On November 20, 1947, Queen Elizabeth married Prince Philip in Westminster Abbey. Her marriage was the longest of any British monarch, lasting over 73 years. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, attended the duke’s funeral on April 9. But do you know what his pet name for her was?
“Cabbage” was Prince Philip’s affectionate nickname for Queen Elizabeth.
The Royal Pet Name
Prince George may call his great-grandmother Gan-Gan, but the Duke of Edinburgh has the Queen’s sweetest nickname. Prince Philip, who has been married to Elizabeth for nearly 70 years, refers to her as cabbage.
The origin of the amusing moniker is unknown, but biographer Robert Lacey confirmed it to The Sunday Times in 2006, saying :
Yes, I’ve heard that is how he will sometimes refer to her.
Robert Lacey, Biographer for The Sunday Times
The newspaper wondered if it came from the French phrase mon petit chou, which translates to my little cabbage, but also my little pastry puff.
While Queen Elizabeth’s nickname is perhaps the most perplexing, she is far from the only royal with an endearing nickname. Duchess Kate has been known to call Prince William Poppet, and he has been known to call her Babe. Pet names clearly run in the family. (Source: History Extra)
The Royal Babe Time
When Elizabeth was only eight years old, she met Philip at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, Philip’s cousin, and Prince George, Duke of Kent, Elizabeth’s uncle, in 1934. Five years later, at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Elizabeth was 13, and Philip was 18. Elizabeth reportedly fell in love with her future husband and began exchanging letters later.
Philip asked King George VI for his daughter’s hand in marriage in 1946. The king agreed on one condition: the formal announcement of the engagement would be postponed until Elizabeth turned 21 in April of the following year. According to reports, the king and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, hesitated to approve the marriage because their daughter was too young.
There were also concerns in postwar Britain about how Philip, born in Greece, considered himself Danish and had German relations, would be accepted as a member of the royal household. Indeed, after marrying Elizabeth, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles, becoming a naturalized British subject and adopting the surname Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents. On the eve of their wedding, King George bestowed the titles of Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich upon him. (Source: History Extra)
The Royal Wedding
On November 20, 1947, Elizabeth and Philip married at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth’s tiara broke on the morning of the wedding, and Philip was pulled over for speeding through central London on the rehearsal dinner day.
I’m sorry officer, but I’ve got an appointment with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Prince Phillip
On November 14, 1948, Elizabeth and Philip had their first child, Prince Charles, now the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. In the following years, three more children were born: Princess Anne on August 15, 1950, Prince Andrew on February 19, 1960, and Prince Edward on March 10, 1964. (Source: History Extra)
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