Monday 22 July 2013

Duchess of Cambridge goes into labour

After much recent speculation the Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine of Britain) has gone into labour and been taken to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London. Following the recent changes to the succession laws the child will be heir to the throne (or, at the moment, the heir apparent to the heir apparent to the heir apparent) regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl. Thus it seems a future British monarch will be born today (as it is my birthday I naturally think it a good choice of date!)
The child will be a Royal Highness and a Prince(ss) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (and styled Prince(ss) X of Cambridge within Britain). As for names, it would be expected that they would choose one with a British royal history, preferably one already borne by a British monarch (but if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have as little sense of history as their Swedish counterparts they may of course choose a foreign name without royal roots, but I somehow feel Queen Elizabeth or Prince Charles will put a stop to any such ideas).
For a girl the most likely names are perhaps Elizabeth or Victoria, with Anne and Mary as other options. Personally I also think Charlotte would be a good choice, it being the name of the "lost" Queen of Britain, i.e. the only child of the future George IV, who died in childbirth in 1817, so that the crown eventually passed to her cousin Victoria, who was born in 1819. Charlotte would also commemorate two of the baby's grandparents, Prince Charles and Carole Middleton.
If it is a boy, there is a wider range of choices, as Britain has had more male than female monarchs. George, James, Alexander, Edward, Henry and Richard are some of the options.

4 comments:

  1. Happy birthday!!!

    Alberto

    ReplyDelete
  2. Several thoughts:

    - Fortunately, I believe you are correct that a foreign name with no royal history is an unlikely choice - not only due to the influence of Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales, but also because names of foreign origin are less fashionable in Britain than they are in Sweden.

    - Technically, given that the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 has not yet been brought into force (cf. Sections 5(2) and 5(3)), a girl would for the moment be heir presumptive to the heir apparent to the heir apparent. I do not doubt that the Act will be brought into force in the near future, but as it may not occur for another year or several, it is perhaps worth noting that in the overwhelmingly unlikely (but theoretically possible) event that the couple had a daughter and a son in quick succession and that the queen, Prince of Wales, and Duke of Cambridge all passed away prior to the Act's being brought into force, the son would automatically inherit the throne.

    - A very, very happy birthday to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, that is true in a formal manner, but as it has been stated that the birth would be treated as if the changes had already come into force I thought it acceptable to phrase it like that - but as it was a boy that does obviously not matter now.

      Yes, foreign names are less popular in Britain than in Sweden, but they might still choose a name without royal traditions. Prince William is not very traditional-minded, I think, but in such a matter I think Elizabeth II might be inclined to use her veto (like George V did in 1930).

      Delete

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