When someone's name is super famous or they have multiple names and titles, like Kate Middleton — whose monikers include Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Mountbatten-Windsor, Countess of Strathearn, and Lady Carrickfergus — they definitely need a code name. Basically everyone in the royal family has one, and through the years, they've leaked out one way or another. The world's most famous family also uses code names for events, and have been given secret names by other governments when traveling abroad.
It's not as mysterious as it sounds, although some of the names are true headscratchers, and often, hilarious. What we're really talking about here is security, so keeping these VIPs safe, and their private business out of the press, is a top priority. We can't have Queen Elizabeth arrive at an official event announced over a hackable police radio using her name. Same thing goes when Kate and Prince William are traveling overseas, whether on official business or on a much-needed vacation to one of their favorite getaway destinations. Some of the code names are clever, based on a connection that the royal has, while others are totally out of nowhere. Every major royal has a funeral plan as well, and those events all have names that both make sense and are bland enough not to attract attention during a veiled conversation or email. Check them out.
Sharon
Royal aides and police protection officers who are in charge of keeping Queen Elizabeth safe during public appearances use a code name for her — no surprise there. The code name is S, which according to one royal aide who spoke to the press, stands for Sharon. We didn't see that one coming. Though of course, it's possible that S is just short for sovereign.
Operation London Bridge
It's morbid enough when parents buy cemetery plots as they get older, but that's nothing compared to the the Queen's future funeral, which has been planned and rehearsed for decades and is code named Operation London Bridge. When the monarch passes, her private secretary will call the prime minister and say, "London Bridge is down," setting in motion the protocol and complex procedures to carry out what will surely be a massive event attended by heads of state, as well as many street mourners.
Daphne Clark
The Kensington Palace security team probably had to work a bit hard to come up with a code name for Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who is already known by so many unofficial names and nicknames, like her maiden name of Kate Middleton, and more cruelly, Waity Katie, which tabloids used during her nine-year courtship with Prince William. So enter Daphne Clark, who sounds like a sweet but plucky reporter from the 1920s. It suits her!
Danny Collins
Legendary actor Al Pacino once made a movie called Danny Collins, but we're guessing that wasn't the inspiration for this code name, which was at some point used for Prince William. It sounds more like a bloke from old timey London, who works as a chimney sweep and says "evening guv'nor" a lot. Not royalty headed for the British throne. Like Kate's name, the first letters of the code name reference his title of Duke of Cambridge.
Davina Scott
Born-and-bred California girl Meghan Markle's code name while she was a working royal was the very British (and #babynamegoals) moniker of Davina, last name Scott. Honestly, we would never have guessed this one, like at all. Now that she's back home in the Golden State, we're guessing she's going for something a bit more reflective of that.
David Stevens
David Stevens was an Australian author and director, and far from a household name. But "David Stevens" was at some point the code name for Prince Harry while he was across the pond. Like Meghan's code name, the initials are the same as the Duke of Sussex. Wonder what code name he's using these days? We like "Hollywood Harry."
Deborah
This one is not an official code name produced by Buckingham Palace, but one used by Princess Diana. When then-Lady Diana Spencer personally chose designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel to imagine her wedding dress, she told them she wanted to look like a "real, live fairy-tale princess." They created one of the most iconic wedding dresses ever made. They used the code name Deborah to refer to Diana and arrange secret fitting sessions.
Unicorn
We know that Prince Charles is destined to be the next king, but is he really special enough to be called a unicorn? The Secret Service thought so. When he visited the United States in 1971, his code name was a reference to the mythical creature, which also happens to be the national animal of Scotland.
DOC
Since staying safe at home and working remotely, Kate and William have often hopped on Zoom calls to carry out virtual visits with charities and schools. During an Easter call with kids, royal watchers noticed that their code name showed up on a screen shot. It was DOC, which it doesn't take a crack code breaker to know stands for Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Operation Tay Bridge
They say we can't be present at our own funerals, but Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, got as close as it gets. That's because her own funeral, code named Operation Tay Bridge, after a structure in Scotland, had been rehearsed for years before the royal family used it as the basis of Princess Diana's funeral after her unexpected 1997 death. It was used when the Queen Mother herself died in 2002.
Operation Golden Orb
One day, Prince Charles will inherit the throne, and the world will see the first British coronation ceremony since 1953 when then-Princess Elizabeth stepped up after her father died. It will be elaborate and grand, and the logistics will be a nightmare — which is why a super secret committee has been planning it for years. The committee named it Operation Golden Orb, after the hollow gold ball topped with a cross, which new monarchs hold while making their vows to God.
Operation Menai Bridge
Those of us who binge-watched the latest season of The Crown know that when Prince Charles went missing during an avalanche while on a skiing vacation in 1988, it triggered his funeral code name, Operation Menai Bridge (named after a suspension bridge in Wales). Luckily, the Prince of Wales and dad to Princes William and Harry, survived, so Operation Menai Bridge is closed to traffic until further notice.
Operation Forth Bridge
Operation Forth Bridge is the code name for 99-year-old Prince Philip's funeral. This name references a bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland, which makes sense, given that the Queen's husband, the prince consort, is the Duke of Edinburgh.
Operation Hyde Park Corner
Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI, was the first to use a funeral code name, which was put in place so that the Buckingham Palace switchboard operators or spies wouldn't learn of his death before it was publicly announced. It was named after a picturesque and historic spot in London.
Code Name: Noah
When Princess Diana collaborated with Andrew Morton on a book about her marriage and life in the royal family, it was a huge secret. No one in the royal family knew it was happening, of course, and it was only after her death that Morton revealed her involvement, and Diana's code name for him: Noah. The name was inspired by Morton's being described in a media report as "notable author and historian." Diana simply took the first one or two letters of each word and put them together. Pretty clever.
