Did you know that Prince Charles and the Queen don’t use their official titles or put on any pomp and circumstance while they’re chatting to one other at home? Well, some people have unique nicknames for one another; Meghan Markle recently revealed she nicknamed Prince Harry “Haz.” And among her closest friends, the Queen is referred to as Lilibet. But Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, represents another deviation from convention.
Apart from being the step-granny to the Cambridge children, Archie and Lili of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, she also has five grandchildren of her own, and Camilla is referred to as “Gaga” by all the grandchildren, reports Daily Record. When Lady Gaga and Camilla first met at the 2016 Royal Variety Performance, Lady Gaga reportedly informed Camilla that her stepchildren nicknamed her “GaGa.” The Duchess told the Daily Mail shortly after Prince George was born, “My own grandkids call me GaGa. I don’t know if it’s because they think I am! It is funny but is still very sweet.”
After marrying Prince Charles in 2005, the mother of Laura Lopes and Tom Parker Bowles is also maybe the most well-known stepmother in the entire world. The Duchess’s relationship with Princes William and Harry has seen numerous changes over the years, but according to royal analyst Katie Nicholl, there is one thing for which they are both grateful. “Camilla’s very much, behind the scenes, been quite instrumental in Charles becoming closer to both of his sons,” Nicholl says. “I actually think the boys recognise not only that Camilla has been good for their father, made him a happier more contented man in later life, I think they also probably acknowledge that she’s had a lot to do with putting family high on the agenda for Charles.”
“She adores her family, she’s very much a family person. She loves being a grandmother, very much [so she has] reminded Charles not to miss out on time with his family, particularly with his grandchildren. And I think certainly William is very grateful to Camilla for that because Charles is now making a lot more time in his life for his grandchildren,” Nicholl says.
“It hasn’t always been an easy relationship between William and Camilla for very fundamental and very obvious reasons,” the author of The New Royals tells 9Honey. “However, I think, you know, we’re 25 years on now since the death of Diana, that’s a quarter of a century. Times have changed, feelings have changed, emotions have changed. I think there is actually now a very warm and a good relationship between the Cambridges and Camilla and Charles. They sense that the future of the monarchy lies in the four of them and it’s kind of just as well that they do get on and that the dynamic is working because if it wasn’t, that could be potentially quite disastrous,” Nicholl says to 9Honey.