Princess Charlotte carries the name Diana as her third given name. She was born in May 2015 — seventeen years and nine months after Princess Diana died. She will carry the name her entire life without having met the woman it honours.
The full name announced by Kensington Palace on May 4, 2015, two days after the birth: Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Charlotte for the name itself — classic, royal, her own. Elizabeth for her great-grandmother, the reigning Queen. Diana for her grandmother, gone since 1997.
The decision to include Diana in the name was William and Catherine’s. It was not required. It was not expected. The names of royal children are chosen by their parents with the knowledge that they will be announced publicly and carried publicly for life.
Charlotte is the only grandchild of Princess Diana to carry her name in their given names. Lilibet Diana — Harry and Meghan’s second child, born in June 2021 — also carries it, as a middle name.
Between them, the two granddaughters who bear the name Diana have never met each other in any publicly documented context. They are growing up in different countries, in families that are, for the moment, not in easy contact.
Charlotte is nine years old. She knows her grandmother through photographs, through the ring on her mother’s hand, through her own middle name. She will carry the name for the rest of her life — through whatever that life contains, whatever the role asks of her, whatever she decides to make of the inheritance.
Diana is her third name. She was born carrying it. She did not choose it. It is hers.
