stories assessed how Kate spent her time while William was going through his training with the British Armed Forces, noting her jobs in fashion and later at her parents’ party supplies business.
The implication was that Kate was simply filling time, waiting around for William to propose—thus “Waity Katie” was coined. The nickname was picked up by commentators and members of the public, becoming a derogatory term to put the future royal down.
Kate also faced classism and snobbery with other unkind nicknames, famously including “Doors to Manual,” a putdown of Kate’s mother’s former job as a flight attendant, and the “Wisteria Sisters,” inferring that Kate and sister Pippa were social climbers.
“Waity Katie” has remained in regular use by the princess’ critics and online trolls.
Kate has never addressed the nickname publicly and neither have other senior royals, though in 2021, Meghan Markle changed this with her interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which she said she “can’t picture” what her sister-in-law’s experience must have felt like.
Meghan Markle and ‘Waity Katie’
Meghan referenced Kate’s media nickname in her interview with Winfrey while discussing her own dealings with the U.K. tabloid press.
The duchess split from the monarchy with Prince Harry and moved to the U.S. in 2020, citing issues with the press, royal family members and racism as contributing factors.
From the time her relationship with Harry became public in 2016, her race was focused on as the first biracial senior royal (which she became when she eventually married in 2018).
Famously, when she was dating Harry a newspaper ran the headline that she was “(almost) straight outta Compton.” Another story stated that she had “exotic DNA.”
The racism she faced, she told Winfrey, was threatening and made her treatment unlike anything the royals had faced as a family so far.
Discussing the royal family’s unsupportive reaction to her press treatment, she said that their general response was that it was something they had all experienced in some way.
Meghan Markle (L) photographed during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, March 2021. And (inset) Princess Kate photographed at Wimbledon in London, July 2024. Meghan referenced Kate’s media treatment in her interview with Winfrey.
HARPO PRODUCTIONS/ Karwai Tang/WireImage
Meghan didn’t agree, using Kate as an example, noting that the key difference was her race.
She told Oprah in an extra clip from the interview broadcast by CBS: “Kate was called ‘Waity Katie’ waiting to marry William.”
“While I imagine that was hard. And I do, I can’t picture what that felt like, this is not the same. And if a member of this family will comfortably say ‘we’ve all had to deal with things that are rude,’ rude and racist are not the same.”
The referencing of the “Waity Katie” nickname in such a public forum by Meghan earned her criticism from royal fans. Kate did not respond to the claims and comments made in the Oprah interview.
Reclaiming ‘Waity Katie’
In recent years, Kate’s fans have tried to reclaim the “Waity Katie” nickname, using it to highlight her treatment by the media or her transformation into the popular royal she has become today.
Most recently, the latter concept went viral on TikTok in a video gaining over 400,000 views in just five days.
Captioned “The future queen!” the video featured clips of Kate prior to her marriage with the label “From ‘Waity Katie'” then transitioning to clips showing Kate today with the label “To Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales.”
Uploaded by user princessroyallx, the post has received over 41,000 likes and 100 comments, many of which have reflected on Kate’s media nickname.
“I think waiting was the best thing they ever could have done. It made their relationship stronger!,” wrote one user.
“Some things are worth the wait ❤️,” posted another, with a further comment reading: “I guess all that waiting paid off now she’s the future Queen of England.”
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
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