Prince William ended up confirming that his nickname really is ‘One Pint Willy’

Here are some photos from Prince William’s first event of the year. He visited Headingley Stadium in Leeds and met with former rugby player Rob Burrow and awarded him with his CBE for raising awareness of Motor Neurone Disease. Burrow was the one who interviewed Mike Tindall in December, and that was the interview in which Tindall revealed that William’s nickname is One Pint Willy, because “he’s not the best of drinkers.” Of course that came up during William’s visit.

A laughing Prince William admitted today that Mike Tindall has apologised to him after revealing his nickname as ‘One Pint Willy’ in a podcast released in December. William was speaking to rugby legend Rob Burrow, 41, ahead of an official ceremony to present the sportsman and motor neurone disease campaigner with his CBE at Headingly Stadium.

In the clip released by BBC Breakfast on X, formerly known as Twitter, Rob told William that he ‘recently met Zara and Mike’, referring to a special podcast he recorded with the Tindalls.

He continued: ‘Mike has some secrets he told me which the kids found very amusing.’

William, who was smiling and shaking his head knowingly, replied: ‘I think that might be some of the nicknames. Was it you who got the nicknames out of him?’

When Rob appeared on the podcast and pressed Mike for his nicknames for the royals, Mike shared with listeners that he calls Prince William ‘One Pint Willy’ because ‘he is not the best of drinkers’.

The Prince told Rob : ‘He apologised to me about that. I was like, “Mike, when you say you’re not going to mention anyone’s nicknames that doesn’t mean you can then mention my nickname. That’s not fair.’”

Earlier in the clip, Rob, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019, told William that it was ‘an honour’ to meet him and that he was ‘feeling good’. He added: ‘My children have been practising their curtseying and talking about meeting you all week.’

[From The Daily Mail]

So… William confirmed that his nickname IS One Pint Willy. It does beg the question: what is William’s relationship with alcohol? Is he a lightweight who gets wasted on one or two beers regularly, is he a messy drunk, what is it? As for William claiming that Tindall apologized to him… well, the Windsors have spent all of this time and money trying to make the “Mike Tindall is the brother William needs” storyline happen, so of course they can’t blow up that narrative now.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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41 Responses to “Prince William ended up confirming that his nickname really is ‘One Pint Willy’”

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  1. Digital Unicorn says:

    Given some of the stories that has come out about his partying over the years it paints a picture of a messy obnoxious drunk who is prone to falling over and knocking teeth out or urinating in public in front of paps. He’s bad when he’s sober so I can only imagine how bad he can get when drunk!!! And then there is the alleged drug use!

    • Lulu says:

      This has all the hallmarks of , once more, covering up for Willy. I assume shouty is still a heavy drinker and this has been staged by courtiers.

  2. ThatsNotOkay says:

    I’m yawning extremely hard at this.

  3. Yes I’m sure that incandescent with rage Peg was okay with being called that. I bet he is an even meaner drunk. If Mike is the brother for him then he deserves all the name calling the neanderthal can give and any crass jokes he is not afraid to make of Peg.

  4. kyliegirl says:

    Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield have really been inspirational and raising the profile of motor neurone disease. Of course William and the royal family are attaching themselves to their star. Seems like lately, they have been sending William out to meet anyone inspirational or doing inspirational things. Just William solo, not with Kate. Seems like they know their “perfect” heir is in dire need of good PR.

  5. Tessa says:

    I don’t think William likes tindall gossiping about him but he must go with the spin about tindall being a brother to him just to spite harry. Sooner or later William will have a hissy fit and freeze tindall out

  6. equality says:

    More likely for some reason PW wanted this out there. Probably to try to make it appear that he limits himself to one pint. And where does that fit in with PH saying PW was drunk on rum the morning of his wedding and the news that he and Kate prefer crack babies? PW and Mike are both full of it.

    • Tessa says:

      Still on the internet are photos of William looking worse for wear leaving night clubs. More than one pint.

    • Eurydice says:

      It could be a setup for the story – “Don’t look at me. I’m not the one with an alcohol problem in this family.”

      • Ace says:

        If they continue to mention this it’s probably something like that. Maybe there’s risk of something coming out about Peg being blackout drunk and they’re trying to create a narrative that it can’t be true.

    • SueBarbri33 says:

      They have to be kidding with this nonsense. William and Harry were such party boys, you couldn’t open up the internet without seeing one of them drinking or coming out of a nightclub. They used to drink vodka/redbulls and those huge drinks at Guy Pelly’s club, and there was never a rumor that either of them was anything like a lightweight back then. For all I know, William hasn’t had a drink in 12 years, but that seems unlikely.

      • Tessa says:

        He looked worse for wear on that weekend he left Kate and the children. It is in the internet with search terms dad dancing .

      • Cairidh says:

        It was always said Kate could drink him under the table. So I think the nickname means William can’t hold his drink and gets plastered after one pint.

  7. Harper says:

    William tweeted some message of condolecnce about a rugby player on Kate’s birthday, and his first event of 2024 is to a stadium to award a CBE to a former rugby player. It’d be interesting to see how much of his activity in the court circular is sports-oriented: sports podcasts/stadium visits to support x cause/attending matches local and abroad in his official capacity. It really feels like that is the only way to get him off his royal arse and out into the world and pump up his numbers.

    • TheWigletOfWails says:

      Yet he couldn’t be bothered to support the women’s soccer team in Oz. Sexist prick.

      He might be trying to make rugby his thing now, since that used to be Harry’s thing.

      • Cairidh says:

        William was on his school rugby team, might have been captain? So this might be something he’s actually interested in.

  8. Pip says:

    Kevin Sinfield is just the most awesome, inspirational, hard as nails human being. Just extraordinary what he achieves – he’s bloody relentless. When we’re a republic I’d vote for him as President (or Ian Hislop – another completely wonderful force for good).

  9. Brassy Rebel says:

    I vote for William is a messy AND angry drunk. The worst kind of drunk.

  10. Amy Bee says:

    Hmm…I’m starting to think this whole one pint willy thing was a plant to get some headlines for William and for the press to push the narrative that Mike is the brother he never had or needs. Whatever.

  11. Kokiri says:

    “Not fair”

    The epitome of how Willy lives his life, screaming and wailing about things being “not fair”
    Says the future king in one of his many castles with his millions of pounds per year from Cornwall.
    Sure, life’s not fair Willy, didn’t anyone ever tell you?

  12. TheWigletOfWails says:

    God, what a charisma vacuum. Like how do you make a story or whatever about drinking so boring? 🥱

  13. Lau says:

    I hate when he tries to do fun banter like that, it’s way too cringe. Also his first public event behind way into january is hilarious.

  14. Mary Pester says:

    Well willy, that’s the only nickname you ADMIT TO, because there are quite a few that the people who were working in rescue with you had for you and an awful lot more every time your lazy arse didn’t turn up for your shift, or had to leave a crew member behind because YOU wanted a cameramen on board you pratt.
    No, tyndal the thug didn’t apologise to you, because he’s almost as arrogant as you are. Willy your a pss head, anyone who has known you knows your a pss head with an eye for the ladies when your on the lash . There are plenty of photos to prove it.
    And please, STOP looking for wagons to jump on, it’s pathetic. Your not fit to lick Rob or Kevin’s boots

  15. JaneS says:

    Geez. I don’t care if William soaks himself in booze on a nightly basis.

    All these endless PR spins. Will is now a Kardashian level of celebrity.

  16. VilleRose says:

    It’s interesting how the press always refers to him as “Will” or “Wills” but we all learned Harry always referred to William as Willy in Spare. Where does the Wills nickname come from? Apparently it’s a real nickname for William but I’ve never heard it used in the US so guessing it’s a non-American thing. Most Americans men who have William as their first name and who use the associated nicknames will either go by Will, Bill, or Billy. Nobody uses Willy anymore due its anatomical associations lol. But does anybody call William Wills? His friends and family? I always wondered if it was a nickname the press made up.

    As for William not being able to hold his alcohol… I know he was known as a party animal when he was young but I would hope as an adult he would now drink in moderation but given Mike Tindall’s revelations… I guess not.

    • BQM says:

      This has come up on social media and Reddit (like saintmeganmarkle).

      I put my librarian hat on for some research and there’s nowhere that says that William was called “Wills” by anyone but the press.

      When you try and trace citations they lead nowhere. Just says he was with no attribution. Nothing in bios or interviews. No friends using it on the record despite the press saying it was what they called him. William confirmed in at least one interview that his mom called him “wombat”. Supposedly Kate called him Big Willy in college.

      Willy may invoke some giggles amongst the more immature but just like Dick for Richard it’s still a pretty regular nickname. Even in the us. See Mayor Willie Brown for instance.

      • BQM says:

        Too late to edit but it’s seems confirmed by Tindall since he said One Pint Willy and not One Pint Wills. 🤷‍♀️

      • VilleRose says:

        I don’t know of any millennials or Gen Z people who go by Dick for Richard, I think we can safely say that nickname is dying out. As for Willy/Willie, again, not many young people (millennials and younger) tend to use that nickname anymore. Mayor Willie Brown is 89 years old so that tracks. Any American Williams I know almost exclusively use Will.

        Thank you for the research! The tidbit that Kate used to call him Big Willy–I guess I’m immature because I find that hilarious. Not surprised the press made it up, I think they’ve called Charles Chuck in the past and to my knowledge he’s never been called that ever.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      VilleRose, I was around when he was born. I think Wills was one of the names Princess Di (and others?) called him. I have no idea why, but just thought it was a British thing.

    • Cairidh says:

      From when he was born, his parents both called him Wills. His mother called him wombat as a pet name as well, but his nickname was wills. So the press and teachers and other parents at his nursery all used wills. It is the upperclass English posh nickname for William. Posh people use the first syllable – Di, Vi, Ca (pronounced car, for camilla), Bea, Eug, Cress. Or add an s on to it, eg Wills, Ells, or add Ers on to it eg Henners, Anders. Middle class wannabe pretentious people will also use those nicknames to sound posh.

      The other parents at Williams nursery called him Basher Wills which the working class newspapers changed to Billy the Basher.

      When William was at Eton and St Andrews he chose to use the nickname Will instead. That was how he introduced himself and what most people thought of him as. But his closest friends called him Willy, which is more familiar.

      • equality says:

        “Middle class wannabe pretentious people will also use those nicknames to sound posh.” So middle class people aren’t allowed to shorten their children’s names?

  17. Beach Dreams says:

    We already know he’s a messy drunk via those incidents Digital Unicorn mentioned. And the fact that he was hungover at his own wedding…well. No clue why he’s pushing this manufactured storyline with Mike. Is it yet another failed effort to make him relatable? Is it to counter any growing whispers of him having a drinking problem? Kate’s been hinted to have issues with alcohol too over the years, so maybe this is to counter whispers about their true marriage and family dynamic. Curious.

  18. Lady Digby says:

    Well at least Willy didn’t have to explain why he’s known as One Peg Willy!

  19. JaneS says:

    I wish people would stop normalizing alcohol intake as a man virtue.
    Sure, bar hopping is a pretty much a college thing.

    But at 40, most cut way back.
    Tinsdale “ribbing” an Adult with 3 children about his ability to hold his booze is low class.

    Grow up Mike “one of the Lads” that schtick is old.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      JaneS, it wasn’t that long ago that there was an article with pictures of Wont and friends at a night club, so this isn’t so far back in the past as you might think.

  20. ChattyCath says:

    It’s half a minute to midnight on the future clock and we get articles like this. Mike Tindall is gross and low class. I’m waiting for him to go too far. He has? One rule for the likes of him another for H&M