The royal family has an interesting relationship with names. Sometimes, they use someone's full name rather than their nickname, like how Kate Middleton is referred to by Prince William and the royals as Catherine. Other times, they completely change their names. King George VI was born Albert Frederick Arthur George, and only after succeeding the throne did he become King George. There are also many royals who have nicknames that are sometimes inspired by their real names and occasionally have nothing to do with them.
It's a sign of affection to be known by a nickname, and the royals love one another enough to dole out many pet names. Queen Elizabeth herself has like five nicknames she's gone by in the past, or goes by now. Here are all the names the royals call each other — that we know of.
Fred & Gladys
If you watched the Crown, then you know that Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, reportedly used nicknames so they could talk to each other without arousing suspicion. Fred and Gladys came from BBC Radio's the Goon Show. Charles even reportedly gave Camilla a bracelet with "GF" engraved on it right before he was due to marry Princess Diana.
The Boss
Newly auctioned off letters of Princess Diana's revealed one of her nicknames for Queen Elizabeth. She called her "the Boss" in a note in 1995. "I just hope your arrival at Westminster Abbey was before the Boss (the Queen) and if not, I expect to have been mentioned in the excuses," Diana wrote. The letter sold for about $12,000 — and she's not wrong about the Queen being the boss.
Gary
Children can get away with anything — including calling the Queen of England "Gary." According to reporter Richard Kay, young Prince William once fell at Buckingham Palace and began crying out for "Gary." The Queen picked William up and revealed that he'd been calling for her. "I'm Gary," she said. "He hasn't learned to say granny yet."
Gan Gan
Prince William's children also have their own nickname for their great-grandmother — although it's a little closer to "Granny" than "Gary" was. Reportedly, they call her Gan Gan. That's probably also a nickname born out of not being able to say granny or, even harder, great-grandmother. It's such a sweet nickname — we hope they never grow out of calling her it.
Lilibet
The Queen's childhood nickname was also born out of not being able to say a word. In this case, she couldn't say her own name, Elizabeth. But she could say Lilibet, and it quickly caught on. Her father, King George VI, once said of his two children, "Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy." Prince Philip was one of the last royals to use this nickname for Elizabeth.
Cabbage
When he wasn't calling her Lilibet, Philip reportedly had another pet name for his wife. He would apparently call her Cabbage. It's not as weird as it sounds, though. According to Reader's Digest, in French the phrase "my darling" is "mon petit chou," but that translates literally in English to "my little cabbage."
Wombat
Diana had the cutest nickname for Prince William when he was little. After visiting Australia with him when he was a young boy, she started calling him Wombat after one of the native animal species. "Not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do," William recalled, adding that the nickname stuck with him through adulthood thanks to other people picking up on it from Diana.
H
Meghan Markle has a pet name for Prince Harry, which she revealed in the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. "I've said for a long time to H — that's what I call him — 'It's not enough to just survive something, right? That's not the point of life. You've got to thrive, you've got to feel happy,'" Meghan said. H — so casual and sweet.
Haz
More recently, Meghan's developed another nickname for Harry. She's started calling him Haz, as she did when he FaceTimed her during a segment on James Corden's late-night show. "Haz, how's your tour of LA going?" Meghan asked. James replied, "Haz? I didn't know we were calling you Haz now." And Harry answered, "No, well, you're not my wife, so…"
Tungsten
It's clear that Meghan is incredibly resilient, and Prince Charles acknowledged that with his own nickname for the Duchess of Sussex. He reportedly calls her Tungsten, like the indestructible metal. Of course, Meghan has her moments of vulnerability, but she's still immensely strong. Otherwise, how would she have survived everything she has since marrying Harry?
Archie
This one is a bit confusing. Years ago, when Prince George began petting a woman's dog in a park, she made polite conversation with him and asked him his name. Instead of saying George, he allegedly said, "I'm called Archie." This was shortly before Meghan and Harry named their son Archie, so perhaps George had heard the name and decided he liked it. But we find it hard to believe that he was actually called Archie by his family.
Bubba
Meanwhile, the real Archie has a nickname of his own. Meghan's been known to call him Arch, but she also called him Bubba when he was a baby. This nickname was first heard when Meghan and Archie were meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu during their tour of South Africa. Bubba's such a cute one.
Lottie
In 2019, while on a trip to Ireland, the Duchess of Cambridge let slip what she calls Princess Charlotte. Kate and Belfast blogger Laura-Ann were chatting about Laura-Ann's son George, and Kate asked how old he was. At the time, he was 4, just like Princess Charlotte. Or, as Kate put it, "Oh, he's the same age as Lottie." Lottie is a common nickname for Charlotte, and it's adorable.
Beabea
Princess Eugenie shared a photo of her older sister on Instagram for World Bee Day because her nickname for Princess Beatrice is Beabea. Eugenie wrote her caption to congratulate her sister on the news that Beatrice is expecting a baby.
"It's World Bee Day!! A day to celebrate nature's most bad— little friend with their black and yellow stripes," Eugenie said. "But our furry little friends have to share today with my big sis Bea, who's got a little one on the way. Beabea and Edo, huge congratulations on your news — can't wait to meet the little one."
Trixie-Belle
Beatrice's mother Sarah Ferguson also has a nickname for her daughter. When the princess guest starred on Sarah's YouTube channel, Storytime with Fergie and Friends, Sarah referred to her as "Trixie-Belle."
"Oh my darling Trixie-Belle, I cannot thank you enough for doing this for your Mummy," Sarah said. "This is just incredible, and you're so beautiful and I look at you reading these stories and I'm just the luckiest person alive to have two of the most beautiful girls. Thank you so much."
Sarah, of course, has a nickname of her own — Fergie — inspired by her last name of Ferguson.
