Meghan Markle has had a rather rocky relationship with the royal family in recent years especially with her father-in-law King Charles.
As the monarch’s bond with his younger son Prince Harry is believed to currently be at an all time low, it’s fair to presume he’s probably not had much contact with the Duchess of Sussex either.
However, this was not always the case with the King initially said to have been blown away in admiration when he first met the now Duchess of Sussex.
Charles was so fond of Meghan he even volunteered to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day when her own father was not able to attend the ceremony, the Mirror reports.
Before tying the knot in May 2018, a royal insider came forward to reveal the special nickname that the-then Prince of Wales had given to his future daughter-in-law.
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Royal expert Kate Nicholl’s wrote in her book The New Royals that Charles was in awe of Meghan’s strength of character and decided on a fitting nickname for her 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 with the Daily Mail writing in 2018 that Charles referred to Meghan as ‘Tungsten’ which is 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 a rather odd nickname to be given to a member of the royal family, it certainly is not the strangest one we know of.
Behind closed doors, the Firm has a whole host of affectionate pet names that they use for one another.
The late Queen went by a handful of nicknames that 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.
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According to the Daily Mail, Prince William had one particularly hilarious nickname for his late grandmother which came about after he couldn’t properly pronounce ‘Granny’.
The young Prince had fallen over in the Palace and instead called out for ‘Gary’ much to the confusion of the royal aides 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.'”
William has also had multiple nicknames over the years and was given his first one at just ten months old when he joined his parents on his first royal tour to Australia.
While there, it was revealed that his mother, the late Princess Diana had started calling her son ‘Wombat’.
During an NBC Interview in 2007, William admitted that he was now stuck with the name.
He said: “I can’t get rid of it now. 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.”
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