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Edinburgh Live
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Kyle O'Sullivan & Abbie Meehan

The 15 Prince Harry nicknames and codes cracked - including Tweedle Dumber and Other Woman

Many people have described reading Prince Harry's new memoir, Spare, like playing a game of 'Guess Who?' with the people in his life.

In his highly-anticipated book, Harry likes to use affectionate nicknames to describe people he is related to or friends with, reports the Mirror. Some of them are obvious, like Granny for the late Queen, Willy for his brother Prince William, and Meg for his wife, Meghan Markle.

However, there are other nicknames in the memoir that are hard to decipher, and some aren't exactly affectionate.

READ MORE - The Prince Harry book claims causing doubt and the one 'proven to be untrue'

Read on below to find out more about who Prince Harry is talking about in his memoir, Spare, and why he might have used these nicknames in the first place.

The Other Woman

Harry certainly doesn't have a lot of love for the person he has dubbed 'The Other Woman'. Near the beginning of the book, the Duke discusses how his life was after the passing of his mother, Princess Diana - and how his father Charles began to move on.

Harry said that even at 12-years-old, he sensed the presence of the 'Other Woman', and that his brother Prince William had many suspicions about her which tormented him daily.

Harry writes in Spare: "With mummy missing, Pa was free to see the Other Woman openly and as often as he liked."

Harry reveals later on that the 'Other Woman' is in fact Queen Consort Camilla. She certainly doesn't get a glowing assessment in the memoir, as Harry claimed his "wicked stepmother" would often throw other people under the bus to get to her prime position of sitting on the throne.

She also turned his bedroom into her dressing room not long after he moved out.

Prince Harry alongside his stepmother Queen Consort Camilla. (UK Press via Getty Images)

Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber

Harry is a frequent critic of the paparazzi and the press in his memoir - and has nicknamed two of his most annoying pursuers.

Dubbing them Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber, Harry explained he would always pick the two paps out of the crowd as they were the most determined to get photos of him.

Harry recalls an incident where he was leaving a club, and the two cameramen caused a security scared as someone thought they had a weapon. His loved security guard, Billy the Rock, leapt into action - but Harry recognised the supposed culprit.

Harry wrote: "Billy the Rock leapt forward, hand on his gun, and nearly shot the two men. But it was just Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber... Billy held him and screamed into his face."

The Bee, The Fly and The Wasp

This could be a new-age indie rock band, but these nicknames are actually relating to a high-power group of advisors to the senior royals.

Harry explained that they sorted the advisors into zoological categories:

  • The Bee was the codename for the late Queen's private secretary, Sir Edward Young - according to The Times
  • The Wasp is reported to be King Charles' private secretary, Clive Alderton
  • The Fly is also believed to be Prince William's private secretary, Simon Case

In Spare, Harry notes that the "three middle-aged white men" had consolidated power "through a series of bold Machiavellian manoeuvres".

He describes the Bee as oval-faced and fuzzy-looking, the Fly as someone who was "drawn to s***", and claimed that the Wasp could "stab you with his outsized stinger".

Calling them "usurpers", Harry adds: "Deep down, I feared that each man felt himself to be the One True Monarch, that each was taking advantage of a Queen in her nineties, enjoying his influential position while merely appearing to serve."

According to the Duke, the Bee was sent to advise himself and Meg with their issues, but after a meeting they had, the Bee had written down notes and never spoke to them again.

Exactly the same thing is alleged to have happened when the Wasp claimed he would help them out.

Pa

King Charles with his sons at Diana's funeral in 1997. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Prince Harry doesn't call his father, King Charles III, dad, father or any other normal paternal name. Instead, he has dubbed him Pa, which is also how Archie refers to his grandfather.

King Charles appears a lot in the memoir, as Harry recalls the night his father told him that his mother had died - and how he did not even hug him.

Harry also speaks about Charles trying to keep peace between his sons and the night he first met Meghan.

Billy the Rock

Another name frequently mentioned throughout the whole memoir is Billy the Rock.

Harry's private bodyguard looked after the Duke for many years, and once saved him from Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. It was also reported that Billy saved Harry from making a mistake and getting a drunken tattoo during a trip to Las Vegas in 2012.

The pair are extremely close, however, Harry recalls a time where he started a fight with the bodyguard when he was upset - but Billy barely reacted.

Billy the Rock's actual name is never revealed in Spare.

Willy

Another person who does not fare well in Harry's book is Willy, better known as the Duke's brother Prince William.

Harry revealed the rather obvious nickname for his older brother in the memoir, which he uses throughout the chapters. The next in line to the throne is only referred to as William on nine occasions in the book - as opposed to the 349 times he is called Willy.

Harry discusses many situations with his older brother, including how he told him to pretend he didn't know him at Eton, his brothers lack of hair, and their physical altercation at Nottingham Cottage.

Harold

Harry also has his own nickname in this book - which is given to him by older brother William.

Meghan and most of Harry's mates call him Haz or even Spike, but William had his own name for his younger sibling.

The irony of this nickname is that Harry's name isn't even Harry - it's actually Henry.

Aunt Margo

Harry and William with the late Queen and Princess Diana and Margaret. (Getty Images)

Harry notes a brief mention of Aunt Margo who is Princess Margaret, the late Queen's younger sister.

Despite the feeling that they could have bonded over being the "spare", the Duke said his great-aunt was almost a "total stranger" to him.

In one rather amusing section Harry describes one Christmas Day at Sandringham where he received an unusual gift from Aunt Margo.

Margaret bought him a biro pen with a small rubber fish wrapped around it, which he saw as "cold-blooded".

Tiggy

William and Harry's former nanny Alexandra Pettifer, is better known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke.

Tiggy was the boys' favourite nanny and ended up being Charles' personal assistant from 1993 to 1999 - but Harry admits that his mother, Diana, was not a fan.

He believes Diana saw Tiggy as a rival and suspected she was being groomed to be her replacement.

Harry also revealed that Tiggy was one of the people close to him that chastised him for going on and speaking to Oprah Winfrey in the famous 2021 interview.

Marko

Mark Dyer, also known as Marko, was the trusted protector and royal aide to Prince Harry.

The Duke saw Marko as a "second dad", and he regularly crops up in stories about Harry's teenage life. He looked up to the aide as a mentor of sorts, and respected him for being "an extreme ginger and owning it".

Prince Harry (R), alongside former Royal Equerry Mark Dyer. (AFP via Getty Images)

King Charles tasked the aide with looking after his youngest son - with Marko taking Harry to Botswana when he was a boy.

Marko was sent by the royal household to tell Harry off when he was using drugs at Eton - and the the prince hilariously revealed the story of how he lost his virginity to an older woman in a field to Marko.

Gan Gan

Harry's great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, is affectionately referred to as Gan-Gan.

The Duke has a muddled recollection of the Queen Mother's death, as he claims in the book that he was walking in "bright and warm" weather at his school in Eton when he took the dreaded "phone call".

The Queen Mother with Charles and Harry. (Getty)

However, it was reported at the time that the 17-year-old Prince was away skiing in snowy Switzerland with his father and brother.

A statement from the King at the time says he planned to return to the UK as soon as possible - and Harry was photographed returning back a day later.

The nickname went down the generations as William's children all referred to the late Queen as "Gan-Gan".

Henners

Henners was one of Harry's closest friends when he was at school in Eton. Both Harry and Henners had the real name of Henry - but Harry was Haz, and Henry was Henners.

The three van Straubenzee boys – Henry, Thomas and Charlie – were some of Harry's closest childhood friends.

In Spare, Harry describes Henners as skinny with no muscles and hair that stood to attention, but he was "all heart". He recalls eating strawberries in a farm by the school grounds and they were once caught literally red-handed by a teacher due to their crimson palms.

Sadly, Henners passed away in a tragic car accident in 2002 aged 18, a passenger in the car that drove into a tree when leaving a party.

Buckingham and Kensington Palaces have refused to comment on the contents of the book, which hit the shelves on Tuesday.

Spare has been released at all book stores and can be bought online.

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