Each family has them – affectionate nicknames which can either be a nod to a hilarious inside joke or a sweet pet name which represents how much you adore that person.
It seems that even the Windsors take part in nicknames – if the rumours are true – and some bizarre and rather unexpected nicknames include the Queen being called ‘Gary’ and Prince George dubbed ‘P.G Tips’.
As William and Kate’s relationship has undoubtedly developed over the years with marriage and children, so have their nicknames for each other.
Here FEMAIL reveals what the family tend to call each other…
William, Prince of Wales
Nicknames started for the Prince of Wales at the age of two, as he recalls his mother, Princess Diana, calling him ‘wombat’ on a family trip to Australia.
In 2007, he told NBC’s Matt Lauer: ‘When we went to Australia with our parents, and the wombat, that’s the local animal. So, I just basically got called that. Not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do.’
According to royal sources, when William and Kate were in the first flushes of romance back in 2001, the Duke of Cambridge, 36, was nicknamed ‘Big Willy’ by his wife-to-be.
Kate’s pet name for her husband appears to now be ‘Prince Baldy’ – referring to his thinning crown
But as their relationship has progressed to marriage, their nicknames for each other have gotten even more hilarious.
Kate’s pet name for her husband appears to now be ‘Prince Baldy’ – referring to his thinning crown.
In Harry’s book, Spare, it was revealed that the brothers called each other ‘Willy’ and ‘Harold’.
Harry’s nickname for William cropped up in the book just before the pair had a ‘fight’ and William went to get a glass of water in the kitchen. Harry said: ‘Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this.’
Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales
The Princess of Wales also revealed that she nicknamed ‘squeak’ when she visited her old school, St Andrew’s School in Berkshire.
She said: ‘I was nicknamed Squeak just like my guinea pig.
‘There was one called Pip and one called Squeak because my sister was called Pippa and I was Squeak.’
Apparently Kate is also called ‘DoD’, the ‘Duchess of Do-little’, as it was rumoured that the Princess of Wales was criticised by the Queen for not having a full-time career
Apparently Kate is also called ‘DoD’, the ‘Duchess of Do-little’, as it was rumoured that the Princess of Wales was criticised by the Queen for not having a full-time career.
In Katie Nicholl’s 2011 book, ‘The Making of a Royal Romance’, she wrote that the Queen wanted her grandson to wait on the proposal to Kate until she had established a career.
Katie wrote: ‘Privately she (the Queen) had grave concerns and believed that Kate needed to have a job and an identity in her own right before an engagement was announced.’
A source told The Sun: ‘The royals are not very good at communicating with one another so this is one way around it. Nicknames are a way of taking the family tension out of things.’
The Queen
The Queen, 92, has perhaps the most unlikely name; with Prince William calling her ‘Gary’ when he couldn’t pronounce grandma as a youngster. The hard-to-believe nickname has apparently stuck.
Prince George had a very sweet for his great-grandmother – he referred to her as ‘gan-gan’ when he struggled to pronounce the word grandma.
One of the most well-known names that people close to the Queen called her was Lilibet
Prince Philip had one of the most adorable nicknames for the late Queen. He used to regularly call her ‘cabbage’, which was confirmed by the Queen’s biographer Robert Lacey.
The name was used in a 2006 film called ‘The Queen’, where a scene showed Prince Philip getting into bed and saying ‘Move over, cabbage.’
But one of the most well-known names that people close to the Queen called her was Lilibet, which came about when the Queen could not pronounce her own name as a child.
The name then caught on, with even her late husband The Duke of Edinburgh calling her Lilibet, with the The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also naming their daughter Lilibet.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte
While the couple already have nicknames for Prince George too; when she was pregnant Kate referred to him as ‘our little grape’ while the five-year-old is now occasionally known as PG Tips or just ‘Tips’ after the brand of tea.
In 2019, Prince George took control of his own nickname, telling a passer-by his name was ‘Archie’.
The young prince was walking with his grandmother, Carole Middleton, near her home in Berkshire, when he struck up a conversation with a stranger.
Prince George is called PG by his parents, apparently, which has evolved into PG Tips, after the tea, and is sometimes shortened to just ‘Tips’
Kate revealed in 2019 that she calls her only daughter, Princess Charlotte, Lottie
The then-five-year-old started talking to the woman while stroking her dog after playing with his younger sister, Charlotte, in a stream.
Kate revealed in 2019 that she calls her only daughter, Princess Charlotte, Lottie. This was revealed when the Princess of Wales struck up a conversation with blogger Laura-Ann and she did not refer to her daughter as ‘Charlotte’ in the conversation, but Lottie.
King Charles and Camilla
Every couple has pet names for each other and the King and Queen Consort are no different.
Fans of the Crown may remember scenes where Charles used to call Camilla ‘Gladys’ and Camilla called Charles ‘Fred’.
Its is thought these pet names were inspired from ‘The Goon Show’ on BBC radio and apparently predated Charles’s relationship with Diana as the pair used them when they dated in their early twenties.
Fans of the Crown may remember scenes where Charles used to call Camilla ‘Gladys’ and Camilla called Charles ‘Fred’
The names Fred and Gladys are thought to be inspired from ‘The Goon Show’ on BBC radio
Just before her wedding to Charles, Diana found a gold bracelet on Michael Colborne’s desk (Charles’s private secretary) which had ‘G’ and ‘F’ engraved on it, thought to stand for ‘Gladys’ and ‘Fred’.
But there is some dispute about this as journalist Jonathan Dimbleby who wrote Prince of Wales: A Biography and also conducted the interview where Charles admitted to cheating on Diana said that the initials on the infamous bracelet stood for ‘Girl Friday’.
This was another nickname that Charles had for Camilla based on the film ‘His Girl Friday’, which is about a man who tries to win back his ex-wife when he finds out that she is due to marry another man.
Harry and Meghan – Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Meghan Markle has been reportedly called ‘Tungsten’ by her father-in-law, King Charles, in reference to the strong metal. He apparently given the Duchess of Sussex the name based on her ‘toughness’.
Meghan revealed on her blog, The Tig, that her mother has called her ‘Flower’ ever since she was a child.
Prince Harry was dubbed ‘Flash’ in his wilder days, thought to be a reference to fictional army lothario Harry Flashman.
Meghan Markle has been reportedly called ‘Tungsten’ by her father-in-law, King Charles, in reference to the strong metal
Prince Harry had his own Facebook account using the pseudonym ‘Spike Wells’, where he had more than 400 friends
Other, more endearing names for Harry include ‘Potter’, after J K Rowling’s boy wizard and ‘Gromit’, referring to Nick Park’s animated canine creation.
As mentioned before, Prince William called his brother ‘Harold’ during a fight the pair had that Harry wrote about in his book, Spare.
In the book, William is quoted saying ‘I didn’t attack you, Harold’ when confronted by Harry.
Other nicknames for Prince Harry include ‘Baz, Spike, Bazzarooni’.
The woman who took Harry’s virginity Sasha Walpole, came forward and said that the Prince gifted her a Miss Piggy funfair toy and a birthday card signed ‘Baz’ – which is what some of his friends called him in his younger days.
The Mirror reports that Prince Harry had his own Facebook account using the pseudonym ‘Spike Wells’, where he had more than 400 friends.
It is said that this nickname came from those closest to him due to his spiky hairstyle.
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