Cath, wombat, and cabbage: the nicknames of the British royal family
British royal names can be a doozy. Take William Arthur Philip Louis or Elizabeth Alexandra Mary or even Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David. No matter how much blue blood flows through your veins, no one, no one, is throwing out a multi-moniker like that in casual conversation, which is where royal nicknames come in.
Sure, there’s the obvious—Will for William or Harry for Henry. But behind closed doors, the Windsors get a little more creative.
Kate Middleton, for example, is called “Catherine” in public. However, the British tabloids report that her brother-in-law Prince Harry calls her “Cath.”
At an appearance in 2012, the Duchess revealed that growing up, she was called “Squeak.”
Prince William, too, had an adorable childhood nickname: Wombat, given to him by Princess Diana. In a 2007 interview with NBC, however, he admitted it’s somehow stuck with him into adulthood. “I can’t get rid of it now,” he said. “It began when I was two. I’ve been rightfully told because I can’t remember back that far, but when we went to Australia with our parents, and the wombat, you know, that’s the local animal, so I just basically got called that, not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do.”
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Prince Harry, according to his brother, has got “plenty” of pet names. They range from a bit on-the-nose (Ginger) to the obscure (Spike, which is also suspected to be his former Facebook alter ego). Yet most of them the world will likely never know: “Most of them I can’t call in front of here,” William told NBC when asked. “ You know, [they’re] a bit rude.”
Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, revealed in a documentary about their royal tour of Africa that her nickname for him is simply “H”.
Prince Charles is also rumoured to call Meghan Markle “Tungsten” due to her strength, reports the Daily Mail, while Vanity Fair reports that the 37-year-old duchess has been nicknamed “Di 2” at the Palace. A source said: “I’ve heard the duchess is referred to as Di 2, because of the similarities to Harry’s mother. It’s meant affectionately, and I think it’s quite true—they are rather alike.”
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, though, have pet names that are certainly safe for work: Hello! reports they call each other Fred and Gladys.
But perhaps the queen of all royal nicknames belongs to, well, Queen Elizabeth II herself. Famously called “Lilibet” growing up and by her close friends and family, she’s managed to accrue several more during her reign. Prince Philip calls her “Cabbage” (and, some claim, “Sausage”). As a child, Prince William was unable to say “Granny”—so he called her “Gary,” according to the Daily Mail.
In the documentary Our Queen at 90, Kate Middleton said that Prince George calls the Queen “Gan-Gan.” How’s that for a royal title?
As for Prince George’s own nickname, a dog walker’s recent encounter with the young royal has lead people to believe it may be Archie.
While out for a walk in Berkshire with his grandmother Carole Middleton, the five-year-old stopped to pet a dog. The dog walker then revealed to The Sun that, “Just to be friendly I engaged in a bit of small talk and I asked George what his name was, even though obviously I knew it.”
“To my astonishment he said ‘I’m called Archie’ with a big smile on his face,” she added. “I don’t know why he calls himself Archie but kids often play with their names and I think it’s lovely.”
Prince George isn’t the only next-gen royal to have a sweet nickname, his sister, Princess Charlotte, also has an adorable nickname which her mum, Kate Middleton, revealed to blogger Laura-Ann during a trip to Windsor Park stadium in Northern Ireland in March 2019.
reports the Duchess of Cambridge was introduced to the blogger and one of her sons, George, who has the same name has her son, Prince George. After exclaiming over Laura-Ann’s son George’s “cool name”, the duchess then asked the blogger how old her other son is and when Laura-Ann replied “four”, the duchess said “Oh, he’s the same age as Lottie!” Thereby revealing Princess Charlotte’s sweet nickname of ‘Lottie’.
In addition to this, in May, it was revealed that Princess Charlotte has another moniker – “mignonette.” Kensington Palace released a video from a royal family outing to the Chelsea Flower Show, in which Prince William was seen calling his daughter over with the French phrase “mignonette,” which means “little darling” or “cutie.”
People reports Mike Tindall, who is married to The Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Tindall, reportedly said his nickname for his royal wife is “Zoey”.
This story was originally published on Vogue.com.