Kate Middleton Emailed Her Friends to Ask Them to Call Her "Catherine" Ahead of Her Royal Engagement

When you join the royal family, your life is bound to change forever. Even before Kate Middleton was engaged to Prince William, she understood this reality all too well.

The Mirror recently resurfaced a Sunday Express article from 2008, two years before the Cambridges' engagement, which explained the request Middleton made to her friends in anticipation of marrying a royal. "With Prince William’s engagement now a surefire certainty (even Ladbrokes [a British betting company] has stopped taking bets on whether it will happen after a flurry of well-placed wagers) there are intriguing signs that Kate Middleton is preparing for her future role," the article read.

"It looks like she’s taking it very seriously indeed too. I hear that in the past few weeks the former accessories buyer has quietly informed friends that she would like to drop the informal 'Kate' and in future wishes to be known by her full name: 'Catherine.'"

In the Express article, royal expert Daniela Elser said Middleton's friends were "a little taken aback" by the request, even though it was made in a "gentle" and "very jokey" manner.

A friend of Middleton's told the paper, "Everyone knows it’s about to happen with Kate and William, but we were a little surprised about the request to call her Catherine. There is a distinct feeling she has started to become very aware of her position."

Middleton became engaged to Prince William in 2010, and they tied the knot in 2011 at Westminster Abbey.