Calling a girl princess.. flirt, friendly, both.. neither?

[Anonymous]

With the countless ways people address eachother.. just curious
guys: if you call a girl princess.. are you doing that generally to flirt.. be friendly? Something else?
I have a friend that I’ve known for almost 10 years.. things have largely stayed friendly over the years.. we were intimate for a few months back in 2016 before he moved away (I’m still in Northern California.. he moved to southern).. the other day when I sent him a picture of something.. he sent “good morning princess” back.. I went with it with a chuckle.. figuring he might be joking.. when I mentioned that if I’m princess.. that would make you my loyal adviser. He said lol.. thought you were gonna say I’m you’re king. I laughed and said something off the cuff.. and he mentioned that he was serious when he said princess.
just wondering if referring to a girl as princess like that.. trying to be flirty? Friendly? Maybe a little both? Opinions always helpful and appreciated..

Flirt

Friendly

Both

Neither

[Insightfull]

I had an ex I called Princess Prettylady and it was totally flirty. Actually, at first it was flirty, but became a loving nickname. That made me her Prince. Saying he's your King is a uneven balance of power.

Other than that I almost never have called anyone Princess. The only time I can think of was today actually. I was telling a story about the Principal (male) and Vice Principal (female) at my school and almost said Principal and Princess

[Asker]

Thanks for the opinion.. makes sense.. wasn’t sure how to take it.. we have a long friendship history which matters to me but yea when he said that at first.. that’s why I joked about him being my loyal advisor, cause I thought he was joking. That’s when he made the comment about how he thought I was gonna say king and then mentioned he was serious about calling me princess.. so it was like yea.. do I take this as you being flirty with me? Or just being friendly ya know? But thank you again.

[Insightfull]

Come to think of it, you called him your loyal advisor, which is an uneven balance of power, and then he said he's your king. So what he said could be interpreted as an attempt to level the playing field. Also, some people enjoy power games. It's not my kinda but lots of people, so yea

It could be flirty. Maybe call him your prince, if you like equality.

You have a long friendship history, so he might just be being friendly.

Do you want him to be flirting?

Frankly, the more that I think about it, the more it seems like a balance of power thing. I think he felt diminished by your placing him in a subservient role. I would feel that way.

[Asker]

That makes a lot of sense.. he jokes around a lot.. so I honestly thought he was joking.. I’d wanted to say king but was afraid I’d misread what he’d said at first.. so played it safe.. wasn’t until he said that he meant princess comment that I was like oh ok.. it’s just confusing sometimes cause he does joke around a lot, so it can be hard sometimes to tell when something’s real or just a joke. I thanked him for the smile and he sent a 🙂 back.

[codycccccccccc]

That sometimes you call your 6 year old daughter

[Asker]

That’s true.. I have friends with kids who do that.. which is why I’m wasn’t sure if I should take that as flirt, or friendly