Prince Harry bestowed sweet nickname upon Kate Middleton out of respect

Prince Harry had a special, affectionate nickname for Kate Middleton during their close relationship before the rift within the Royal Family occurred.

Despite the current strained relationship within the Royal Family, there is speculation that Kate's diagnosis may facilitate a reunion between Harry and his family.

Reports suggest that he privately reached out to Kate and William following her announcement on Friday regarding her cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatment.

While any discussions took place in private, it is believed that Harry did not typically refer to his sister-in-law as "Kate." Instead, he allegedly used a different endearing nickname for her, reported The Mirror.

Kate now has a string of titles to pick from, but she is said to have only started using the nickname "Kate" while at university. It's believed she previously preferred to go by her full name of Catherine - and that's the angle Harry continued to follow when he was close to his brother's wife. It's said he would always refer to her as "Cath".

Kate has previously admitted that she doesn't mind which name people choose to call her. As well as Catherine, Kate and Cath, the duchess is also called 'babe' and 'darling' by her husband, 'mummy' by her children and while at school she was known as 'Squeak'. The latter reportedly derived from the name of a guinea pig.

Kate and her younger sister Pippa both had pet guinea pigs, named Pip and Squeak, which they later took nicknames from, with Pippa obviously becoming Pip and Kate left with the other.

It's claimed Harry was "devastated" by the news before he decided to reach out privately.