Duchess, Princess, Wales or Windsor?

A 'Punch' cartoon from 1917 shows George V abolishing Teutonic titles. Photo / Supplied

Speculation is rife over what title Kate Middleton will take after she marries Prince William of Wales.

According to the Daily Telegraph, it is expected that the Queen will offer William a dukedom, which would give Kate the title of duchess.

However, last December, the Daily Telegraph reported that William did not wish to receive a dukedom, preferring to remain simply "Prince William" and wanting Kate to become "Princess Catherine".

Another suggestion is that she will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales until her husband becomes King.

William is expected to follow royal tradition and marry in military dress.

Adding to the confusion about their names, William will be married with the name "William Wales" embroidered on his uniform, instead of his official royal name William Mountbatten-Windsor.

Both Princes William and Harry have used "Wales" as a last name during their schooling and were also both known as Officer Cadet Wales at the Sandhurst Military Academy.

In fact, the Princes' official names, Windsor-Mountbatten, is a construct of earlier name changes. George V changed the very Teutonic family name, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to Windsor in 1917 as anti-German sentiment ran high during World War I.

In the 1960s, the name Windsor-Mountbatten became official for the direct descendants of the Queen and Prince Philip, who himself adopted "Mountbatten" as an anglicised version of his German "Battenberg" lineage when taking British citizenship.