Princess Diana’s maternal nickname for Prince Harry revealed
Princess Diana's nickname for Prince Harry was inspired by her pride of her heritage, a royal insider has revealed


Princess Diana had an adorable nickname for Prince Harry which was completely different from his birth-given royal title, according to a palace insider.
- Princess Diana had an adorable nickname for Prince Harry when he was a child, according to a royal insider.
- The late Princess of Wales' moniker for her youngest son was reportedly inspired by her pride as Spencer.
- In other royal news, writer warns Harry and Meghan about dangerous tabloid culture in the US.
The late Princess of Wales reportedly referred to her youngest son as ‘My little Spencer’ in private, as a nod to his genetic resemblance to her side of the family.
Harry famously shares his striking red hair and pale skin with Diana’s two older sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, and has had his physical looks likened to the late royal’s younger brother, Earl Spencer, on multiple occasions before.
It’s also understood that Princess Diana, who was tragically killed in a car crash in 1997, chose the sweet moniker after recognizing some similarities between Harry’s personality and her own.
“Diana always said that Prince Harry was the naughty one like her,” Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, revealed during the 2021 Channel 5 documentary, 'When the Spencers Met the Monarchy.’
“She called him, 'My little Spencer’.”
Princess Diana was known to hold great respect for her noble family name, which dates all the way back to the 15th century and is today most commonly associated with its historic stately home in Northampton, Althorp House.
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“For her part, Lady Diana was immensely proud of her Spencer heritage,” Seward writes in her 2020 biography, Prince Philip Revealed. The royal author added that Diana “considered the aristocracy - especially her family, who could trace their lineage back to the 15th century - to be philanthropic and relevant.”
Diana also had an adorable nickname for Prince William, which she began using after a family trip to Australia in the autumn of 1985. The Duke of Cambridge revealed in 2007 that his mother had called him ‘Wombat’, an animal native to the land Down Under, from the age of two, despite bearing no resemblance to the furry creature.
"So I just basically got called that, not because I look like a wombat, or maybe I do,” he joked during the interview with NBC.

Hailing from the lovely city of Dublin, Emma mainly covers the Royal Family and the entertainment world, as well as the occasional health and wellness feature. Always up for a good conversation, she has a passion for interviewing everyone from A-list celebrities to the local GP - or just about anyone who will chat to her, really.
Emma holds an MA in International Journalism from City, University of London, and a BA in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin.
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