Will Kate Middleton’s Parents Receive Royal Titles When She Is Queen?

When Prince William becomes king, Kate Middleton will hold the title of queen consort — but does that mean there are royal titles in store for her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton?

Unlike many royal spouses of the past, Princess Kate wasn’t born into an aristocratic family with nobility or royal titles. The Middletons met while working at British Airways in the early 1980s, with Carole working as a flight attendant while Michael was a flight dispatcher. They later founded Party Pieces, a party supply company, which helped fund their three children’s private education.

When Kate met William at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, she and her family, including siblings Pippa and James, were thrust into the public eye and entered the royal circle.

In the years since William and Kate’s 2011 wedding, the Middletons have joined the royal family as milestone events such as King Charles’ coronation in 2023 as well as annual gatherings such as summers at Balmoral Castle or Royal Ascot.

Despite being welcomed into the royal family’s inner circle, it’s not likely that Carole and Michael will receive royal titles when William becomes king and Kate becomes queen.

Royal titles are reserved for those born into or marrying into the family, while dukedoms and other noble titles are passed down through a family or granted by the reigning monarch. While the Middletons could be awarded titles, the family of a queen consort has historically not been given such an honor.

Although Queen Camilla’s parents have died, her two children don’t hold royal titles or roles. While her sister, Annabel Elliot, served as one of the royal’s two ladies in attendance at her coronation, she isn’t one of Camilla’s designated “companions,” a modern version of a “lady-in-waiting” adopted by Camilla when she became Queen, according to the BBC.

Princess Kate could appoint her mother or sister as her “companions,” however, the role is different from an official royal title.

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Regardless of titles, Princess Kate has remained extremely close to her family. The Middletons live a short drive away from the Prince and Princess of Wales’ home base in Windsor and are a steady presence in their grandchildren’s lives, often having Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, over for sleepovers.

“Her parents are an enduring factor in the upbringing of their grandchildren,” a palace insider previously told PEOPLE.

And while Prince William is also close to his in-laws, he reportedly excuses himself when the Middletons get competitive during card games. Kate’s brother James made the revelation in his memoir Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, writing that his beloved dog would give William “a good excuse to escape the fiercely competitive nature of the Middleton family, which emerges every time we play our favorite fast-paced card game, Racing Demon.”