I still feel a little bit hungover from all of the Royal Baby excitement yesterday. It was a fun day, and I enjoyed how compact it was: the first news of the morning was that the Duchess of Cambridge had checked into the hospital, and there was a steady stream of news, speculation, gossip, photos and announcements throughout the day. Kate is currently at Kensington Palace with the new baby. William is there, and I suspect Prince George and Princess Charlotte still have the same weekday schedule as always (nursery school and big-kid school). I also suspect Carole Middleton is just flat-out staying with them right now, which is fine with me: this is one of the those moments where Kate needs her mom there and every woman understands.
As for the news… there’s no news, really. The Queen is apparently at Windsor Castle right now – or she was yesterday – but she’ll see the new baby soon enough, I’m sure. Harry and Meghan are in London, and I bet they’ve already popped by to see the baby. I still believe that Kate will find some way to take the baby to her parents’ house in Bucklebury or to Anmer Hall for a time.
The only news yet to come is the baby’s name. I had forgotten this, but apparently they wait two days after the birth to announce the name. When they made us wait for George’s name, it was because (they said) they wanted to tell the Queen first. Buckingham Palace later indicated that it wasn’t necessary to tell the Queen first, so they should just do whatever. Still, they waited two days to announce Charlotte’s name too. Basically, I don’t think we’ll get a name until tomorrow. I still have my fingers crossed for T’Challa, Loki, Lupo, Thomas and Sebastian. But I have a feeling the name will involve Albert, Arthur, Michael, Philip and/or Edward. Think of the mustiest, most old-fashioned name and that’s what they’ll name this baby.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’m guessing it’ll be Thomas.
I just read, on Twitter, that the charity they named (for any gift donations) in honor of the baby’s birth is “Guy’s and St. Thomas”… so Thomas may not be far off (for at least one of the names!).
I was thinking Arthur, but now I’m feeling Phillip. It would honor Prince Phillip who is in ill health, and Pippa (who may have that as her name, in which case I think Kate would let her have it).
I have a 2 year old Philip–aka Pippy Whipps–so would love to see the name come back into circulation 🙂
Some outlets were reporting that they will wait a bit longer out of respect for yesterday’s attack in Toronto. Hope all my fellow Torontonians on here are safe!
As for the name my bet is Arthur
They may announce it tomorrow and thereby reduce coverage of a public outing which Harry and Meghan will do. The Cambridges need to grab as many headlines as they can now because very soon it will be Meghan Meghan and more Meghan.
OK sure, it’ll be to grab headlines and not because that’s what they’ve done the last two times.
@Lela, terrible tragedy in Toronto. They don’t seem to be releasing the names of the victims. I’m in the west end and so are my family and friends, but we just know until we get names. Am sickened by it.
From what I’ve heard the only actual name released so far is Anne Marie D’Amico. I’m assuming they’re still trying to get ahold of some people’s next of kin.
They’ve also said at least two Korean nationals are dead… and three are possibly unaccounted for. Not sure how up to date that info is now, though.
I’m guessing Leroy.
Lol.
Also, George and Sebastian are our dog’s names so….please no.
LOL @ Leroy…that’d be too funny! George, Charlotte and Leroy, hahahaha.
If I had to guess I’d say Arthur Philip, or Philip Arthur.
We are so used to looking to other family members that it has escaped everyone’s notice that William has named his older children after his father. If he uses either Philip or Arthur, it will be a hat trick.
Charles’s full names are Charles Philip Arthur George,
George, Charlotte (Charlie?) and T’Challa.
Leopold! I so want him to be named Leopold. It’s an old timey Queen Victoria’s son/uncle name, so it’s acceptable to their naming conventions.
Leo would be cute!
Leopold absolutely no way….very toxic history.
I know, but a girl can dream. The first King Charles didn’t have a good go of it, but his name still was reused! #NotAllLeopolds
Toxic is the perfect way to describe King Leopold.
Memurs – The first English King Charles didn’t have a good go at it, but he wasn’t the first “King Charles” – there has been dozens of them in various countries. The name also hasn’t been used since the 1680’s, when the second King Charles – son of the first – died. There hasn’t been a Leopold that wasn’t related to *that* Leopold though – and there was only one after him.
I love that name as well – but it’s just too toxic.
Naming a baby Leopold would be like naming him Adolf.
I’m hoping for Phillip, after his great grandfather. It would make the old guy happy while he still alive.
My bets are on Philip or Michael.
There have been some crazy Leopolds in history though- I think, like James, it doesn’t have the most fortunate of connotations. I’m hoping for Arthur, that’s a great name.
Boohoo. I need to know that name. I hope it’s Thomas, but I’m going with Phillip. I also think Michael and Charles could be in there somewhere. Maybe Phillip Charles Michael.
I think it’ll be Phillip Thomas!
At some point yesterday, Middleton stopped looking like a word and had to Google if I was spelling it right even though I knew I was.
Still going with Arthur Philip Henry as the name.
I haven’t had to think of a baby name in 24 years! Last Inoaid attention, Arthur, Philip, Albert, even George were very unpopular names. Have any of them they changed and are liked now?
We do have a lot of Thomas and michaels still.
Ummm…no. T’Challa is reserved for Meghan and Harry’s firstborn.
Why not Carl? Or Victor (homage to Queen Victoria)? Just call him Rex and really mess with people.
Victor is good, actually. My kids have been watching Leap on Netflix non-stop so I’m starting to like that name.
Musty, you say? Fussy, perhaps? Or maybe you’d just prefer some vintage Olde English snobbery?
Prince Peregrine Montague Algernon. The third.
There are English dudes walking around with these names RIGHT NOW. 🙂
I raise you Torquill Maurice Alfred Archibald Kimble!!! 😊 some dukes and their heirs!!!
LOL!! YES!!
Torquill Tarquin Tumbleford-Smythe!
My future son everyone!
Peregrine is so extra though.
I hope they call him Perry for short. Even if he is a duke and has the most divine house in England.
@LAK
Isn’t Peregrine the first name of the current Duke of Devonshire, Debo’s son? If I recall, his nickname from childhood was Stoker.
Tommy: that will be him.
Alfred Edgar Augustus
Philip Arthur Wolfgang Ragnar. Please.
I vote for Thomas Phillip Michael (they’re just doing three names, right? Not four or five like the older royals have?).
That is just too Miami Vice. ☺️
If you mix up that order, Philip Michael Thomas, it’s Sonny Crockett’s partner’s real name from the OG MIAMI VICE. Please don’t ask me why or how I remember that, lol.
I’m betting on Arthur.
Edmund?
Edmund is scattered throughout the history of English Kings and Queens.
Also the first name of Charles Spencer’s second son.
Named I believe after Diana’s uncle who committed suicide in 1984.
Why are there so few Richard’s in recent royal times?
The Duke of Gloucester’s first name is Richard.
I think Kate could have held off on the homage to Princess Diana this time. If anyone is going to wear a similar red outfit to Diana it should be Megan. Kate got to wear the polka dot dress when presenting George and I thought that was sweet, but she could have left the red outfit to Megan. Or at least worn a red dress that wasn’t so similar to Diana’s look.
It was St. George’s Day–red and white.
I get why she chose red and white for St. George’s Day, but did she have to choose a Peter Pan collar just like Diana?
Has anyone really taken a good look at the dress Diana was wearing after Harry’s birth? It was like a red coat dress with a red-and-white striped blouse underneath with a bow tied at the neck. It was in no shape, form, or fashion a peter pan style collar.
I think Kate looked great. It was the appropriate color for the day, a flattering color for her hair and complexion, and a forgiving cut for a still-swollen belly.
I have never understood her constant callbacks to Diana’s sartorial choices. Yesterday’s dress was painfully on the nose, and after so many fashion references, it just seems a tad ridiculous. What is so difficult about forging her own path? Being her own person?
Not to mention the dress was just…interesting. I am trying to be nice this week 🙂
I like the way the Sophia of Sweden just went with jeans and sweater!
Or Tatiana Santo Domingo after her first child. Track pants, running shoes, and a winter jacket that wasn’t buttoned up properly. And no make-up. That, I can relate to. Hubby Andrea carried the car seat with baby in it.
I did look at Diana’s whole outfit, but it really only matters what the photos show. The $ shot is the parents holding the baby. That is the image that will be remembered and referenced. The area that covers is from the arms of the mother holding the baby to the head. Only the parts of their outfits from the chest up will be seen. And what’s noticible is red with white collar.
I am wondering if the brothers kind of want this constant referencing of their mother? Or that Kate is trying to link herself to Diana to keep William’s attention? Either way, it’s creepy. Hope Meghan does not go down that path.
Alfred (Prince Freddie!) hasn’t been used in a while…
Or Frederick.
I like Fredrick. I think Freddy is a super name for a king’s scampish little brother.
William does have a cousin Frederick Windsor (Freddie), who is Prince Michael’s son. I don’t see that happening as the new prince’s name.
+1 for Freddie.
We’ve had a super, scandalous Prince Frederick and a really dull, blank Prince Frederick. Time for one in between.
Frederick would harken back to a son of the first Duke of Cambridge who didn’t die young and without kids. Eventually that D of C became George II. But there is already Lord Freddie Windsor right now.
Francis would be a nod to Michael Middleton, Louis Mountbatten, and one of Diana’s middle names.
Still putting in a marker for Ian being in there, although highly unlikely.
Jezz, they are really running out of names.
Plantagenet Colonial Tavern Wench IV
I kid I kid. No way that would fit on the christening certificate.
Dammit he is a Prince….make it fit or else!!!
Ugh. Back to ye olde drawing board. Or…I could do a Thonas Beckett inspired nursery!
I’m going with Jack Philip Arthur
I like John Philip Michael.
I love it too, but the family has an aversion to the name John. They’re still pissed that King John ceded so many rights to the lords, and I think the last prince John, the Queen’s uncle, was a severe epileptic with autism who died very young (watch the excellent “The Lost Prince” for an account of his remarkable life.) I had heard that Princess Diana had wanted to name Harry “John” after her father, but was denied by the family.
I hope they go with Michael or Thomas. Classic names but they don’t appear a lot among the royals. Even Queen Elizabeth bucked tradition by naming Andrew his name.
@Mumbles – I forgot about the queen’s uncle. I was thinking of Diana’s father. Thomas and Michael are great names but doesn’t the queen have a cousin named Prince Michael of Kent (and his heinous wife, Princess Michael of Kent)? Prince Philip’s father was named Andrew, wasn’t he? I could be wrong.
Every John in their history has been unfortunate.
As for that John of Magna Carter fame….some historical revision which has replaced truth. Yes he was forced to sign the document, but he had the Pope rescind it immediately and carried on as usual.
It was ressurected during the reigns of his son and grandson who each in turn reissued it as a bargaining chip in disputes with the Barons. It became law during the reign of his grandson.
From the royal POV, it was Henry 3 and Edward 1’s fault for the loss of so much privilege and rights, not John.
I’m betting on Michael as one of the middle names, after Kate’s father, Michael Middleton. And James or Arthur as the first name. I don’t think Charles will be anywhere in the mix, because Charlotte was named after Prince Charles.
Charlotte may just as easily have been named after Carole, as they come from the same root. Charlotte is Pippa’s middle name, so she might have been named after her grandmother and aunt.
The BRF already has James Wessex (age 10), although that might not concern them.
My outside idea of Ian would be a way of using John without using John.
Lol. I thought Charles is considered a somewhat unlucky royal name. LAK?
I think Kate’s red dress was a tribute to St. George’s day – why would it be a tribute to Diana? If Kate wanted to pay tribute (and be noticed for it) to Diana’s red dress she would have worn it when she left hospital with Charlotte in 2015, when it wasn’t St. George’s day. She wouldn’t have known then that she was going to have a third child, so she would have thought that as her ‘final’ opportunity to pay tribute to Diana in red.
That she wore it yesterday instead minimises the Diana connection a whole lot because it was also St. George’s day.
Regarding baby’s name – I think it’ll be something similar to Arthur Philip Michael or Arthur Philip James. Maybe even Arthur Philip Frances. Somehow I feel that Arthur Philip will be in there somewhere.
And Pippa has been seen going to Kensington Palace just a little while ago!
My guess is that she knew it was a boy before, so for the second son she wore it. She didn’t know Charlotte was going to be a girl (presumably. Maybe she did.)
I don’t think it makes sense as a tribute to St George’s Day unless they knew when she would have the baby (planned induction?)
Basically the dress as a tribute doesn’t make sense unless – and this is shocking for us CBers, I know – Kate and Will knew things about this pregnancy they weren’t sharing, lol.
If it’s just a Diana tribute because Diana had a baby like Kate did! then that’s dumb. ha.
I can totally believe that Kate purchased the dress in advance when she knew about her due date. She loves a theme for her clothing choices!
I just noticed from these photos of William that when he smiles, he really looks like Wallace from “Wallace and Grommit.” Has anyone else noticed that?
Wallace was designed to resemble Charles, so there you go!
That’s fantastic. I love that.
I’m so over all the Diana homage. Enough.
And anything but Arthur.
Little bear Bjorn
I am surprised at all the clamor for James. William’s first cousin who is only TEN years old is James, Viscount Severn. (Sophie and Edward’s son). I hope that would not be the first names. Seems rude to me, given how many other names there are to choose from. If is a name of a living relative at least have the other person be at a wider age spread.
That doesn’t really matter in this family. The Queen has a cousin Edward but still gave that name to her youngest child.
Also, Charles Spencer has a daughter called Charlotte Diana who was 2yrs old when William’s Charlotte Diana was born.
You forgot the most obvious reason it won’t be James; that’s her brother’s name. Why on earth would someone give their child the same name as one’s sibling?
@Sam Louise – that’s the advantage to “Philip” – her sister’s name is Philippa but no one calls her that, she’s “Pippa”, and I believe Kate is closer to her sister than to her brother. So “Philip” covers the Windsor and Middleton bases, but without awkwardness.
I think Philip and Michael will definitely be in the name somewhere. Philip is obviously the DoE ‘s name and one of Charles’s names, but I wonder if they use Michael if they wont use something like Arthur (which is part of William and Charles’s names.)
I’m not a fan of Arthur but meh. not my kid, ha.
i really like the name Frances so I hope she doesn’t steal it from me! (Or Arthur, that’s my sons name). I can get on board with Philip or Thomas. Maybe Stephen?
Frances is female, Francis is male.
Diana’s middle name was Francis, Mike’s middle name is Francis. It would be 2 birds with one stone if they chose that name.
Also one of Lord Louis Mountbatten’s many names. Nicholas is in there too, but associations with the czars might not be good.
The Geneva-based reformer John Calvin made it a rule that all children should be named after an Old Testament character. Refusal to obey meant being thrown in jail. So, how about, Ezekial, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jonah, Abraham?
Thomas is doing the rounds as the first name, with Arthur Philip and James coming after. They do like their boring, safe names, so am going with this one over Arthur or Frederick.
I’m still running with “Philip”, not just as a gesture to the Queen’s love for her declining husband, but because Kate’s sister, Pippa, is actually named Philippa – Pippa is a nickname for Philippa. So “Philip” would honor both sides of their family, and as I’m guessing this is Kate’s last child, they might want to work everything in. The other 2-3 names will I’m thinking honor granddads (maybe both with Michael and Charles) and then add Arthur or William. I don’t see Thomas at all, somehow. We’ll see!
I have a Thomas, so I’m partial, but I would be shocked if that was the name. I am voting for Phillip!
I’m hoping for Phillip too. And Michael and Charles fit well.
Arthur Philip Michael. Done. And I bet she just stays at their home versus going to her parents’. The kids are in school and I doubt she’s going to want to shake up their routine. It was one thing when she had George-but now with more space and more kids, it’s probably just way easier to be at KP or go to Amner on the weekend. (Of course her mom is staying with her to help.)
This is my guess too. Honors
Both grandfathers, William (since both William and Charles have Arthur and Philip in their names) and Prince Philip plus Pippa.
I think it could be Arthur Phillip Francis….
Arthur = Both William and Charles have Arthur as one of their middle names, as did QE2 beloved father, King George VI.
Philip = For Prince Philip, Philippa (Pippa) Middleton and its another one of Charles and William’s middle names.
Francis = Both Michael Middleton and Princess Diana have Francis/Frances as middle names.
It covers all the bases really, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they use George again as one of the middle names considering the baby was born on St George’s Day.
I really feel Phillip is going to be in there somewhere
As long as it isn’t Humphrey, I can live with it.
I feel it could be Louis or Anthony
isn’t Louis one of George’s middle names?
What about Albert in honor of QEII’s father?
@Missmarirose – I think they honored him with “George”, as when he ascended the throne after his brother’s abdication, Prince Albert took the name King George VI – I’m not sure why, but he did. So they’ve already covered that.
Do they have to have the ok from the Queen when choosing names?
Sarah Chatto’s second son is named Arthur. But there is no Thomas, no Phillip other than DOE.
Philip is one of Charles’s names.
We’ve analysed the naming of all their babies ad nauseum and somehow overlooked that all are named after Charles. If they pick either Arthur or Philip it will be a hattrick. Charles’s full name is Charles Philip Arthur George.
Loving the name speculation! In the UK would Arthur get abbreviated to “Artie” as it would here in the US?
Philip Michael Charles, BET!! or some form of it!
Al the living grandfathers.
Although I’d rather Philip or Charles be left for Harry. Then again Meghan and Harry could have Henry 2.0. 😀
simon Would be nice, but outside of the box for them.
Arthur William Philip. The second son has father’s name right? Or it might be Albert William Michael?
My bet is on John for the first name.