British Royal Family Members Were Saved Under Secret Nicknames in Staff Phones
Former Highgrove gardener Jack Stooks says Prince William, Princess Catherine and Prince Harry were saved under nicknames in royal staff phones for security reasons. He also mentioned other nicknames used in the British royal family.
Jack Stooks, a former British royal household employee who spent 21 years as a gardener at King Charles III's Highgrove estate, has told the TV channel GB News what nicknames Prince William, Princess Catherine and Prince Harry were once saved under in staff phones and on WhatsApp. His account offers a glimpse into the royal family's informal everyday communication.
Nicknames for security
According to Stooks, Princes William and Harry were always interested in the latest technology and gave their numbers to staff so organisational matters could be handled. Staff in turn had their numbers, and the princes would message on WhatsApp when needed.
Real names were not allowed in phones. William was saved as a lynx, Harry as "Baz", and Catherine, after joining the family, became Mrs Lynx. In another part of the conversation, Stooks also mentioned the nickname "wombat", which William's friends used for him.
The system was meant to protect privacy: if a phone were lost or fell into the wrong hands, it would not be obvious which number belonged to which family member. Royal representatives also change their numbers regularly, so the gardener no longer has any of the earlier contacts.
Communication within the family
Stooks says royal family members use WhatsApp among themselves and with friends. Prince William, Zara Tindall, Peter Phillips and other relatives chat in a family group. He stressed that William treated staff politely, first asking whether a person was too busy and, after the job was done, often saying: "You're a legend!"
Nicknames in earlier generations
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner said King Charles III and Queen Camilla once called each other Fred and Gladys. These nicknames trace back to The Goon Show, a British radio comedy popular in the 1950s and 1960s that Charles enjoyed listening to in his youth.
Prince Philip used to call Queen Elizabeth II "cabbage", while within the family she was known as Lilibet, a name that came from childhood, when she could not yet pronounce her own name properly. As a small child, William once called "Gerry! Gerry!" at Buckingham Palace because he could not yet pronounce "Granny". At university, he reportedly used the name Steve to avoid unwanted attention.
