The royal family might seem formal to the general public, but they do relax amongst themselves, and surely don’t call each other by formal titles. But what do they call each other? Yes, it seems that the royal family does have nicknames or pet names for each other.
Express says that while Queen Elizabeth’s most well-known nickname, given to her by her father, is Lilibet, but Prince Philip calls his wife “cabbage.” The origin of cabbage is unclear, but some say that it’s from the French phrase “mon petit chou” which means “my little cabbage” or “my little puff pastry.”
Prince William and Prince Harry call Queen Elizabeth granny, which is not unusual, but the Cambridge children call Prince Charles, “Grandpa Wales.” While this might seems unusual to some, it seems it’s a family tradition, as the queen called her grandfather, the king, Grandpa England.
Princess Diana used to call her son William “wombat” and many of the Duke of Cambridge’s friends still call him Wills, while Harry is actually a nickname for his given name, Henry.
Kate Middleton has been known to call Prince William, “babe,” while the prince uses that nickname “poppet” for his wife.
Meghan Markle uses the pet term “my love” for her husband, and close friends of the Duke of Sussex call him Spike, as he used to have a Facebook account under the name, Spike Wells. Prince Harry calls the Duchess of Sussex “Meg” while calling their unborn child “our little bump.”
Entertainment Daily says that while Prince William now calls Queen Elizabeth granny, he used to have a far more amusing and unusual name, Gary.
Prince William couldn’t say “granny” as a little guy, so he called her Gary instead, while Prince George and Princess Charlotte call Queen Elizabeth “Gan-Gan.”
The Mirror says that back when Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were younger, his nickname for her was “sausage” while her grandmother, Queen Mary, and other royals called Philip “the Hun” early on in their relationship.
The popular Netflix show, The Crown, shared some of the awkward nicknames that the Duke of Wales and Wallis Simpson called other members of the royal family. The two called Queen Elizabeth Shirley Temple after the child actor of the same name, and they called her mother “cookie.” On The Crown , they say she is called cookie because she looks like a cook, but a story which has been shared in royal biographies says that there was a question about Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s parentage, suggesting that her mother was actually the family’s cook.
