Why the royal family never call the Queen by her real name
She’s the no-nonsense monarch who never steps out without her trademark twin set, pearls or a single hair out of place.
But behind closed doors, Queen Elizabeth has a softer side to her, with her family never calling her by her first name, but an affectionate nickname instead.
Royal protocol dictates that should commoners ever be lucky to meet the queen, she should be addressed as ‘Her Majesty’ first, and then ‘Ma’am’ afterwards.
However inside palace walls, the queen has a much more relaxed moniker that she answers to, and it was reportedly coined by her parents and grandparents because she couldn’t say her own name when she was young.
“Lilibet is my pride,” her father King George VI once said. “Margaret is my joy.”
Lilibet isn’t the only unlikely nickname the Queen has been bestowed.
Prince William reportedly calls his grandmother ‘Gary’ after he struggled with saying ‘granny’ as a child.
Wills’ son Prince George has another take on his great-grandma’s title, referring to the monarch as ‘Gan Gan’.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth’s husband Prince Philip has his own food-themed terms of endearment for his wife of 70 years, with reports he calls her ‘Sausage’ as well as ‘Cabbage’.
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