“Holy Terror”: Prince William’s revealing nickname from his childhood

In recent years, Prince William has risen in power and influence as a senior working member of the British Royal Family. He and wife, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, seemingly can do no wrong as the couple go from strength to strength tackling their royal duties with grace, fortitude and poise.

However, according to a book by royal biographer and historian Robert Lacy, Prince William, eldest son of the late Princess Diana and King Charles III and second in line to throne, wasn’t always so well-behaved and regal.

In his tell all book, The Battle of the Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, Lacy shares behind the scenes details of the prince’s closeness and their estrangement. He also describes the young prince had such a reputation for “playground fights” that he became known as Basher Wills or Billy the Basher.

He wrote, “The young prince had picked up his nicknames of ‘Basher Wills’ or ‘Billy the Basher’ when he joined Mrs Jane Mynors’ Nursery School in Notting Hill, not far from Kensington Palace, in September 1985.”

The writer describes the pint sized prince as being “noisy, cheeky and defiant of discipline”. He “angered his classmates by pushing his way to the front of the dinner queue and getting involved in playground fights”.

So much so that Princess Diana once called him a “holy terror”.

Lacy further revealed that the now Prince of Wales would tell the other children that, “My Daddy can beat up your Daddy. My Daddy’s the Prince of Wales.”

With such a rapscallion in the ranks, the then Prince Charles and Diana procured the services of his nanny, Ruth Wallace, who famously removed him from a birthday party in 1987 after he threw a tantrum for not being allowed to blow the birthday candles out.

Reportedly the nanny made him clean up the sandwiches he’d thrown around before taking him home.

Now it seems the apple does not fall far from the tree as Prince William’s spirited youngest son Prince Louis makes more public appearances.

The young prince who is only five years old is the Prince and Princess of Wales youngest son and has certainly set tongues wagging with his outrageous behavior at public appearances that are in stark contrast to his more controlled older siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

At his first public appearance at the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Prince Louis stole the show with a wide range of mischievous behaviour including blowing raspberries at his mother. His naughty capers were attributed to a “sugar high”. 

A year later he was at it again at the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony in June. The little one held his nose while riding in a horse drawn carriage (supposedly offended by the smell of horse poo) and then later entertained onlookers as he spiritedly mimicked the planes flying overhead.