The BBC has offered a rare apology to the royal family, particularly Kate Middleton, after public backlash following their Remembrance Day broadcasts.

In a statement on Nov. 14, the network noted that it had “received complaints from people unhappy that we didn’t use the Princess of Wales’ correct title during our coverage of Armistice Day.”

“During our coverage of memorials to commemorate Armistice Day, we mistakenly referred to Catherine, Princess of Wales as Kate Middleton; these were errors during hours of live broadcasting for which we apologize. Throughout our Armistice Day coverage more broadly, we referred to Catherine by her correct title,” the statement read.

Members of Parliament had even spoken out about the perceived gaffe. Jim Shannon, an MP for Strangford, Northern Ireland, wrote on X, “A reminder to @BBCNews to educate its broadcasters that the Princess of Wales has not been ‘Kate Middleton’ since 2011. Her correct title is Catherine, Princess of Wales. Get it right.”

Upon Prince William and Kate’s 2011 wedding, Queen Elizabeth gave them several titles, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which they were best known by for several years. Upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022, King Charles acceded to the throne and named his eldest son as the new Prince of Wales, making his wife the new Princess of Wales.

However, many journalists continue to use Princess Kate’s maiden name, especially online, as it is the most popular by far among internet users searching for news on the royal. A Nov. 17 Google Trends analysis of worldwide searches over the previous year shows numbers for the term “Kate Middleton” dwarfing those for “Princess Kate,” “Princess Catherine” and “Catherine, Princess of Wales.”

While the princess titles do show some popularity in the U.K. and Australia as search terms, “Kate Middleton” is by far the most popular keyword for royal watchers to find information about the royal.

As William and Kate remain next in line for the throne, PEOPLE plans to refer to the royal as Princess Kate and the Princess of Wales. However, in headlines and upon first reference, Kate Middleton will remain so readers can quickly find the stories they are seeking.

When William becomes monarch, his wife will be formally known as the Queen Consort, the title given to a Queen who is married to a King, rather than a Queen who has inherited the throne as Queen Elizabeth did.

Popularly, she will be known as Queen Catherine, as King Charles’ wife, Queen Camilla, does now. (Camilla, famously, never publicly used the title of Princess of Wales, out of deference to Princess Diana, who also held the title.)

Most informally, among the royal family and in her royal duties, the princess prefers to be known simply as Catherine. She has been known to sign Instagram posts with her family members’ first initials, using a “C” for herself.

During the Armistice Day appearance for which the BBC apologized, the princess observed a moment of silence and laid a wreath with a handwritten note. “In Memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, we will remember them,” she wrote, signing the message, “Catherine.”

While she was known as Kate to friends, royal biographer Robert Jobson wrote in Catherine, the Princess of Wales that she sent an email to friends in 2008 asking them to call her Catherine. Jobson cited a 2008 article by Sunday Express columnist Adam Helliker that stated she had written “a humorous email to her close friends” expressing her desire to be called Catherine. Helliker wrote, “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.”

Jobson added that it was unclear if she didn’t like being called Kate or whether “it was part of a bigger preparation for her formal public role as Prince William’s future wife,” adding that it appeared she “had a genuine desire to go by her full name.”

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Princess Kate attended multiple events during the week of Remembrance Day. She brought her eldest son, Prince George, 12, along for the Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 8, as Prince William, 43, was still returning home from his Earthshot Prize trip to Brazil.

The following day, Prince William and Princess Kate joined King Charles and Queen Camilla, as well as other members of the royal family, for one of their most solemn engagements of the year: the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph war memorial in London.

Then, on Nov. 11, Kate marked the actual date of Remembrance Day, which evolved from Armistice Day — the final day of warfare during World War I — by representing the royal family solo at the Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum’s Armed Forces Memorial.

A member of the British royal family typically attends each year, usually a blood royal — a member of the family in the line of succession. 2025 marked Princess Kate’s debut at the annual event.