King Charles's unique name for Meghan Markle revealed

King Charles once game Meghan Markle a bizarre, one-word name when she first joined the Royal Family, according to reports. The Duchess of Sussex may be estranged from the Firm now, but she once had a warmer relationship with them.

Charles reportedly has a no-nonsense nickname for the Duchess as a nod to her "toughness". This was initially revealed by palace insider, the Daily Mail's Charlotte Griffiths, who said the name was a "term of endearment".

She wrote in 2018: "Prince Charles admires Meghan for her strength and the backbone she gives Harry, who needs a tungsten-type figure in his life as he can be a bit of a softy. It's become a term of endearment."

Royal expert Katie Nicholl also wrote about Meghan's nickname in her 2022 book, The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of the Crown. She said: "Charles reportedly nicknamed his future daughter-in-law Tungsten because of her toughness and resilience."

Tungsten is a dense, hard, and strong metal that has the highest melting point.

The King's kind nature was highlighted during Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in 2018, when the monarch walked the Duchess down the aisle as her father, Thomas Markle, was not present.

Meghan spoke about the incident in her and Prince Harry's Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.

She said: "Harry's dad is very charming. And I said to him, like, 'I've lost my dad in this.' So him, as my father-in-law, was really important to me.

"So I asked him to walk me down the aisle and he said yes. The whole thing was surreal."