Gavin & Stacey came with some new additions when it returned on Christmas Day – most notably in the form of the titular couple’s three children. 

It was revealed that in the intervening 10 years since the BBC sitcom was last on our screens Stacey had given birth to Harri, Meagan and Caitlin.

Now, the show’s co-creator and co-writer Ruth Jones has revealed where the names came from, with a link to both a Shipman family member and the Royal family. 

Speaking to Wales Online, the Nessa actor explained: “It was a little nod to Pam’s love of the royal family, we wanted it to be transferred through Gavin into their name choices.

“So it is a little nod to the royal family.”

Harri, Meagan and Caitlin = Harry, Meghan and Kate, see?

Of course, they were not the only children to feature in the Christmas special, as the episode also saw us reintroduced to Nessa and Smithy’s son, Neil The Baby. 

Oscar Hartland played the character as a baby in the final series of Gavin & Stacey, and was invited back to reprise the role for the new special.

James Corden previously revealed on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show: “Shall I tell you what’s really amazing? When we shot the last series of Gavin & Stacey, Nessa and Smithy had obviously had their baby, so we had, on set, two babies who would be Neil The Baby, so if one was crying, we’d switch it out for the other one.

“The actor who is playing Neil The Baby is one of those babies. And he’s absolutely fantastic.”

Ruth also noted: “And the other baby, Ewan [Kennedy] came to say hello as well, so it was lovely.”

The Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.