As Mike Tindall  reveals Prince William’s been dubbed ‘One Pint Willy’, the other affectionate nicknames the royals use behind closed doors

Mike Tindall has cheekily revealed he calls Prince William ‘One Pint Willy’ because ‘he is not the best of drinkers’ and it’s not the only affectionate nickname circulating in the Royal Family. 

If the rumours are true some bizarre and rather unexpected nicknames include the late Queen Elizabeth being called ‘Gary’ and Prince George dubbed ‘P.G Tips’. 

Another more flattering moniker for the Prince of Wales is ‘Big Willy’, which was apparently Kate’s name for her husband when they were in the first flush of romance in the early 2000s. 

Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s memoir Spare revealed how he used to call his brother Willy, when the pair were on speaking terms, while his sibling dubbed him Harold. 

Here, Femail reveals some of the other nicknames favoured by the Windsors behind closed doors.  

Prince William  

Nicknames started for the Prince of Wales at the age of two, as he recalls his mother, Princess Diana, calling him ‘wombat’ on a family trip to Australia. 

In 2007, he told NBC’s Matt Lauer: ‘When we went to Australia with our parents, and the wombat, that’s the local animal. So, I just basically got called that. Not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do.’ 

According to royal sources, when William and Kate were in the first flushes of romance back in 2001, the future King, 36, was nicknamed ‘Big Willy’ by his wife-to-be. 

But as their relationship has progressed to marriage, their nicknames for each other have gotten even more hilarious. 

Kate’s pet name for her husband appears to now be ‘Prince Baldy’ – referring to his thinning crown.

In Harry’s book, Spare, it was revealed that the brothers called each other ‘Willy’ and ‘Harold’.

Harry’s nickname for William cropped up in the book just before the pair had a ‘fight’ and William went to get a glass of water in the kitchen. Harry said: ‘Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this.’

Mike Tindall has also revealed he calls Prince William ‘One Pint Willy’ because ‘he is not the best of drinkers’.

The ex-England rugby star and his wife Zara made the revelations in a special podcast with rugby league legend Rob Burrow, who is battling motor neurone disease.

Asked by Burrow if he has any nicknames for any of the royals, Mike says: ‘For the Prince of Wales, he is known as One Pint Willy. 

‘He is known to me as One Pint Willy because he is not the best of drinkers, coming from a sport where it is built on the social aspect and a couple of beers being sunk quite often. That is one I will give away for the Prince of Wales.’

Zara can be heard laughing before saying: ‘Oh my god. You are in so much trouble.’

Kate, Princess of Wales 

The Princess of Wales also revealed that she nicknamed ‘squeak’ when she visited her old school, St Andrew’s School in Berkshire. 

She said: ‘I was nicknamed Squeak just like my guinea pig. 

‘There was one called Pip and one called Squeak because my sister was called Pippa and I was Squeak.’

Queen Elizabeth  

The late Queen, 92, has perhaps the most unlikely name; with Prince William calling her ‘Gary’ when he couldn’t pronounce grandma as a youngster. The hard-to-believe nickname has apparently stuck.

Prince George had a very sweet term of endearment for his great-grandmother – he referred to her as ‘Gan-Gan’ when he struggled to pronounce the word grandma.    

Prince Philip had one of the most adorable nicknames for the late Queen. He used to regularly call her ‘cabbage’, which was confirmed by the Queen’s biographer Robert Lacey. 

The name was used in a 2006 film called ‘The Queen’, where a scene showed Prince Philip getting into bed and saying ‘Move over, cabbage.’ 

But one of the most well-known names that people close to the Queen called her was Lilibet, which came about when the Queen could not pronounce her own name as a child.

The name then caught on, with even her late husband The Duke of Edinburgh calling her Lilibet, with the The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also naming their daughter Lilibet. 

Prince George and Princess Charlotte

While the couple already have nicknames for Prince George too; when she was pregnant Kate referred to him as ‘our little grape’ while the five-year-old is now occasionally known as PG Tips or just ‘Tips’ after the brand of tea. 

In 2019, Prince George took control of his own nickname, telling a passer-by his name was ‘Archie’.

The young prince was walking with his grandmother, Carole Middleton, near her home in Berkshire, when he struck up a conversation with a stranger.

The then-five-year-old started talking to the woman while stroking her dog after playing with his younger sister, Charlotte, in a stream.

Kate revealed in 2019 that she calls her only daughter, Princess Charlotte, Lottie. This was revealed when the Princess of Wales struck up a conversation with blogger Laura-Ann and she did not refer to her daughter as ‘Charlotte’ in the conversation, but Lottie.

Prince Louis

The Princess of Wales revealed an affectionate nickname for her youngest son during The Big Help Out, which was part of King Charles’ Coronation celebrations.

Kate brought her children along to help renovate a building in Slough for the local Scouts. 

And as he put his best foot forward to help out with the arduous tasks at hand, Kate, 41, praised her ‘poppet’s’ hard work.

Elsewhere, she was heard lovingly calling her little one ‘Lou bug’. 

King Charles and Queen Camilla 

Every couple has pet names for each other and the King and Queen Consort are no different.

Fans of the Crown may remember scenes where Charles used to call Camilla ‘Gladys’ and Camilla called Charles ‘Fred’. 

Its is thought these pet names were inspired from ‘The Goon Show’ on BBC radio and apparently predated Charles’s relationship with Diana as the pair used them when they dated in their early twenties. 

Just before her wedding to Charles, Diana found a gold bracelet on Michael Colborne’s desk (Charles’s private secretary) which had ‘G’ and ‘F’ engraved on it, thought to stand for ‘Gladys’ and ‘Fred’. 

But there is some dispute about this as journalist Jonathan Dimbleby who wrote Prince of Wales: A Biography and also conducted the interview where Charles admitted to cheating on Diana said that the initials on the infamous bracelet stood for ‘Girl Friday’.

This was another nickname that Charles had for Camilla based on the film ‘His Girl Friday’, which is about a man who tries to win back his ex-wife when he finds out that she is due to marry another man. 

Harry and Meghan – Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Meghan Markle has been reportedly called ‘Tungsten’ by her father-in-law, King Charles, in reference to the strong metal. He apparently given the Duchess of Sussex the name based on her ‘toughness’.

Meghan revealed on her blog, The Tig, that her mother has called her ‘Flower’ ever since she was a child.

Prince Harry was dubbed ‘Flash’ in his wilder days, thought to be a reference to fictional army lothario Harry Flashman.

Other, more endearing names for Harry include ‘Potter’, after J K Rowling’s boy wizard and ‘Gromit’, referring to Nick Park’s animated canine creation. 

As mentioned before, Prince William called his brother ‘Harold’ during a fight the pair had that Harry wrote about in his book, Spare. 

In the book, William is quoted saying ‘I didn’t attack you, Harold’ when confronted by Harry. 

Other nicknames for Prince Harry include ‘Baz, Spike, Bazzarooni’. 

The woman who took Harry’s virginity Sasha Walpole, came forward and said that the Prince gifted her a Miss Piggy funfair toy and a birthday card signed ‘Baz’ – which is what some of his friends called him in his younger days.  

The Mirror reports that Prince Harry had his own Facebook account using the pseudonym ‘Spike Wells’, where he had more than 400 friends.

It is said that this nickname came from those closest to him due to his spiky hairstyle. 

Zara Tindall 

During their podcast interview with Rob Burrow, he also quizzed the Tindalls on whether they have any pet names for each other.

Mike says: ‘We basically call each other “Munchkins” a lot. I don’t know why that started but it has stuck.

‘I will let Zara decide whether she wants to give away what I am down in her phone as…’

Zara replies: ‘He is in my phone as something else and it ends with kitten.’

Prince Philip

The royal was known to affectionately call his wife ‘cabbage’ and sausage’ – but the late Duke of Edinburgh also had a humorous nickname used by those close to him.

Speaking to the Mirror, a royal historian revealed that many would often call him ‘P.P’ in private – short for Prince Philip.

Adrian Tinniswood said only a select few in the household – as well as his nearest and dearest – knew about the acronym.

Princess Beatrice

Princess Beatrice has a very sweet nickname from none other than her little sister Eugenie.

The moniker emerged in birthday posts Eugenie has written for her ‘dear Beabea’ on Instagram.

‘You have been bossing it since before I was born and continue to be the most wonderful person, friend and big sister’ she penned in a message from 2018.

‘Happy Birthday to you Beabea!!’

Princess Eugenie 

In typical sister fashion, it would appear that Beatrice too has a nickname for her younger sibling. 

Speaking to British Vogue in 2018, Beatrice was full of praise for ‘Euge’. 

Her mother has also affectionately called her daughter ‘Eugie’ before. 

Sarah Ferguson

Earlier this year, the mother of Princess Beatrice and Eugenie also revealed her grandchildren’s adorable nickname for her – and gushed that she loves being a grandmother. 

Speaking on Loose Women in April, Sarah Ferguson said: ‘It really annoys me though, is that “oh you’re a granny now, you’re a mummy now”.

‘I say, no I’m a woman, I’m strong, I’ve got a voice and I’m an author. I’m starting a new job – and also I am a new grandma and I am a mum.

‘But actually they call me Gigi… like the film.’

Sarah, who is commonly affectionally called ‘Fergie’ also shared an Easter basket, adorned with bells and other trinkets, which she says signal to her grandchildren that she has arrived. 

‘They hear me coming,’ she said. ‘”Gigi coming, Gigi coming”.’

Prince Edward, The Duke of Kent 

The late Queen’s cousin is, to honour his lifetime of duty and devotion, thought to be dubbed ‘steady Eddie’ by his family.

He has largely stayed away from controversy, instead doing his best to live up to the moniker.

The Duke, a cousin to both the late monarch and Prince Philip, was among those who walked behind Elizabeth II’s coffin as it was carried to Westminster Abbey.

Princess Margaret

As can be heard in season four of The Crown, King Charles had a unique nickname for his late aunt – ‘Margot’.

According to a 1953 article from woman&home, the story behind the sweet title comes from the monarch’s struggles with her name when he was little.

Royal author Marguerite D. Peacocke wrote: ‘Princess Margaret… was such an extremely young aunt when Prince Charles was born that he was never taught to call her “Auntie”. It was taken for granted that he would use her Christian name.

‘But like most children just beginning to talk he found “r’s” rather a problem and therefore invented his own private version which was interpreted as “Margot”.’