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| Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn |
Source: Obviously, the most famous Arthur was one that may never have existed, and sailed off centuries ago into Avalon. In addition, Queen Victoria had a son who was named Prince Arthur, who was Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (her last living son), and he had a son named Arthur who was Governor-General of South Africa in the 1920’s. Also, Arthur is one of Prince William’s three middle names.
Pro: Though history has long debated whether Arthur was indeed a real person (much less a king), there is little doubt that his name has great reverence within the canons of both British myth and literature. We still allude to Camelot when we refer to everyone from the Kennedys to the Obamas in America, and the world likely views Kate and Will in a similar way.
Con: While there's little risk he'll be king someday, there's always some, and being the first undisputed King Arthur is a lot of pressure to put on someone.
2. James
Source: James has been the name of two British monarchs, as well as seven Scottish kings, most recently James II of England (a seventeenth century king). Kate Middleton’s younger brother is also named James, as is Princess Diana's great-grandfather.
2. James
Source: James has been the name of two British monarchs, as well as seven Scottish kings, most recently James II of England (a seventeenth century king). Kate Middleton’s younger brother is also named James, as is Princess Diana's great-grandfather.
Pro: It’s a name steeped in both English and Scottish tradition, which is a good thing for British unity as the Scottish independence movement remains strong.
Con: The biggest one is that Will’s cousin is also named James (the Viscount Severn, or depending on how you handle the Letters Patent debate that surround the Earl of Wessex’s children, HRH Prince James, The Viscount Severn, and yes, I side with the latter). There is also the fact that King James II did not get along well with Parliament (there’s a reason they stopped using his name for a number of years. Additionally, Jacobitism, a period when there was a struggle with Hanoverians (the current British dynasty) and the Stuarts (the previous dynasty), started with James Francis Edward Stuart, so there’s a bit of a sting to the current monarchs.
3. Henry
Source: Well, for starters there are eight kings with this name. As a result, outside of Edward there's no name more popular in the royal monarchy than Henry. In addition to this, there are a plethora of Prince Henry's in recent times, most notably Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (the Queen's uncle, and one point the man who would have been her regent if her father had died while she was still a minor) and of course everyone's favorite royal Prince Harry (whose real name is Henry).
Pro: It's a name that doesn't have a huge risk of being king, which is good because the last King Henry caused quite a stir with his many wives and penchant for executing them. As a result, it's a way to celebrate one of the biggest names in the royal lexicon without inviting too much trouble; what's good for the spare ain't good for the heir, so to speak.
Con: Aside from Henry VIII, there's also the matter of being named after his wildly popular, but occasionally scandalized uncle. As much as the media may want another spare heir just like Harry, it's unlikely the royal family wants one who behaves as such.
4. Phillip/Philip
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| Prince Harry |
Source: Well, for starters there are eight kings with this name. As a result, outside of Edward there's no name more popular in the royal monarchy than Henry. In addition to this, there are a plethora of Prince Henry's in recent times, most notably Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (the Queen's uncle, and one point the man who would have been her regent if her father had died while she was still a minor) and of course everyone's favorite royal Prince Harry (whose real name is Henry).
Pro: It's a name that doesn't have a huge risk of being king, which is good because the last King Henry caused quite a stir with his many wives and penchant for executing them. As a result, it's a way to celebrate one of the biggest names in the royal lexicon without inviting too much trouble; what's good for the spare ain't good for the heir, so to speak.
Con: Aside from Henry VIII, there's also the matter of being named after his wildly popular, but occasionally scandalized uncle. As much as the media may want another spare heir just like Harry, it's unlikely the royal family wants one who behaves as such.
4. Phillip/Philip
Source: Prince Philip is obviously the inspiration for this, as he is Prince William’s grandfather, and as we just mentioned, a favorite of the Duke of Cambridge’s. Philip is also the final of William’s three middle names.
Pro: This is a great way to honor the Royal Family’s current patriarch, and it’s a name that has been added with great gusto to the Royal Family lexicon since the Queen married the Greek prince.
Con: Not much-with the likelihood that he'll stay off the throne out of the way, there's no risk of Philip I on the throne, and they already used one of William's middle names. I think this should be higher, personally.
5. Alexander/Alex
Source: It's a ridiculously popular middle name (the Queen's uncle the Duke of Kent as well as the current Duke of Gloucester both had it). The list of royal men who sported the name as their first name is relatively shorter. Some of the more notable examples include Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, who had two sons marry daughters of Queen Victoria, Alexander Mountbatton, the Marquess of Carisbrooke (grandson of Queen Victoria), Prince Alexander John of Wales (son of King Edward VII), and the current Earl of Ulster, son of the Duke of Gloucester (the Queen's first cousin).
Pro: It's definitely one of those names that hasn't reached the throne but has been sported for a long time by the royals-plus, with Alexandra continually doing well on the girl's side, if this a name style Will and Kate like and they are only doing two children-it might be now or never time.
Con: Prince Alexander John of Wales died after 24 hours, so there is a bit of stigma there. Plus, it's one of Prince George's middle names-shouldn't they spread the wealth a bit?
6. Richard
Source: I don't actually recall this one being bandied about with great frequency last time, certainly not in the Top 10 names. It's definitely a name storied in English history, with three monarchs sporting the name, including the famed Richard the Lionheart. There's also Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the younger brother to King Edward IV, and the current Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, who is the Queen's first cousin.
Pro: It's a name that hasn't been used for a royal family member recently, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge showed with George that they aren't worried about names that are a bit antiquated. The Duke of Gloucester is one of the less controversial of the Queen's cousins (notice how Michael is nowhere near this list).
Con: The entire story behind the Duke of York, who was killed by his uncle King Richard III along with his older brother is a bit discomforting and might not be something we want to recall, particularly with Richard III's recent exhumation making headlines.
7. Louis
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| Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine |
Source: It's a ridiculously popular middle name (the Queen's uncle the Duke of Kent as well as the current Duke of Gloucester both had it). The list of royal men who sported the name as their first name is relatively shorter. Some of the more notable examples include Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, who had two sons marry daughters of Queen Victoria, Alexander Mountbatton, the Marquess of Carisbrooke (grandson of Queen Victoria), Prince Alexander John of Wales (son of King Edward VII), and the current Earl of Ulster, son of the Duke of Gloucester (the Queen's first cousin).
Pro: It's definitely one of those names that hasn't reached the throne but has been sported for a long time by the royals-plus, with Alexandra continually doing well on the girl's side, if this a name style Will and Kate like and they are only doing two children-it might be now or never time.
Con: Prince Alexander John of Wales died after 24 hours, so there is a bit of stigma there. Plus, it's one of Prince George's middle names-shouldn't they spread the wealth a bit?
6. Richard
Source: I don't actually recall this one being bandied about with great frequency last time, certainly not in the Top 10 names. It's definitely a name storied in English history, with three monarchs sporting the name, including the famed Richard the Lionheart. There's also Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the younger brother to King Edward IV, and the current Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, who is the Queen's first cousin.
Pro: It's a name that hasn't been used for a royal family member recently, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge showed with George that they aren't worried about names that are a bit antiquated. The Duke of Gloucester is one of the less controversial of the Queen's cousins (notice how Michael is nowhere near this list).
Con: The entire story behind the Duke of York, who was killed by his uncle King Richard III along with his older brother is a bit discomforting and might not be something we want to recall, particularly with Richard III's recent exhumation making headlines.
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| Prince Louis of Battenburg |
Source: There’s no shortage of King Louis’s (France has roughly twenty of them, depending on how you count some of the later ones), but your best bet to find a direction to Will and Kate is through Prince Louis of Battenburg, who was the grandfather of Prince Philip (and he also married a granddaughter of Queen Victoria). In addition to this, one of William’s middle names is Louis.
Pro: This is another way to honor Prince Philip. There seems to be quite an assumption that a male child would be honoring the Duke of Edinburgh, whom Prince William is very close with, and so this seems like a plausible guess.
Con: Louis is so completely associated with the French monarchy, it’s hard to believe they’d go this route. Plus, it's already one of George's middle names, so this is unlikely to be duplicated.
8. Edward
Source: There are no shortages of kings named Edward-the throne has hosted eight of them, in fact, and this is one of the most popular names in the Royal Family besides that. There's also Edward the Black Prince (son of King Edward III), Prince Edward the Duke of Kent (father of Queen Victoria), and two living royals: the Duke of Kent and the Earl of Wessex.
Pro: This is a major name in the British lexicon, and there's minimal risk that he'll end up becoming king (one of the holdups with this name for Prince George was that the British monarchy still shudders at what happened with King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson).
Con: Aside from the Wallis Simpson debacle, do we really need three Prince Edwards? The Earl of Wessex in particular is most commonly called Prince Edward in the media-wouldn't this be confusing?
9. Charles
8. Edward
Source: There are no shortages of kings named Edward-the throne has hosted eight of them, in fact, and this is one of the most popular names in the Royal Family besides that. There's also Edward the Black Prince (son of King Edward III), Prince Edward the Duke of Kent (father of Queen Victoria), and two living royals: the Duke of Kent and the Earl of Wessex.
Pro: This is a major name in the British lexicon, and there's minimal risk that he'll end up becoming king (one of the holdups with this name for Prince George was that the British monarchy still shudders at what happened with King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson).
Con: Aside from the Wallis Simpson debacle, do we really need three Prince Edwards? The Earl of Wessex in particular is most commonly called Prince Edward in the media-wouldn't this be confusing?
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| Prince Charles |
Source: Charles is of course the name of Prince William’s father, and the next monarch of England. It's also the name of Princess Diana's younger brother. In addition, this is one of Prince Harry’s middle names, and as the princes are quite close, would be a way for Will and Kate to honor the “current spare heir" by naming the new "spare heir" after him.
Pro: Charles is a very traditional name in the monarchy, and this would be a wonderful way to pay tribute to William's father. Naming a child after a father or grandfather is very common in the Royal Family.
Con: This doesn't seem as in-fashion these days as it was a hundred years ago, and there's a lot of bad will with the previous two King Charles. Plus, considering the media's fascination with skipping Charles on the way to the throne, would naming a spare heir after him exacerbate the British tabloids ("no Charles's will make the throne!")?
10. Andrew
Con: This doesn't seem as in-fashion these days as it was a hundred years ago, and there's a lot of bad will with the previous two King Charles. Plus, considering the media's fascination with skipping Charles on the way to the throne, would naming a spare heir after him exacerbate the British tabloids ("no Charles's will make the throne!")?
10. Andrew
Source: There has oddly not been a King Andrew in Britain (Hungary has had several), so this will be based on two Princes that are closely related to Prince William. First, there is his uncle, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, the younger brother of Prince Charles. Secondly, there is William’s great-grandfather, the father of Prince Philip, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Andrew is also an exceedingly common middle name in the royal family.
Pro: It’s classic, but not entirely dated. The name has risen in prominence within the Royal Family in recent years.
Con: The Duke of York is hardly a royal that one would want to emulate (he has courted controversy, along with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, for most of his adult life, most recently in an alleged underage sex scandal), and Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark's reputation has not enjoyed the sterling nature that his wife Princess Alice’s has.
I'm Surprised It's Not in Contention...
John
I'm Surprised It's Not in Contention...
John
Source: I’m clearly partial to this one, though the only British monarch that sported the name was King John, generally considered one of the Britain’s worst kings. Kate Middleton has three great-great grandfathers who sported the name, and John is the name of William’s grandfather (on Diana’s side).
Pro: This is probably the best way that William could pay homage to his mother if the child is a boy and still stick to a name that is common with the British monarchy.
Con: John is a fairly cursed name in the British family. In addition to King John, there’s John of Gaunt, perhaps the most significant man in the British Royal Family that never managed to take the throne, and most recently, Prince John, Queen Elizabeth’s young uncle who died at age thirteen from a seizure.
And there you have it-what's your guess for the fourth-in-line-to-the-throne? Share your thoughts in the comments!
And there you have it-what's your guess for the fourth-in-line-to-the-throne? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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