Once Prince William started serving in the British military, he had to go by something other than his royal moniker — i.e., a first and last name. As Prince Charles is the Prince of Wales, both William and Prince Harry took the country as their surname while in the armed service. According to Marie Claire, William and Harry were given this surname when they started nursery as they were the first royals not to be home-schooled.
So while William was known as the Duke of Cambridge and His Royal Highness to the royal family and British public, to his school and military friends, he was simply William Wales. This name came to be a source of humor among his colleagues in the British army — especially when he came to be known as Flying Officer Wales in the Royal Air Force (via London Net). They soon came up with the nickname “Billy the Fish,” referring to a character in the British comic “Viz.”
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