Royals
Kate Middleton’s Nickname For Prince William At Uni Was Rather Racy
Plus, the pet names the royal family have for each other.
What does the royal family call one another? It would be hard to imagine Kate Middleton calling William’s full title when asking if he wants tea, right? And whilst these pet names are often shared in private, very occasionally, fans get an insight into what names the royal family call each other.
Guests at a black tie event at the British Museum, held on Feb. 9, caught a glimpse of the pet name Prince Charles called Camilla during his speech. At the British Asian Trust soiree – the couple’s first joint event since the Queen announced her desire for the Duchess to become Queen Consort – Charles referred to his wife as “my Mehbooba,” which means “my beloved” or “my darling” in Urdu.
“I cannot quite believe it is almost two years to the day that both my Mehbooba and myself were able to be with all of you to celebrate the work of the British Asian Trust,” said the Prince of Wales in an address to 350 guests, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel, and Health Secretary Sajid Javid. Prince Charles founded the British Asian Trust in 2007 to tackle widespread poverty, inequality, and injustice in South Asia.
One of Charles and Camilla’s first royal tours as a married couple was in 2006 to Pakistan, where Urdu is the official language. There may not be concrete evidence from the Prince as to why he calls Camilla his “Mehbooba,” but it has some really sweet connotations.
Here is an insight into all the pet names that royal couples have for each other.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh
When the Queen was very young, she referred to herself as “Tillabet,” and as she entered adulthood, she was known as “Lilibet” among her family and close friends, including Prince Philip. Those close to the monarch still use the affectionate nickname, and it was the inspiration for Prince Harry’s daughter’s name, too.
The Duke of Edinburgh also apparently used a slightly different pet name for his wife than the rest of the family. It came to light after the 2006 film The Queen was released that Philip called her majesty his “cabbage” In a bedtime scene at Balmoral, Philip (played by James Cromwell) turns to his wife, played by Dame Helen Mirren, and says “Move over, Cabbage.”
Whilst it is not known exactly where the nickname comes from, it was speculated that it came from the affectionate French phrase “mon petit chou,” which is somewhat sweeter than the nickname her grandchildren gave her. The Queen reportedly earned the nickname “Gary” after Prince William and Prince Harry struggled to call her Granny when they were younger.
Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall
In addition to the sweet nickname of Mehbooba, Charles and Camilla reportedly have other names for each other that date back to when they first got together in their twenties. As seen on The Crown Season 4, the now-married couple apparently called one another “Fred” and “Gladys,” inspired by characters from BBC radio’s The Goon Show.
Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge
Having met at the ripe old age of 21 at university, Prince William and Kate Middleton have come up with some interesting pet names over the course of their nearly two decades together. Kate reportedly called William the rather risqué “Big Willy” when they were at university together.
In more recent years however, the couple have resorted to more jokey nicknames. According to The Sun, when William complained about his wife's “endless mane of hair,” Kate gave as good as she got, and teased him by starting to call him “Baldy.” In return, William is said to have started calling Kate “DoD,” which is short for “Duchess of Dolittle,” referring to her lack of a career before they married.
All jokes aside, while Prince William refers to his wife as Catherine on duty, apparently behind the scenes he called her Poppet. The royal couple was also overheard at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2016 referring to each other as “darling” and “babe.” How sweet!
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
During an interview with Tom Bradby for the ITV documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey, the Duchess accidentally let slip that she affectionately calls her husband by his first initial. She had already been seen out and about wearing a necklace with two initials “M” and “H” in 2016, so it makes sense.
During a segment on James Corden's The Late Late Show in February 2021, Harry and Meghan revealed additional names for each other. The prince told the British host how “Meg” whips up the best organic waffles for their son, Archie. Later on, Harry and James visit the house where Fresh Prince of Bel Air was filmed, and give Meghan a video call. "That's wonderful, I think we've done enough moving. Haz, how's your tour of LA going?" she asks Harry. “Haz? I didn't know we were calling you that,” quipped a surprised James Corden, to which Harry replied: “Well, you’re not my wife.” Touché.
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