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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Rebecca Russell

Fake name Prince William used so that he could fly under the radar at university

The Royal Family are known all over the world by their long, official titles.

The current royals are the descendants from an unbroken sovereign chain which stretches back nearly 1000 years and includes some of the most famous historical figures, from William the Conqueror to Henry VIII.

But behind the formality and away from the glaring media spotlight, the royals are just like any other family.

They share jokes, buy each other ridiculous presents and even have silly nicknames for one another.

While the different names are used for the most part as terms of endearment, there are several examples of them being used to protect the privacy the royals and allow them to be as normal as possible.

Prince William studied at St Andrews University (Getty Images)
Prince William used a different name during his university studies (UK Press via Getty Images)

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Prince William graduated with Scottish Master of Arts degree in geography from St Andrew's University in 2005 having begun his studies there in 2001.

It was agreed that the prince would be afforded complete media privacy during his studies so that he could be as normal as possible.

While coverage was kept to only a handful of rare and agreed upon photoshoots, William came up with an additional tactic to secure even more secrecy.

As he had enrolled under the already normal name of 'William Wales', the prince decided to go one further and come up with a fake name that he would use to deter any unwanted attention.

The name he chose to go by was 'Steve' - but this isn't William's only nickname as he was also known as 'Wombat' by his mother. In an NBC interview in 2007, William admitted to being stuck with the name, “I can’t get rid of it now,” he said.

“It began when I was two. I’ve been rightfully told because I can’t remember back that far, but when we went to Australia with our parents, and the wombat, you know, that’s the local animal, so I just basically got called that, not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do.”

Prince George has also used a fake name in public (Chris Jackson/PA Wire)

But Prince William isn't the only member of the Royal Family to have used another normal name in public to protect his privacy.

A story emerged about Prince George telling a dog walker near the Middleton family home in Berkshire that his name was Archie.

Speaking about the encounter the woman said: "I was asked by a police minder not to take a photo of the children, which I didn't, but George started stroking my dog.

"Just to be friendly I engaged in a bit of small talk and I asked George what his name was, even though obviously I knew it.

"To my astonishment he said 'I'm called Archie' with a big smile on his face. I don't know why he calls himself Archie but kids often play with their names and I think it's lovely."

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have many nicknames for one another (SplashNews.com)

According to The Sun, The Duchess of Cambridge used to use two hilarious nicknames for her husband, which were reported to be "baldy" and “big willy". Prince William is also said to have used the terms "babykins" and "DoD", which stands for "Duchess of Dolittle".

More recently, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been heard using more conservative pet names for one another. At The Chelsea Flower Show in 2016, the royal couple were heard calling each other “babe” and “darling".

Landscape gardener Charlie Albone told Grazia U.K. that when Prince William asked his wife about a plant she replied: “Babe, we’ve got those. We’ve got loads of those.”

Another one of the designers at the show revealed to Hello! that the prince stopped to look at poppies and asked Catherine: “Could you make one of these, darling?’”

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