Prince Philip had a nickname that only his close friends and trusted staff could call him, a leading royal historian has claimed.
According to Adrian Tinniswood, there was a pet name only a chosen few within the household knew about - as well as those who loved the Duke of Edinburgh for many years.
The author of Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household says they would often call him "P.P" when in private – a shortening, of course, of Prince Philip.
And according to Tinniswood, the witty royal was always the Palace staff's favourite member of the family.
That was backed up by The Crown actor Matt Smith, who, before the royal's death last year, told Variety : "If you’ve talked to any of the staff, Philip’s the one they all love really.
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"I think more than a lot of them, he’s a bit more of a man of the people. The royal protocol hasn’t dogged him in quite the same way his whole life and there’s a sort of rebellion in him and a naughtiness and a cheekiness.
"I think he’s quite affable and open by all accounts with the staff. They all love him.”
The Queen has been given a number of nicknames over the years, including ‘Cabbage’ and ‘Lilibet' - and ‘Gan-Gan’ by a young Prince George.
It comes as another top author has claimed Philip told an aide “we were wrong about her all along” after discovering Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had quit the Royal Family.
He was "spitting blood" after learning about the couple's plan to step back and leave the UK behind, it has been said.
Christopher Andersen, author of Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan, says he went straight to the Queen to express his “anger”.
Furious Philip saw red after the couple decided to go public without informing the family first, he states.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stunned the world in January 2020 when they announced they will step back as "senior" royals and work to become financially independent on Instagram.
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No other royal - including the Queen or Prince William - were consulted before the bombshell statement as Buckingham Palace spoke of its "disappointment".
In the book, the aide revealed Philip had no knowledge of the social media platform but was “furious, deeply hurt, spitting blood” when he learned of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s joint announcement.
According to the aide, Philip shouted “this shows a complete lack of respect” as he told the Queen of his anger.
The book also claims both Philip and his son Charles had a warm relationship with Meghan but their view eventually changed.
Andersen wrote the senior royals now viewed Meghan as a twenty-first-century Wallis Simpson – the American socialite who married the Duke of Windsor, former King Edward VIII after he abdicated in order to be with her more than 80 years ago.
Philip then confided in one of his closest aides that: “It appears as if, we were wrong about her all along.”
The Duke of Edinburgh was not the only male royal who was angry by Harry and Meghan’s announcement.
