The Duchess of Cambridge trademarks name

Catherine Middleton has applied to the Intellectual Property

Office to trademark her royal title, the Duchess of Cambridge, to allow her official charities to use her name on clothing.

The trademark application is part of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, and will be used on “a wide range of goods and services" including “clothing, footwear and headgear” to help raise money for a wide variety of charities.

"Since the name change of the foundation last year, we have been registering our new name and logo in different territories around the world," a St James' Palace spokesman told The Telegraph. "As part of that process, we have to choose any categories under which we might conceivably operate in the future. This also protects the foundation against other people using its name illegally. We included clothing in case we choose, for example, to make T-shirts in years to come, for marathon runners, etc."

The foundation was legally established by The Princes in September 2009 and became fully operational in 2011 when the Duchess of Cambridge became an official Patron.