The Wales and Sussex kids are all quite high up in the royal line of succession, but they live very different lives in so many ways. Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet have never gone on a royal visit or attended Trooping the Colour and their faces are rarely seen in any photographs or videos shared by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Their cousins also have a high level of privacy at Adelaide Cottage, though they do take part in certain royal events and appear in plenty of official pictures as they are gradually introduced to royal life. However, all six of them are keeping a royal tradition alive and it strikes me as particularly adorable - and meaningful.
Prince George, Charlotte and Louis and Prince Archie and Lilibet all call their fathers "Papa". It seems like such a small thing, however, it’s a sweet connection to the Royal Family, and I might have expected the Sussexes to use "Dad" instead.
After all, they’re living away from the royal bubble in California and Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan often refer to themselves as just "Harry and Meghan" in public. Meghan has even revealed her husband’s nickname "H" in interviews, whilst he is known to call her "Meg".
This all indicates quite a relaxed approach, so "Dad" might be the obvious choice if you had to guess what Archie and Lilibet call Prince Harry. "Papa" sounds a little more formal and the Duchess explained recently that this is the name they use.
During an appearance on Jamie Kern Lima’s podcast in April, she read out a letter written by her children with a little help from the Prince.
"From Archie and Lili via Papa. We love your cooking. We love your pancakes and we love, love, love your hugs. You're the best mummy and we love you," she said, as per the Evening Standard.
So it seems they do call their father "Papa" and Meghan also remarked on how much she loved that they said "mummy, instead of mommy", noting it’s "very British". "Papa" also sounds quite British, especially given that Prince George, Charlotte and Louis use it too.
In the Wales family’s 2025 Father’s Day photos taken by Josh Shinner the caption referred to the Prince of Wales in this way, stating, "Happy Father’s Day, Papa (before and after!) We love you! G, C & L".
In the past, they’ve also shared glimpses of Father’s Day cards addressed to him as "Papa", showing this isn’t a recent thing at all. It’s adorable that the cousins have this in common but this takes on even more significance as it’s continuing a long-standing royal custom.
Prince William and Harry call King Charles "Pa", which appears to be a shortening of this and King Charles himself called the late Prince Philip "Papa". Meanwhile, in a letter written to her parents describing their coronation, Queen Elizabeth II is said to have addressed the Queen Mother and King George VI as "Mummy and Papa".
"Dad" might be more common nowadays, but for the royals "Papa" has never gone out of favour and the Wales and Sussex cousins are keeping it alive as a tradition.
