The royal parents are supposed to share their baby’s name with Queen Elizabeth II before announcing it. From Louis to Archie, the birth of a baby in the British royal family has always invited intense speculation about his or her name. In fact, bookmakers even bet on royal baby names.
A lot of thought goes into choosing a child’s name but in the case of the UK royals, the process also involves abiding by some rules. Here are some of them:
Royal babies do not have a surname
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis do not carry an official surname, although they use Cambridge when required, in honour of their parent’s assigned dukedom. However, there are some exceptions — Meghan and Prince Harry’s son Archie was given the last name Mountbatten-Windsor.
Official portrait of the British royal family clicked on the day of the christening of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son Archie.
Royal parents choose at least three names
Prince William is known to have four names, reports Independent, while the Duchess of Cambridge’s children have three names each. Princess Eugenie also gave her child three names — August Philip Hawke.
Names allowed further down the line of succession
It is not unknown that many members of the royal family share names–12 royal babies have reportedly been named Albert since Queen Victoria’s birth in 1819 while nine are known to have been named Victoria over the past two centuries.
The further down the line of succession, the more acceptable is it for a royal to grant their baby a unique name, Carolyn Harris, professor of history at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and author of Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting, was reported as saying by Independent.
Queen’s approval not needed but has to be told beforehand
Members of the royal family are expected to share the name of their child with Queen Elizabeth II before announcing it. This is, however, a more “informal conversation,” as mentioned by royal commentator Kate Williams. “Of course they have such respect for the Queen that if she says ‘I really don’t like that name,’ they’d definitely take that into account,” she was quoted as saying.
Queen bestows titles
It is up to the monarch to bestow a title on the child if she decides. Meghan Markle had recently claimed in her controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey how her son Archie was denied a royal title.
