The late Queen Elizabeth had twelve great-grandchildren during her lifetime, but only Prince George – the heir to the throne – used this adorable nickname for her
When Prince George was born it was a historic moment for the British monarchy – in more ways than one. Kate and William’s announcement that they were expecting a child meant that a new heir to the throne was about to be born, and the arrival of the royal baby was hotly anticipated by the public. Not only that, but the laws surrounding the line of succession themselves were altered ahead of George’s birth.
This meant that for the first time ever, the gender of the royal was immaterial to whether they would one day take the throne. Before this, even if a girl had been born first, her place in the line of succession would have been taken by any younger brothers born, giving male children precedence. However, an act of parliament ensured that no matter whether Kate had given birth to a girl or a boy first, they would be the future monarch.
Once Prince George had safely arrived, the Queen was reportedly the first to be informed – per royal protocol – and had to officially give her approval of his full name: George Alexander Louis.
While the monarch had the final seal of approval on George’s name, it turns out he also had a special name that he used for her – and it seems that he may have been the only of her great-grandchildren to use it. Kate revealed the adorable nickname back in 2016 when she appeared in a documentary that was released to mark the late Queen’s 90th birthday.
“George is only two and a half and calls her ‘gan-gan’.’ She always leaves a little gift or something in their room when we go and stay and that just shows, I think, her love for her family,” Kate explained.
In the Christmas message that the late Queen gave after George had been born, she paid tribute to the new arrival, and future monarch, saying: “Here at home my own family is a little larger this Christmas. As so many of you will know, the arrival of a baby gives everyone the chance to contemplate the future with renewed happiness and hope.”
The late Queen had 13 great-grandchildren all in all: Savannah and Isla Phillips, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, Mia, Lena, and Lucas Tindall, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, Sienna Mapelli Mozzi, and August and Ernest Brooksbank.
However, only 12 of them were born in her lifetime, with Princess Eugenie’s son Ernest Brooksbank born in May 2023, after the Queen passed away in September 2022.
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