Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s unusual nickname for dad William revealed

He may be the heir to the British throne, but Prince William’s children have a very informal nickname for their famous dad.

There’s been no shortage of nicknames within the royal family over the years – but Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s latest pet name for their dad William might just be the most unusual of the lot.

The siblings’ surprising moniker for their heir-to-the-throne father is said to be ‘Poachy’, and was inspired by popular British TV chef Ainsley Harriott.

Speaking exclusively to The Sunahead of the launch of his new ITV show, Ainsley’s Fantastic Flavours, Ainsley revealed how a bizarre Radio 1 interview with presenter Greg James infiltrated the upper echelons of the royal family.

“We did this thing about whether you take a bath or not. What do you do in the bath, and I was like, ‘Sometimes you have a little wee in the bath.’ You don’t mean to but there’s something about that relaxation. We then talked about cooking fish in the bath, [and] Greg asked ‘Could you cook a fish in the bath?’

“I said, ‘Yeah, if it’s a little bit of sea bass or plaice or something like that.’ You wouldn’t want a thick bit of fish because it wouldn’t poach.

There’s a bizarre story behind Charlotte and George’s nickname for Prince William. Picture: Kensington Palace via Getty Images

Ainsley added: “Anyway, apparently Prince William and Kate were taking George and Charlotte to school and they found it hysterical.

“He [William] came in to do an interview at the studio, and he called over Greg James and said, ‘The kids love it. They loved that you were talking about eating fish in the water.’”

Ainsley then tweaked his famous catchphrase “Why hello there, Jill” – which went viral after he greeted a surprised competition winner on live TV with those very words – to “Why hello there, Will. Poachy, poachy, poachy.”

William’s children call him ‘Poachy’. Picture: Daniel Leal/AFP

He continued: “George and Charlotte now call their dad Poachy. Isn’t that sweet and so lovely? [laughs].”

The TV star then joked he might be beheaded after inspiring the funny name.

It’s been widely reported that Kate Middleton calls William “baldy” – which started out as quick witted response to him “complaining about her endless mane of hair”.

William has a jokey pet name for his wife in return and is said to call her “DoD”, which is short for “Duchess of Dolittle”.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission