Kate Middleton Receives New Titles from King Charles — with a Tie to Her Grandfather

Kate Middleton is adding to her royal résumé.

On Friday, Buckingham Palace and King Charles announced new military appointments for nine members of the royal family including the Princess of Wales. The King, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Edward, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne, Prince Richard and Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester have also been awarded new royal roles. The cohort already held a range of military affiliations, and the update comes a month ahead of King Charles’ first Accession Day.

“Following His Majesty’s Accession, The King is pleased to announce further military appointments for working Members of the Royal Family,” the palace said in the announcement. “The new appointments will continue to reflect the close relationship between the Armed Forces and the Royal Family in His Majesty’s reign.”

Princess Kate, 41, becomes the Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Coningsby.

The last appointment is especially sentimental for Kate, as one of her grandfathers served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) — and reportedly worked with Prince Philip! According to Hello!, Captain Peter Middleton flew as a co-pilot with Prince Philip during an aerial tour of South America in 1962.

The Princess of Wales takes over the role as Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm from Prince Andrew, who held the role until 2022.

Kate’s new RAF appointment bolsters a bond to the branch that was already strong. Her husband flew as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot based at RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales, from 2010 to 2013, and the couple hold other RAF-related appointments. The Prince of Wales, 41, serves as the Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Coningsby, while Princess Kate is the Honorary Air Commodore of the Air Cadets. In July, William and Kate took their three kids — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — for a family field trip to the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, the world’s largest military air show.

Like his wife, the palace announced that Prince William has also been awarded three new appointments. The heir to the British throne will now be known as Colonel-in-Chief, The Mercian Regiment; Colonel-in-Chief, The Army Air Corps; and Royal Honorary Air Commodore, RAF Valley — where he previously flew as a pilot.  

While King Charles, 74, became Head of the Armed Forces when he acceded to the throne following Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022, he is also taking on more military affiliations. The King is now Sponsor of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Tank Regiment, Captain General of the Royal Artillery, Captain General of the Honourable Artillery Company, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Marham and Air Commodore-in-Chief of RAF Regiment. 

The King may feel especially connected to the HMS Queen Elizabeth and RAF affiliations as he trained and served in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force during his time as heir.

His wife, Queen Camilla, becomes patron of The Royal Army Chaplains’ Department. Camilla, 76, also acts as Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Lancers (the regiment her late father, Major Bruce Shand, served with during World War II) as well as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles and Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

Camilla’s royal role with the Grenadier Guards was announced nearly a year after Prince Andrew was removed from the position. In January 2022, Queen Elizabeth stripped her second son of his military titles and patronages after he was accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an alleged victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing and settled with Giuffre out of court in February 2022.

In December, King Charles named his wife to the ceremonial role with the celebrated regiment. The monarch also made Prince William the honorary Colonel of the Welsh Guards and Princess Kate the honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards (taking over the title after her husband!) in the same motion.

On Friday, King Charles further awarded new appointments for his only sister and youngest brother. Princess Anne, 72, becomes Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, “recognising Her Royal Highness’s strong links to Scotland” and existing ties to the regiment as Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Battalion, The Ranger Regiment and 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Meanwhile, Prince Edward, 59, was named Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Dragoon Guards and Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen’s Royal Hussars. It’s been a significant year for Prince Edward, who the King named the Duke of Edinburgh on his birthday in May. The title was created for their father, Prince Philip, when he married then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947, and Edward’s wife, Sophie, became the Duchess of Edinburgh in the same sweep.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

The palace announced that Sophie, 58, will be Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Irish Regiment and Royal Colonel of the Queen’s Own Yeomanry. Sophie’s appointment to the Royal Irish Regiment fills a position previously held by Prince Andrew, per the BBC, as does Queen Camila’s previously announced role with the Royal Lancers.

Rounding out the ranks, Queen Elizabeth's cousin the Duke of Gloucester is now Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force while his wife Birgitte is Colonel-in-Chief of the Adjutant General’s Corps.

King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Sophie, Prince Richard and Birgitte all appeared together on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the King and Queen’s May coronation day and again for the first Trooping the Colour of his royal reign in June. The appearances created a clear portrait of the working royal family today.