Prince Philip’s Pet Name for Queen Elizabeth Will Melt Your Heart

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Prince Philip’s Cute Nickname for Queen Elizabeth

Coming up to their 70th anniversary, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II have gone through their ups and downs. But one little fact about their relationship in particular gives us the warm fuzzies. (Here’s what really happened when Jackie Kennedy met Queen Elizabeth.)

Most couples have cutesy nicknames for each other, and the Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty are no exception. Apparently, even royal couples have silly little relationship quirks. (This is how much each person in the British royal family is actually worth.)

During the 2006 film The Queen, Philip is about to get in bed and tells his wife to “move over, cabbage.” Wait…cabbage?

“I inquired in royal circles and was told on very good authority that that is what the duke sometimes calls the Queen,” said the film’s screenwriter Peter Morgan tells The Times. The Queen’s biographer, Robert Lacey, confirmed. How cute!

Some have speculated that the pet name comes from mon petit chou, a French way of saying “my darling.” In English, though, the term translates literally to “my little cabbage,” though it actually comes from a shortened term for the pastry chou à la crème. (Check out these other French phrases everyone should know.)

But “cabbage” isn’t the only nickname the Queen has. Prince George calls her “Gan-Gan”—as British royals have been doing for their great-grandmas for generations, according to PopSugar. And when she was young, the then-princess’s close family would call her “Lilibet,” mimicking the fact that she couldn’t pronounce her own name. (Don’t miss these other fascinating facts about Queen Elizabeth.) Still, Prince Philip’s nickname for her just might take the cake as cutest nickname.

For more royal facts, find out the sweet reason Queen Elizabeth always wears neon outfits.