The Royal Family is well-known for their love of pranks, joke Christmas presents, and playful teasing among one another. Many royals have adopted funny nicknames for each other, much like any other family, showcasing their light-hearted nature.

From “Cabbage” to “Squeak,” and “Gary” to “Stavros,” these royal nicknames are both amusing and revealing. One particularly sweet pet name belongs to Princess Charlotte. Her father, Prince William, was heard using it during a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2016, when Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis came to see the ‘Back to Nature Garden’ created by the Duchess of Cambridge.

The Cambridge family’s visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2016 provided the public with an intimate look at their dynamics as they explored the garden. While playing on a rope swing, Prince William called out to his daughter, asking for a push. Instead of using her name, he affectionately shouted “Mignonette,” a French term that means “small, sweet, and delicate.”

Later, during a visit to Northern Ireland, it was revealed that Kate Middleton refers to her daughter as “Lottie” while chatting with waiting members of the crowd. It’s a royal tradition that children are known by their first name while at school or in professional settings, using their parent’s title as their last name. Thus, Princess Charlotte is known as Charlotte Cambridge to her classmates and teachers.

The same goes for her older brother as he is known as George Cambridge at school, and it is likely that younger brother Louis uses the same style when he goes to Willcocks Nursery in Kensington.

Prince William and Prince Harry also adopted this tradition during their education and time in the military. They both took the last name of Wales after their father’s title of the Prince of Wales.

However, the tradition of using a parent’s title as the last name is not something that every royal chooses to do. As the official last name of the Royal Family is Mountbatten-Windsor, many royal children use that surname at school.

For example, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were known to use that style, rather than be known as Beatrice and Eugenie York.

The same goes for Prince Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie and Lilibet. Instead of using the last name of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 (after their Dukedom of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍), they chose to give them the last name of Mountbatten-Windsor.