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King Charles Does Not Like the Nickname Queen Camilla’s Family Gave Her

We actually think it's kind of clever...

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Queen Camilla Navy Blue Blazer CAT
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As far as royal family nicknames go, the one given to Queen Camilla by her family has to be one of the most unique yet.

In an excerpt taken from royal author Robert Hardman’s new book, The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy (which just hit store shelves on January 18), the 59-year-old writer shared that the queen’s family members would often call her “Lorraine” before she was crowned alongside her husband, King Charles, during his coronation ceremony last year. You see, “Lorraine” means “La Reine” in French, which stands for “Queen.” 

Although Camilla (who was the Duchess of Cornwell at the time) found the nickname quite amusing, the former Prince Charles wasn’t too fond of the moniker. “She always saw the funny side of that—even if Prince Charles did not,” the author wrote, according to the Daily Mail

King Charles with Wife Queen Camilla CAT
Chris Jackson/Getty Images

In the book, Queen Camilla’s younger sister, Annabel Elliot, detailed how adapting to the new title didn’t come easy to the former duchess. “Obviously, she takes her role very seriously, but we were brought up not to be centre-stage and whatever. So I think that is very much part of what makes her what she is,” Elliot shared. 

Her sister added, “For the rest of the family, sometimes it seems totally surreal. But she has, thank goodness, her own downtime. She’s a wonderful mother and grandmother. She’s very, very hands-on. All our children have grown up very much together. It's almost like one family, so she's back to being her normal self when she's with all of us. I mean, she wouldn't get away with it otherwise!”

Queen Camilla King Charles Coronation CAT2
Samir Hussein/WireImage

This is not the only secret royal family nickname we’ve just discovered as of late. A few weeks back, one of Prince William’s in-laws, Mike Tindall, revealed on Ron Burrow’s Seven podcast that the Prince of Wales is often called “One-Pint Willy” because he’s not the best drinker. 

This nickname couldn’t be more fitting for the queen.


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Assistant Editor, News And Entertainment

Karelle McKay is the Assistant Editor of News and Entertainment at PureWow. Before she started writing about all things pop culture, she was a literal couch potato who loved...