
To the world, they’re Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—but at their new school, Lambrook (which the Cambridge trio start next month!), they’ll be known as George Cambridge, Charlotte Cambridge, and Louis Cambridge.
This surname, as you’ve likely figured out, is derived from their parents’ Duke and Duchess of Cambridge titles. (When Prince William and Prince Harry were in school, they went by William Wales and Harry Wales, a nod to their parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales.) According to The Daily Express, George and Charlotte were called George Cambridge and Charlotte Cambridge at their former school, Thomas’s Battersea, and they will likely carry their names over to Lambrook, which they start September 8. (How isolating would it be for a young kid to be known as prince or princess by their classmates?)
“It is royal protocol for royal children to be called by the title of their parents at school,” the outlet reports. “George, Charlotte, and Louis will therefore be called by their first name, followed by ‘Cambridge.’”
Let’s make this a little confusing—so, when Archie and Lili start school, will they then be known as Archie Sussex and Lili Sussex, as their parents are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? No, actually. This would only happen if Archie and Lili carried royal titles like the prince and princess titles the Cambridge kids carry, The Daily Express reports; since they don’t, they’ll be Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lili Mountbatten-Windsor.
And, like many young kids, all the Cambridge kids have nicknames: George was called “PG” by kids at Thomas’s Battersea and by his family at home. (“PG,” of course, stands for Prince George.) Playing off of the tea brand PG Tips, sometimes George is known by schoolmates and even his parents as “Tips.” Charlotte’s parents call her “Lottie,” and, at the 2019 Chelsea Flower Show, William was overheard calling her “Mignonette,” which translates to “little cutie” or “small and delicate” in French.
The nickname of "Lottie" was confirmed when William and Kate were on tour in Northern Ireland in 2019. A woman who met Kate that day later told The Daily Mail that Kate asked her about her son.
“I said, ‘he is four’ and she said, ‘oh, he’s the same age as Lottie,’” she says. “She calls her Lottie.”
As for little Louis, according to Life & Style, his older siblings call him, adorably, “Lou Lou.”
Rachel Burchfield is a writer whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family. In addition to serving as the royal editor at Marie Claire, she has worked with publications like Vogue, Vanity Fair, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, and more. She cohosts Podcast Royal, a show that provides candid commentary on the biggest royal family headlines and offers segments on fashion, beauty, health and wellness, and lifestyle.
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