Prince William's endearing nickname for his eight-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, has once again charmed royal fans as a clip of the future king calling after his mini-me resurfaced on TikTok.
Back in 2019, the Prince and Princess of Wales took their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, to visit the Chelsea Flower Show garden which was designed by Princess Kate. Relive the heartwarming moment in the clip below…
In footage shared by the BBC of the royal children's playful visit, the Prince of Wales can be heard calling his daughter "mignonette," a French word that translates to "cute" but is also used as a term of endearment to mean "little darling" or "cutie."
TikTok creator @royalfamilyexpress reshared the sweet clip, which has sparked a divided reaction from royal fans. While many were delighted to learn Prince William's nickname for his daughter, many were confused by its meaning - with some claiming the word means something different entirely.
"Nobody says that in French, but we call the little bottles you can find in a minibar like that," wrote one user, as another penned: "Mignonette is a sauce made of shallots, Champagne vinegar and peppercorns. Her name is Charlotte, which sounds like SHALLOT with a British accent… makes sense."
"I'm 100% French and have never heard anyone use that nickname," wrote another, while a fourth shared: "I think he's saying 'have you been on here,' to which she replies 'yes'."
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While royal fans were clearly polarised by the Prince's choice of words, it wouldn't be surprising if the Wales family did use French words in their vocabulary at home. Prince William, just like the late Queen Elizabeth II, is fluent in French.
The multilingual royal is also believed to be fluent in German, Welsh, Gaelic, Spanish and can even converse in Swahili, having taught himself the language during his time at university.
French lessons were part of the curriculum at school for the Wales children, both at their previous Thomas's Battersea preparatory school, and at their current Windsor-based Lambrook School.
'Mignonette' isn't Charlotte's only nickname. In March 2019, during a visit to Windsor Park stadium, Princess Kate got into a conversation with mum blogger Laura-Ann, who revealed that the Princess had referred to her daughter as 'Lottie' rather than Charlotte during the conversation.