Will or Bill

Dami in Edinburgh   Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:08 pm GMT
Prince William is called Wills by his family and friends, apparently. It seems it's always been like that, and I suppose being a Prince of the House of Windsor it wouldn't be acceptable to call him Bill, or just plain Will - it has to be Wills! But at least his brother Henry is called Harry, the usual abbreviated form for Henry. Although previous Royal Henries on the throne of England (is Henries the proper plural form of Henry?) have been called Hal for short, eg the battle loving Henry V, the hero of Agincourt, who fell for the daughter of the French Dauphin by the name of Katherine - he called her Kate and quite right too!

As for his grannie - Queen Elizabeth II - she is, and always has been, called Lilibet by all her family and friends - of her own generation I would guess. The name stuck simply because, as a very wee girl, the nearest she couild get to pronouncing the name Elizabeth was just that - Lilibet. So a Lilibet is what she became - in her close family circle. Bet or Betty was out of the question, I reckon. Loads of people call her Liz though - very unofficially.
Skippy   Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:01 am GMT
"Bill" is probably more Irish.
Guest   Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:51 pm GMT
Thank you Guests, Skip and Dami. I have much better picture now.
Andrew   Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:06 pm GMT
^ I forgot to sign, sorry. ^
furrykef   Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:34 am GMT
<< Why is William Clinton "Bill", while William Shakespeare is "Will"? >>

Actually, I hear "Bill Shakespeare" more often than "Will Shakespeare", but the usage always strikes me as jocular. It seems anachronistic (I don't know if it actually is or not).

- Kef
Guest   Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:45 am GMT
Hmmm.
Google Bill Shakespeare: 255.000
Google Will Shakespeare: 1.270.000
And the usage of Bill seems jocular to me too.
Uriel   Sun Mar 09, 2008 6:29 am GMT
<<But at least his brother Henry is called Harry, the usual abbreviated form for Henry. Although previous Royal Henries on the throne of England (is Henries the proper plural form of Henry?) have been called Hal for short, eg the battle loving Henry V, the hero of Agincourt, who fell for the daughter of the French Dauphin by the name of Katherine - he called her Kate and quite right too! >>

Oh, that was the worst part about reading Henry IV -- who WASN'T named some from of Henry in that play? Not having any grasp at all of medieval English nobility, I was lost whenever they mentioned a Hal, Hotspur, Harry, or Henry.