Last year, the Queen laid
to rest her husband, Prince Philip, and as a result, her childhood
nickname fell out of use, as the Duke of Edinburgh was the last remaining royal
to call her by this moniker.
The poignant milestone was
pointed out by Arthur Edwards in his moving piece about
covering Philip’s funeral in 2021. Sweetly, the fond moniker goes back to
when the Queen was too young to be able to pronounce her own name, calling
herself “Lilibet” instead.
Her parents and grandparents
soon took up the nickname, which the Queen’s father, George VI, once quoted as
saying: “Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy.”
As a young royal, she
would sign letters using this shortened form of Elizabeth.
 |
| The Queen and Prince Philip were married for 73 years |
In one thank you note to her
grandmother, Queen Mary, for example, she wrote: “Darling Granny. Thank
you very much for the lovely doll’s house. I do love it, and I have unpacked
the dining room and the hall. Love from Lilibet xxx.”
Although the name was
affectionately used by her parents and her husband, no one else in the
royal family calls the monarch “Lilibet”.
However, the name is still in
use as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle named their daughter Lilibet, in
honour of Her Majesty. The young girl also has the middle name of Diana, in
reference to the Duke’s late mother.
And that’s not to say that the
Queen’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren don’t have other
sweet names for her.
Her Majesty is called
“Mummy” by Prince Charles, who referred to her as such during his
speech for her 92nd birthday, causing her to react by rolling her eyes and
laughing along with the audience.
Princes William and Harry were
spotted cheering on “Granny” as her stunt double parachuted into the
stadium at the 2012 Olympics, and the Duchess of Cambridge has also revealed
that her oldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, call their
great-grandmother “Gan-Gan”.
