The Royal Family are known all over the world by their long, official titles. The current royals are the descendants from an unbroken sovereign chain which stretches back nearly 1,000 years and includes some of the most famous historical figures, from William the Conqueror to Henry VIII and Queen Victoria.
But behind the formality and away from the glaring media spotlight, the royals are just like any other family. They share jokes, buy each other ridiculous presents and even have silly nicknames for one another. One of the most unique pet names belongs to Meghan Markle and was bestowed upon her by none other than her father-in-law, King Charles.
Before they married in May 2018, a source came forward to reveal which special term of endearment the-then Prince Charles used when referring to his future daughter-in-law Meghan Markle.
In royal expert Katie Nicholl's book The New Royals, she explains that King Charles admired Meghan's strength of character and gave her a fitting nickname to reflect this.
Nicholl wrote in the book: "Charles reportedly nicknamed his future daughter-in-law ‘Tungsten’ because of her toughness and resilience."
This is not the first time that Charles' initial nickname for Meghan has been reported. In June 2018, the Daily Mail wrote that Charles called Meghan 'Tungsten', a type of metal, because she is “tough and unbending.”
A source told the Mail on Sunday at the time: “Prince Charles admires Meghan for her strength and the backbone she gives Harry, who needs a tungsten-type figure in his life as he can be a bit of a softy. “It's become a term of endearment.”
While Tungsten is perhaps one of the more unique nicknames bestowed upon a member of The Firm, it certainly isn't the strangest.
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When it comes to the Royal Family's private family life behind palace walls, there are a whole host of sweet nicknames that they use for one another.
The late Queen, for example, had a handful of nicknames which were used by her nearest and dearest, from 'cabbage' to 'sausage' to 'Gan Gan' and even 'Lilibet' - but there is one pet name that tops all of these.
According to Daily Mail, while a young Prince William was playing at Buckingham Palace, he took a little trip and called out for help. But instead of shouting for ‘Granny’, he called for ‘Gary’- much to the confusion of everyone present.
The column reports : “A guest who went to help asked who Gary was, assuming it must be a member of the royal household. ‘I’m Gary,’ responded the Queen. "'He hasn’t learned to say Granny yet'."
Prince William has also had numerous nicknames over the years. In 1983, 10-month-old Prince William joined his parents on his first royal tour to Australia. While he was there it was revealed that his mother has started calling him 'Wombat'.
In an NBC interview in 2007, William admitted to being stuck with the name, “I can’t get rid of it now,” he said.
“It began when I was two. I’ve been rightfully told because I can’t remember back that far, but when we went to Australia with our parents, and the wombat, you know, that’s the local animal, so I just basically got called that, not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do.”
