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Kate Middleton Reveals Prince George’s Adorable Nickname For The Queen But Causes Controversy At St. Patrick’s Day Celebration [Video]

By Maat van Uitert
Published on: 03:25 PST, Mar 19, 2016

Kate Middleton reveals in a television portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that her son, Prince George, has an adorable nickname for Her Majesty. “He calls her Gan-Gan,” Middleton confesses in the two-hour show celebrating the Queen on her 90th birthday. The program, which will air on Britain’s ITV on Easter Sunday, marks the first solo interview Kate has given since her marriage to Prince William in April 2011.

In the interview, Kate also highlights the importance of family to the Queen, revealing intimate details of her life with her great-grandchildren, George and Charlotte. The Queen is always attentive to the toddlers, Middleton confesses, explaining that “[s]he always leaves a little gift or something in their room when we stay.” Kate adds that the Queen’s affection for George and Charlotte “just shows, I think, her love for her family.”

The royal was also excited when Charlotte was born, particularly because she was a girl, Kate Middleton admits. Having a girl was “very special” for Middleton, who feels “very, very lucky that George has got a little sister.” In fact, the Queen herself was so thrilled Kate and William’s second child is a girl that “I think as soon as we came back here, to Kensington, she was one of our first visitors,” Kate shares.

In the retrospective, which includes more interviews with the Queen’s family than any other royal documentary in history with 11 family members participating in total, Middleton shares that her relationship with Her Majesty has been one of the most important of her life. Describing the Queen as “gentle,” Middleton confesses that the monarch exerts a “subtle but steady” influence over her family, and helped smooth Kate Middleton’s path into the media limelight that goes with her position.

Her Majesty understands that being in the public eye is hard enough when you’re used to it, but for Kate, it was particularly challenging. Explaining that “there is a real art to walkabouts,” Kate admits in the interview that the rest of the family “teases me…that I spend far too long chatting. So I’ve still got to learn a little bit more – and pick up a few more tips.”

One occasion sticks out in particular for Kate, and that is the first day of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom in 2012, reports the Daily Mail. Kate was without William for the first time at the event because her husband was on duty with the Royal Air Force in the Falkland Islands.

Kate had joined Queen and Prince Philip in the East Midlands for the event, but was “rather apprehensive” to be in the public without Prince William. In the documentary, Middleton reveals that it was the “most memorable engagement for me” because the Queen helped her feel more confident. “The fact she took the time to make sure that I was happy – and looked after me – shows just how caring she is,” Kate opines.

Although Kate says she was a “very small element” during the important day, she was so grateful the Queen was so supportive. “She’s been very generous,” Kate reveals, adding that “I feel she’s been a gentle guidance really for me.”

Kate Middleton is not without controversy, however, after she broke a 115-year-old tradition during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, opting instead to stay home with her children before heading off to a week-long tour through India. Every year since 2011, Kate has handed out shamrocks at the celebration, which by tradition has been carried out by a female royal “every year since 1901 when the tradition was started by Queen Alexandra, just a year after the Irish Guards were formed,” reports website Irish Central.

The Irish soldiers reportedly felt “deflated” by her absence, and a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said in a statement that Kate “has very much enjoyed the occasions when she has been able to attend,” adding that Middleton “looks forward to marking St. Patrick’s Day with the Irish Guards many times in the future.”

What do you think? Should Kate Middleton have broken the 115-year-old tradition? Leave a comment below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMx5FV08Kxo

[Photo by: WPA Pool/Getty Images]

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