A new book by royal commentator Tom Quinn has revealed the nicknames royal staffers used for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before their shock exit from the royal family in 2020. Photo / Getty Images
A new book by royal commentator Tom Quinn has revealed the nicknames royal staffers used for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before their shock exit from the royal family in 2020. Photo / Getty Images
Kensington Palace employees had a less-than-flattering nickname for the prince during his time living there, it’s been claimed.
The secret nickname used by Palace staff to refer to Prince Harry has been unveiled in a new book.
The new book, which features interviews with numerous royal staff, has been serialised in The Times UK ahead of its release.
In the excerpt, it was revealed that Harry was prone to “flashes of irritation”, including on one occasion, when a staffer accidentally “muddled” his papers in one of his “private apartments”.
The employee claimed his “angry” reaction was completely “out of proportion”.
Prince Harry’s secret nickname has been revealed in a new book. Photo / Getty Images
“We thought it was a bit rich complaining about me being muddled, given that Harry was probably the most muddled of all the royals of his generation,” the source added.
Meghan was also given a secret nickname, according to the royal staff, due to the fact many believed she had turned Harry into a “tree-hugging leftie”.
“Through absolutely no fault of her own, Meghan wasn’t always great with her staff — she just wasn’t used to it as Harry was,” an insider said.
“It’s true that her nickname for a while was the Duchess of Difficult, but she had other, friendlier nicknames, including Mystic Meg, which came about because she was so new agey, so woke, about so many things.”
Elsewhere in the excerpt, it was revealed that unfounded rumours were sparked that the Duchess of Sussex had “flirted” with Prince William during their time living within Kensington Palace, after her displays of affection raised eyebrows.
Meghan has herself since admitted that she had a “hug everyone” approach when she burst onto the scene as Harry’s girlfriend – something the more “formal” staff and royal family members struggled to adjust to, reportedly causing some tension.
Harry and Meghan are currently in Canada for the Invictus Games. Photo / Getty Images
In his new book, Quinn wrote that Meghan’s tactile way of greeting her brother-in-law caused staff to wrongly misinterpret her behaviour as “flirting”, and that William was left “uncomfortable” by the gossip.
Onlookers had speculated “Meghan was flirting with William, which she was obviously not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness [and the resultant gossip] deepened the rift between the brothers”, Quinn claimed.
While the pair have infamously fallen out in recent years, Quinn recounted staffers’ stories from the early days where a fast friendship initially developed between Meghan and her new family, who thought she was a “breath of fresh air”.
One even detailed witnessing an unexpectedly fun moment between William and Meghan, in which the pair were spotted “doing a jokey parody of the Fifties, jiving together”.
However, Meghan’s approach to physical affection was clearly one that left many uncomfortable, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have since publicly revealed themselves.
In their 2022 Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, Meghan admitted she had not realised that the royal family’s “formality” would continue behind closed doors – something she discovered during her first meeting with William and Kate.
Staff allege that there was gossip about Meghan and William. Photo / Getty Images
“Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot. Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger. I didn’t realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits,” she said in the series.
“I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward facing way of being and then you close the door and think, ‘OK we can relax now’.
“But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.”
