Historian Adrian Tinniswood has revealed that close friends and staff would refer to Prince Philip as 'P.P.' to shorten his name. Tinniswood, author of 'Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Family', also noted that the Duke was a favourite among staff, a fact confirmed by actor Matt Smith, who played Philip in The Crown.
Smith said: 'If you’ve talked to any of the staff, Philip’s the one they all love really. 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.'
Philip's cheeky side earned him another nickname: 'the naked waiter'. According to a biography, he was a member of the Thursday Lunch Club, which hosted 'rip-roaring stag parties', and allegedly served a meal wearing only a small lace apron.
The Queen has been known by several nicknames, including 'Cabbage', 'Lilibet', and 'Gan-Gan'. Royal biographer Robert Lacey revealed in 2006 that Prince Philip called the Queen 'Cabbage', thought to derive from the French term of endearment 'mon petit chou', meaning 'my little cream puff'. Prince George referred to the Queen as 'Gan-Gan' when he was two, as the Duchess of Cambridge revealed in an interview.
Other royal nicknames include Princess Eugenie calling her mother Sarah Ferguson 'Mumsie', Kate referring to Princess Charlotte as 'Lottie', and Princess Diana calling Prince William 'Wombat' during a tour of Australia. William said in 2007: 'It began when I was two... not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do.'
