Charles and Camilla travel Northern Ireland. Royal Nicknames Revealed: Wombat, Tungsten, Gary and the Boss

0:03 Calorogus Shark media now low and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis, King Charles and Queen Camilla are in Northern Ireland for a three day visit and if the opening days are any indication, they have brought considerable energy to the occasion. The trip began in Belfast, where the couple arrived at Thompson Dock, where the Titanic last sat on a dry land in nineteen eleven, to a welcome involving more than two hundred performers marking the upcoming world's largest festival of traditional Irish music, song and dance, which comes to Belfast this August for the first time.

0:43 I cannot buy any stretch of my imagination. Pronounce the name of this show. The couple were serenaded with an instrumental version of I'll tell Me Ma, watched dancers representing Belfast's diverse communities, including Mexican, Polish and multi ethnic groups, and were promptly pulled into the spirit of the thing. Charles, who has never been a man to resist a drum, got his feet going to a live percussionist before being warmly embraced around the waist by Tendal Namanyaru, a Zimbabwean born Belfast resident of two and a half years, who declared afterwards with considerable enthusiasm, the King's got rhythm. The groups founder, Nigerian born Joswill Emmanuel City, had no idea the King and Queen were coming. The Lord Lieutenant had invited them under strict secrecy. To be honest, I thought it was going to be starmer, he said, And then the King and Queen arrived. I am very happy. He brought the sun with him too. Both Charles and Camilla were then handed Bodran's traditional Irish frame drums and given a brief tutorial on technique. The King needed no encouragement, picking up movement quickly. The queen persevered gamely watching the dancers performed. The King looked genuinely awe struck, and when he went on stage to thank them, he said, you must be so out of breath fantastic. Are you all professionals?

1:58 He appeared startled when they were amateurs and replied, impressive. You must wear out your shoes very quickly. The couple then visited Titanic distillers housed in the restored Edwardy and pump house beside the dry dock where they were taken through the copper stills, and offered it tasting. It was barely past noon. The Queen raised her eyebrows dramatically asked what proof the whiskey was, was told forty percent, and decided to proceed. It's quite strong, she said, having knogged it back, but nice and warming. She turned to warn her husband, who was already reaching for his glass. The King smelled it, sipped it, nodded approvingly, and said, simply very good. They had distiller observed afterwards with some admiration that the Queen had actually tried the stronger of the two pores. She must have a more refined palette than me.

2:45 On the second day, when the couple operating separately across County down, Charles visited a food bank at Donned Methodist Church in Newcastle, where he packed grocery boxes for local families, stuck his head into a paper bag to smell freshly baked wheaten bread and see on a toilet roll with the declaration very important. He placed a second one in the box. Very very important, He told the volunteers they were very very special people, which appeared to be genuinely meant leaving the food banker passing seagull took the opportunity to register its presence on the back of the royal jacket. A discreet aid appeared with an overcoat. The King waved it off. When a member of the public mentioned the situation, Charles laughed and said, no, it's fine. At least it didn't land on my head. He continued greeting the crowds.

3:30 Local resident Irene Martin, who witnessed the exchange, noted that a seagull strike is traditionally considered good luck. Meanwhile, in Hillsborough, Camilla visited the Parsons Nose Pub, where she pulled a pint of guinness with fierce concentration, held it aloft to a round of applause, and declared it too early to drink. Children from the local primary school singing a Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman in the street outside, The Queen called it really lovely, shook a considerable number of hands and admired a baby between and then the King and Queen have in the space of forty eight hours, danced, drummed, done whiskey shots before lunch packed groceries been targeted by wildlife and pulled a Guinness. The visit has three days.

4:12 There is time. Yet the recent Australia tour may not have delivered the boost the Sussexes hoped for. According to a new report examining both Meghan's business numbers and the future of Prince Harry's Invictus linked projects. Newswek reports that the website traffic for Megan Markel's lifestyle brand as Ever declined during April, the same month the Sussex's toured Sindy and Melbourne. Data collected through the analytics platform similar Web showed global traffic to the site dropped by about twenty percent from March to April. The report said Megan's website recorded one hundred and seventy eight thousand visitors in April, down from two hundred twenty six thousand in March. Australian traffic also reportedly fell during the same period. Newsweek noted that Australians made up nine percent of traffic in February before the tour was announced, compared to six percent and in April during the actual visit. Royal and Entertainment reporter Bronte Coy told Newsweek Megan spoke on a podcast I think it was last year, talking about global expansion. Where else is she looking other than these places? So in that way, obviously Australia has proven that it has not panned out how they would have hoped. I would say that promotional blitz has absolutely fallen flat. That worked in terms of being able to get paid speaking gigs and to do charity engagements. She said, But what's the point of all this if it's not going to launch commercial arms that are going to pay for it. How much longer are people going to pay for them to speak at things if they don't have relevance and companies that are thriving and empires, etc. More Palatin just a moment.

5:45 The British Royal family may project formality in public, but behind palace doors, it is a family known for an extensive collection of nicknames, some affectionate, some humorous, and some that have become part of and some that have become part of royal law. For Prince William, one of the earliest nicknames came from his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who called him Wombat during a royal tour of Australia when he was an infant. William later explained, the wombat, you know, that's the local animal. So I just basically got called that, not because I looked like a wom battle maybe I do. His younger brother, Prince Harry, has been known by several names over the years. While Harry itself is a shortened version of his given name, Henry, he has said that family members called him Harold, while friends have used the nicknames such as Spike, a reference to his hair, and has a name used by his wife, Meghan Mirkal. Meghan herself has long been known as Flower, a childhood nickname given by her mother. After joining the royal family, she was also reportedly given the nickname Tungsten by her father in law, King Charles the Third, reflecting what he saw as her resilience under pressure. Catherine, Princess of Wales, has spoken about her own childhood nickname, telling pupils during a school visit, there was one called Pip and one called Squeak, because my sister was called Pipper and I was Squeak. In adulthood, her husband has also been heard referring to her Poppet. In adulthood, her husband has also been heard referring to her as poppet, a traditional British term of endearment. The younger generation has not been spared. Prince George is reportedly known as pg Tips,

7:16 a playful reference to a popular tea brand, while Princess Charlotte is often called Lottie, and Prince Louis has been heard being called lou Bugs by his mother. Even Queen Elizabeth I was known by several nicknames throughout her life. As a child, she was called Delibert, a name later passed on to her great granddaughter. According to family accounts, a young Prince William once referred to her as Gary after falling at Buckingham Palace and calling out for help, prompting the Queen to explain to staff that he had not yet learned to say granny. Within the royal marriage itself, King Charles and Queen Camilla reportedly used the nicknames Fred and Gladys in their early relationship, drawn from characters in the BBC Radio comedy There are nicknames, and then there are code names. Former Royal butler Grant Harold worked for Charles between two thousand and four and twenty eleven at High Grove House, and also spent time serving Prince William, Prince Harry, and Katherine, Princess of Wales. Speaking about royal etiquette, Harold explained, when speaking directly to members of the royal family, we used their official titles unless told otherwise. However, it was only William, Harry and Kate who wanted the less formal name option. According to Harold, Kate was always simply known as Kate behind the scenes before her marriage into the royal family. He said, William always called her Kate.

8:32 She introduced herself to me as Kate and asked me to call her that. This Catherine thing only began after the wedding. I think after their coronation she will be Queen Catherine, but until then it was always Kate. Behind the scenes, we always called King Charles, who was Prince Charles at the time, the Boss, and it was the same for the late Queen. We referred to Camilla as the Duchess. I think it was so when you were out and about in public, you could talk more openly without worrying about people over hearing. Queen Commie, I admit that there is one aspect of being a grandmother she has never quite mastered. Speaking on the Queen's Reading Room podcast. She reflected on reading stories to her grandchildren and praised her husband for his natural ability to bring books to life. She said, I think the one I enjoyed reading more than anything else was Harry Potter. Camilla explained that the King has a particular talent for entertaining the children during story time, adding sometimes when we are with my husband in Scotland, he reads them Harry Potter and he does all voices because he is a brilliant mimic. By contrast, she acknowledged her own limitations, saying I can't mimic voices for love or money. I'm completely hopeless at it. I was a really bad actor at school and I've never been able to master the art of mimicry. She went on to describe how the King engages with the grandchildren, saying, but the King sits down and they all sit with him.

9:46 I always think they are going to be wriggling around in the bed, but they sit spellbound. He's extremely good with children. They love it. Camilla has five grandchildren through her children Tom Parker Bowls and Laura Lopes, and became step grand mother to five more when she married the King, including the children of Prince William and Prince Harry. You know they have it. If you'd like to email us her addresses The Palace Intrigue at a gmail dot com. Please followus on Spotify, Apple or the app of your choice by Mark Francis My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and good terms.