Royal Nick-Names

[HereditaryPrincess]

I was reading about Queen Victoria's children yesterday and found out that Prince Alfred was known as "Affie", which was a childhood mispronunciation of "Alfred" - a bit like HM and Elizabeth/Lilibet. I've also heard that Princess Beatrice was called "Baby" (or "Baby Bea"?), but am not 100% sure.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

I was reading about Queen Victoria's children yesterday and found out that Prince Alfred was known as "Affie", which was a childhood mispronunciation of "Alfred" - a bit like HM and Elizabeth/Lilibet. I've also heard that Princess Beatrice was called "Baby" (or "Baby Bea"?), but am not 100% sure.

HereditaryPrincess, Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Beatrice Leopoldine Victoria) was the daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred.
Princess Beatrice was called "Baby Bee".
Princess Beatrice's paternal aunt, Princess Beatrice, was a younger sister of Prince Alfred.
​

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

HereditaryPrincess, Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Beatrice Leopoldine Victoria) was the daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred.
Princess Beatrice was called "Baby Bee".
Princess Beatrice's paternal aunt, Princess Beatrice, was a younger sister of Prince Alfred.
​

Ah OK, thanks for the correction CyrilVladisla. I didn't realise that Prince Alfred had a daughter Beatrice as well - I'm sure I read that it was Queen Victoria's Beatrice who was called "Baby Bee", although I was doing my research late at night, so I guess I wasn't focusing properly!

 

[Lee-Z]

Ah OK, thanks for the correction CyrilVladisla. I didn't realise that Prince Alfred had a daughter Beatrice as well - I'm sure I read that it was Queen Victoria's Beatrice who was called "Baby Bee", although I was doing my research late at night, so I guess I wasn't focusing properly!

in case someone is interested: Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Prince Christian of Denmark called his younger brother Prince Vincent "Vincer", when they were in Greenland. That makes Christian the only of the four siblings without a known nickname (the other three being Bella, Fine and Vincer).

James Ogilvy and his sister Marina of England use to call themselves "Jo" and "Mo" because of their initials.
​

How wonderful. I didn't know that, thanks for posting

 

[Alison H]

Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was referred to as "Baby" by Queen Victoria and presumably some of the other royals.

Her niece Beatrice, daughter of Prince Alfred and Grand Duchess Maria, was known as Baby Bee.

It's a bit confusing .

Beatrice (the younger)'s sister Marie, later Queen of Romania, was known as Missy, and her husband Ferdinand was known as Nando. Beatrice (the elder)'s son Alexander was known as Drino. Queen Victoria's third daughter Helena was known as Lenchen, and her son Christian Victor was known as Christl. They all seem to've been obsessed with nicknames!

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

in case someone is interested: Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beatrice (the younger)'s sister Marie, later Queen of Romania, was known as Missy, and her husband Ferdinand was known as Nando. Beatrice (the elder)'s son Alexander was known as Drino. Queen Victoria's third daughter Helena was known as Lenchen, and her son Christian Victor was known as Christl. They all seem to've been obsessed with nicknames!

Thank you both for the extra information. I knew about Helena being called Lenchen as I had mentioned it in an earlier post of mine upthread. I wonder if Alexander's nickname had something to do with Queen Victoria. Since her first name was Alexandrina and they called her Drina, and his first name is Alexander and they called him Drino, it sounds like they honoured her with a nickname, which is quite nice IMO.

I read on Princess Beatrice's Wikipedia page that her sister Princess Victoria Melita was known as "Ducky", and that Princess Beatrice herself was also called "Sima" by Tsar Nicholas II's brother Grand Duke Michael, whom she wanted to marry but wasn't allowed to, if I've understood this correctly. Her other sister Princess Alexandra was nicknamed "Sandra". It appears that the Russian Royals and Victorian English Royals were quite big on nicknames.

 

[Marty91charmed]

Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria (later empress) was known as "sissi" whil her older sister Helena was called "nenè"

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

Princess Sophie, one of Prince Philip's sisters, was known in the family as Tiny.
She grew to be the tallest of Philip's four sisters.
​

How ironic. I do believe that Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Prince Rainier's sister, was also called Tiny. In Grace of Monaco they used Ray as a nickname for Rainier, and as the movie is rather bad and therefore historically inaccurate, I was wondering if this was his actual nickname or just something made up for the movie.

King Felipe V of Spain and his second wife, Queen Elizabeth (Elisabeth) Farnese use to call their children:
Carlos (the future Carlos III) : Carlet
Felipe : Pipo
Maria Teresa : Tete
Luis Antonio : Lulu
​

I find Spanish nicknames fascinating. I have never heard of Carlet used as a nickname for Carlos, though I would think his parents made it up for him. Pipo is an adorable nickname too but I don't like the name Philip. I also find it interesting that Lulu was used as a male nickname for Luis. In English speaking countries, it's used as a nickname for names such as Louise, Louisa etc and other names starting with 'lu'.

 

[Blue_]

In Belgium, princess Elisabeth is called "Lisa", prince Gabriel "Gaby", I don't know if Emmanuel and Eleonore have nicknames, I guess so.

 

[lucymae88]

Sheikh Hamdan is known as Fazza, I don't know if any of his friends call him that though.

 

[Chubb Fuddler]

Last year when the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire died, some posters, on various forums, referred to her as Debo, as if they knew her personally. It's not uncommon, in other posts, to see people talking about Fluffy, PooPoo, LaLa etc. Is it out of affection for a favourite historical character, or is it a sort of intellectual showing off? "Oh yes, I know all about darling Fifi, she's one of my favourite princesses, I just loved that time, in 1876, when she told that wicked old Kennylicious to....." What do you think?

 

[wyevale]

'Farmer George' - George iii of England
'The Merry Monarch' - Charles ii of England

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Interesting idea for a thread.

Harald I of Denmark: Harald Bluetooth (Harald Blåtand)
Svend I of Denmark: Svend Forkbeard (Svend Tveskæg)
Erik I of Denmark: Erik Evergood (Erik Ejegod)
Valdemar I of Denmark: Valdemar the Great (Valdemar den Store)
Valdemar II of Denmark: Valdemar the Conqueror (Valdemar Sejr)
Erik IV of Denmark: Erik Ploughpenny (Erik Plovpenning)
Valdemar IV of Denmark: Valdemar Atterdag
Christian IX of Denmark: the Father-in-law of Europe

Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII of England): My Lady the King's Mother

 

[Noble Consort Ming]

Poland (some are Dukes, High Dukes and or Supreme Princes, we sometimes had Kings in between High Dukes and such but the numbering system includes all of them whether they were called King or not)

Bolesław I Chrobry, Bolesław I Wielki: Bolesław I The Brave, Bolesław I The Great

Bolesław II Szczodry or Śmiały or Okrutny: Bolesław II The Generous or The Bold or The Cruel

Bolesław III Krzywousty: Bolesław III Wrymouth

Władysław II Wygnaniec: Władysław II the Exile

Bolesław Kędzierzawy: Bolesław IV the Curly

Mieszko III Stary: Mieszko III the Old

Kazimierz II Sprawiedliwy:Casimir II the Just

Leszek I Biały : Leszek I the White

Władysław III Laskonogi:Władysław III Spindleshanks

Mieszko IV Plątonogi : Mieszko IV Tanglefoot

Henryk I Brodaty: Henry I the Bearded

Henryk II Pobożny: Henry II the Pious

Bolesław II Rogatka also known as Łysy: Bolesław II the Horned also known as the Bald

Bolesław V Wstydliwy: Bolesław V the Chaste

Leszek II Czarny : Leszek II the Black

Henryk IV Probus or Prawy : Henry IV the Righteous

Władysław Łokietek: Władysław the Elbow-high (used no regnal number but should be IV)

Zygmunt I Stary: Sigismund I the Old

August II Mocny : August II the Strong


Poland loves nicknaming it's kings like almost nobody else.

 

[Meraude]

Swedish monarchs:
Eric Segersäll - Hericus Victor in Latin- Erik the victory blissful
(his wife was possibly Sigrid Storråd, known in English as Sigrid the Haughty, later married to Sven Forkbeards of Denmark.)

Olof Skötkonung - either Olof the tributary king or Olof the treasury king, the latter as he is said to be the first Swedish king to let make coins.

Anuld Jakob, known as Anuld Kolbränna (coal burner), because he had the homes of lawbreakers burned to coal/ash.

Emund gamle/Emund Slemme - Emund the old/Emund the untrustful/lousy

Blot-Sven - Sven the blòt-sacrificer

Magnus Nilsson/Magnus den starke - Magnus the strong

Erik den helige - Erik the holy/Saint Eric

Knut Långe -Knut the tall

Erik Eriksson/Erik Läspe och Halte - Erik the lisp and lame

Magnus Eriksson/Magnus Smek - Magnus the gullible

Magnus Ladulås - Magnus the barn locker, as he eased the farmers' duty to support visiting nobiliy. (He was nicknamed "ketlaböter" (the tinker) by his sister-in-law, as he was dark and skinny.)

Margareta Valdemarsdotter, Kung Byxlös - king trouserless

Kristian II of Denmark and Sweden/Kristian Tyrann - known as Kristian the tyrant in Sweden

Gustav II Adolf/Gustav Adolf den store - Gustav Adolf the great

Karl XI/kung Gråkappa - king graycoat, as he is said to have worn the same coat as an ordinary soldier to be able to move around without being recognized to see how the situation in the country was.

 

[Denville]

I'd assume it is an abbreviation of her name..hardly a "history"...

 

[EllieCat]

Prince Charles was known as 'Action Man' for a while, before he married.

 

[royal rob]

Prince Charles was known as 'Action Man' for a while, before he married.

If love to post what came to mind with that one but best I don't


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community

 

[Curryong]

Alex of Hesse, the last Tsarina of Russia, was known to her family as 'Sunny'.

Victoria Melita, daughter of Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, Victoria's son, had the peculiar nickname of 'Ducky'.

Prince Eddy, Duke of Clarence, was jokingly called 'Collar and Cuffs' by his father the Prince of Wales, because of the very wide cuffs and high collars he wore.

His sister Maud, who became Queen of Norway, was a bit of a tomboy as a child and was called 'Harry' by her siblings.

 

[MARG]

Last year when the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire died, some posters, on various forums, referred to her as Debo, as if they knew her personally. It's not uncommon, in other posts, to see people talking about Fluffy, PooPoo, LaLa etc. Is it out of affection for a favourite historical character, or is it a sort of intellectual showing off? "Oh yes, I know all about darling Fifi, she's one of my favourite princesses, I just loved that time, in 1876, when she told that wicked old Kennylicious to....." What do you think?

It sounds silly and pretentious when talking about current royals particularly, intimating that they are your personal friends. Further, it is often confusing because other posters don't know who you are talking about.

Most people would probably know who Lilibet was and also possibly Daisy, yet while they are pet family names, they are not known as Queen Lilibet and Queen Daisy even if Daisy is wearing her fabulous daisy brooch she wore front and centre on her wedding dress. The same goes for CP Victoria who, even in most magazine articles, is called by her given name and not Vikan. Using it definitely sounds odd, unlike Prince Henry whose parents announced he would be known as Harry.

 

[Leopoldine]

The other day, the DM posted a photo of a handwritten letter from Princess Alexandra to her brother The Duke of Kent. She signed it "Georgie".

Who knew?


As far as Princess Eugenie, I've read that she introduces herself as Eug (Rhymes with rouge). And, I saw mentioned earlier in this thread that King Juan Carlos referred to Queen Frederica of the Hellenes as "Aunt Freddy". I just finally watched the documentary about QEII turning 90, and in it, she's watching old family home movies with Charles, and Queen Frederica and HM's grandmother Queen Mary came on the screen, and HM said, "There's Granny and Freddy."

 

[JR76]

The other day, the DM posted a photo of a handwritten letter from Princess Alexandra to her brother The Duke of Kent. She signed it "Georgie".

Who knew?


As far as Princess Eugenie, I've read that she introduces herself as Eug (Rhymes with rouge). And, I saw mentioned earlier in this thread that King Juan Carlos referred to Queen Frederica of the Hellenes as "Aunt Freddy". I just finally watched the documentary about QEII turning 90, and in it, she's watching old family home movies with Charles, and Queen Frederica and HM's grandmother Queen Mary came on the screen, and HM said, "There's Granny and Freddy."

Ive read letters from Lord Mountbatten to his sister Queen Louise of Sweden where he calls Queen Fredrika "Freddie"

 

[Leopoldine]

It was just a month or so ago I read that when Prince William was a baby, he couldn't pronounce "Granny" so he called The Queen "Gary."


This to me is totally hilarious.

Apparently at some gathering, may have been Harry's christening reception at Windsor, William was asking for "Gary". Everyone was looking around, murmuring, "Gary?" and HM heard and said, "That's me. I'm Gary."

 

[Ish]

The other day, the DM posted a photo of a handwritten letter from Princess Alexandra to her brother The Duke of Kent. She signed it "Georgie".

Interesting. Do you have a link? I tried googling it, but couldn't find the picture.

 

[Leopoldine]

Prince Charles was a 'gruesome child' says letter from Queen's cousin - Telegraph

Well, I read it t'other day. It still counts.

 

[Pranter]

Harry evidently calls the DoC 'Cath' at times...he let that slip in one of the interviews he's done.

William has referred to the Queen as 'Gan Gan' as to what his children call her.


LaRae

 

[Curryong]

We know the Queen was Lilibet, but was Princess Margaret ever known as anything else?

Typo before!

 

[Leopoldine]

We know the Queen was Lilibert but was Princess Margaret ever known as anything else?

HM was ...and is, Lilibet.

Margaret was Margo.

 

[Leopoldine]

and Grand Duchess Vladimir....Miechen? Something akin? Help me out here, old-time posters.