As is customary, royals are bestowed with a new title - and with it a new area of Britain of which to be honorary custodians - on the event of their wedding day, by The Queen.

And the same can be said of Prince William and Kate Middleton, who on April 29, 2011 were given the new monikers of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and with it some overarching duty of care for the beautiful city on the river Cam. It is usual for the sons of the monarch to receive a dukedom, considering Prince Charles is the Duke of Cornwall and Prince Andrew is the Duke of York, but it has been revealed that Kate and Wills nearly didn't become the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

glasgow, united kingdom   november 01 embargoed for publication in uk newspapers until 24 hours after create date and time prince william, duke of cambridge and catherine, duchess of cambridge visit alexandra park sports hub to meet with scouts from across the area and learn more about the scouts promisetotheplanet campaign on day two of cop26 on november 1, 2021 in glasgow, scotland 2021 sees the 26th united nations climate change conference which will run from 31 october for two weeks, finishing on 12 november it was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the covid 19 pandemic photo by max mumbyindigogetty images
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A newspaper has revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge titles had actually been offered previously to a different royal, who turned them down for an interesting reason.

Prince Edward, the youngest son of the Queen and 14th in line to the throne, was originally offered the title when he married Sophie (now Countess of Wessex) in 1999, but rejected it in favour of becoming the Earl of Wessex after apparently watching Shakespeare in Love and admiring Colin Firth's fictional character, who was called Lord Wessex.

london, united kingdom   january 20 embargoed for publication in uk newspapers until 48 hours after create date and time sophie, countess of wessex and prince edward, earl of wessex visit the tomorrows people social enterprises at st anselms church, kennington on the countesss 50th birthday on january 20, 2015 in london, england photo by max mumbyindigogetty images
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Prince Edward's rejection of the title allowed for it to be given to Prince William 12 years later, and his bride Catherine to receive the title Duchess of Cambridge.

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sandringham, norfolk december 25 catherine, princess of wales and princess charlotte of wales attend the christmas morning service at sandringham church on december 25, 2023 in sandringham, norfolk photo by samir husseinwireimage