King Charles’s Surprising One-Word Nickname for Meghan Markle Revealed

King Charles and Meghan Markle once shared a surprisingly warm bond in the early days of her relationship with Prince Harry, even if that connection has cooled considerably in the years since. Not much is known about how the king feels about his daughter-in-law now, but reports from that period suggest he saw something special in her.

When Harry first started dating Meghan, the then Prince Charles was caught completely off guard. According to royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in their book Finding Freedom, Charles only learned about the relationship about 20 minutes before it became public.

His team at Clarence House was left feeling crushed by the timing. It wasn’t mainly a family issue. Charles was about to head off on a carefully planned tour of the Middle East, and the sudden confirmation of Harry’s new girlfriend threatened to wipe out any media attention for that trip.

Scobie and Durand wrote that a statement from Kensington Palace confirming the relationship would “all but eliminate coverage” of Charles’s tour, which had been in the works for months. The Clarence House team, which had spent a long time preparing for the visit in hopes of solid coverage, felt the impact immediately. The authors noted that while Charles was disappointed by the short notice, he still understood why the couple felt they needed to go public.

Over time, the relationship between Charles and Meghan grew stronger. She became his daughter-in-law, and on their wedding day in 2018 he even walked her part of the way down the aisle at St George’s Chapel after her own father was unable to attend.

Palace insider Charlotte Griffiths, writing for the Mail in 2018, revealed that Charles had a one-word nickname for Meghan: Tungsten. The name comes from the chemical element known for having the highest melting point of any metal. Griffiths described it as a term of endearment. She wrote that Prince Charles admired Meghan for her strength and the backbone she gave Harry, who “needs a tungsten-type figure in his life as he can be a bit of a softy.” The nickname stuck as a compliment to her tough, resilient nature.