Behind palace doors, it’s apparently less “Your Royal Highness” and more “Bobcat.”
A former royal staffer is pulling back the curtain on Prince William and Kate Middleton’s reported WhatsApp nicknames. Jack Stooks, who worked for King Charles for 21 years as a gardener at Highgrove, shared a rare glimpse into how members of the royal family reportedly identified one another on the messaging app.
“I remember Princes William and Harry always had the latest phones,” Stooks explained to GB News. “They actually gave their numbers out to staff so we could contact them about logistical things. They also had our numbers, and they would just WhatsApp us if they needed anything.”
“We couldn’t have them saved under their real names, so they had nicknames instead,” said Stooks. “William was ‘Bobcat’, Harry was ‘Baz’, and when Catherine joined the family, she became ‘Mrs. Bobcat.’”
Stooks told Fox News Digital on behalf of OLBG that only a limited number of staff were given the royals’ phone numbers, which had to be kept a closely guarded secret.
“We had the family under different names, so that if anyone’s phone was taken, the number could be differentiated,” he explained. “That way, no one knew which number was which. They all change their numbers regularly, so I don’t have any of their phone numbers now.”
WATCH: ROYAL FAMILY’S CHEEKY NICKNAMES FOR EACH OTHER REVEALED
“The nickname I gave to Harry on my phone was ‘Baz,’” Stooks shared. “He was always called ‘Baz’ by his friends, so I just took that. From memory, William was ‘Wombat,’ again because that is what his friends called him.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace for comment.
Stooks told GB News that the royal family “are big WhatsApp users.”
“He may have a lot of privilege, but William was never one to demand something from staff,” Stooks told the outlet. “He was really polite. He would always check how busy I was before asking me to do errands for him. And whenever I said I would do something for William, he would always reply: ‘You’re a legend.'”
“They have groups with their friends, and there is also a family group with the royal cousins, including Prince William, Zara Tindall, Peter Phillips and the York sisters,” he continued. “They’re very much like any other family when it comes to keeping in touch through their phones.”
Several royal experts told Fox News Digital that members of the royal family have long used nicknames. Some are terms of affection, while others have reportedly been used as aliases for privacy or security.
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“When they had a security issue, William and Kate are known as Danny Collins and Daphne Clark, DC,” royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital.
“In other words, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,” he said, referring to the Prince and Princess of Wales. “The late queen was always known as Sharon, believe it or not, just for the simple S, which stood for sovereign.”
“King Charles and Queen Camilla, do they call themselves that? No,” said Turner. “They call themselves Fred and Gladys. Why? Because in the 1950s and 1960s, Prince Charles used to listen to a radio show each week called ‘The Goon Show,’ which was a comedy show where Fred and Gladys were called. When he started a romance with Queen Camilla, the joke started as well. That’s where Fred and Gladys first started.”
“And then you would think, why on earth would the queen, Elizabeth that is, be called any other nickname other than Your Majesty?” he said. “Prince Philip used to call the queen Cabbage.”
British broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that the name derived from the French “mon petit chou,” or “my little cabbage.”
“I believe he also affectionately called her sausage,” Chard added.
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“When Prince William, as a little boy, fell at Buckingham Palace, he was overheard by a guest crying out, ‘Gary! Gary!’” said British royals expert Hilary Fordwich. “The Queen told the surprised guest, ‘I’m Gary. He hasn’t learned to say “Granny” yet.'”
Several royal experts noted that at university, William was known as “Steve” in an attempt to fly under the radar.
One of the royal family’s best-known nicknames is “Lilibet.” Then-Princess Elizabeth struggled to pronounce her own name as a toddler, and her grandfather, King George V, reportedly imitated her pronunciation. Her husband, Prince Philip, also affectionately called her “Lilibet,” and the name was later chosen by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for their daughter, Princess Lilibet.
But not all royal nicknames were affectionate.
“Courtiers have long referred to Prince Harry and the former Prince Andrew, as the ‘Dukes of Hazard,’ which needs no explanation,” said Fordwich.
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“When Kate is getting a little bit upset with William in any way, she starts using the names of ‘Baldy’ and ‘Big Willy,'” Turner alleged, a claim previously made by author Tom Quinn. A Kensington Palace spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that the palace doesn’t comment on books.
King Charles has reportedly used other terms of affection for Queen Camilla.
“Back in 2022, the king was heard at an event referring to Camilla as ‘Mehbooba,’ the Urdu word for ‘my beloved,'” said Fordwich.
Charles has publicly used the term for Camilla. While still Prince of Wales, he referred to her as “my mehbooba” during a British Asian Trust speech.
“Princess Diana’s family always referred to her as ‘Dutch,’ short for ‘Duchess.’ She wasn’t an actual duchess, but her family gave it to her as she had always behaved that way as a young girl. Her nickname for her brother, Charles Spencer, was ‘Carlos,'” Fordwich said.
Charles Spencer has also spoken about the siblings’ nicknames. In a September interview, he said their stepfather began calling Diana “the Duchess” because she had a “very refined air,” which the family shortened to “Dutch.” Spencer also said Diana called him “Carlos.”
Stooks told GB News that these days, it would be difficult to know what name the king uses, if any, on WhatsApp.
“The king didn’t really use technology at all when I worked there,” he said. “He used to have a very old-fashioned, basic mobile phone, but he never used it. I remember William and Harry trying to get him to keep up to date with it. They were always encouraging him to use his phone, but he wasn’t interested. He wasn’t a fan at all.”
