It will no doubt be a great joy to many people around the world when the Royal baby arrives and I hope it all goes without a hitch, but really, Blackleaf, do we have to be inundated with all the trivia connected to it every day, which many of us can do without until you announce the actually arrival!
It's already arrived. You would have known that had you actually bothered to read the thread.
I know a good, historic "strong female" name from the Royal line:
Matilda!
(Sounds like something that was given to a Cabbage Patch Doll)
A royal expert on the ITV News special which was broadcast yesterday afternoon, which showed us the live footage of Prince George arriving at the hospital with his dad to see his new baby sister and then Wills and Kate leaving the hospital with the new baby, mentioned that Matilda is one of the names that the new princess could be given. She mentioned that some English quees in the medieval times had names like Matilda, Maud and Isabella and said that the new princess could have one of those names rather than the usual ones bandied about, like Charlotte (the favourite), Alice (the second favourite), Alexandra, Victoria, Diana (I think one of her names will be Diana in honour of the woman who would have been her grandmother) or Elizabeth. I quite like Princess Isabella or Princess Matilda. Crystal is 1000/1 odds, but calling her Princess Crystal would make her sound like a brand of expensive tableware.
There have been a lot of males born into the Royal family in recent times (Charles, Edward, Andrew, William, Harry, George etc) but very few females. The new baby is the first Princess to be born into the British Royal Family since Princess Eugenie in 1990.
She was a Queen ... a Plantagenet Queen as I recall and she was one half of a particularly bloody civil war in England.
The Anarchy, against her cousin King Stephen.
Quote: Originally Posted by B00Mer
Kate will be happy it's a Girl.
She actually wanted another boy. Wills wanted a girl.
Unemployed woman has another baby
Yup another mouth to feed! The dad who only has a part time job in the transport industry is said to be "thrilled" as is his step mum, his half brother and a bloke who talks to plants and writes bad tempered letters to politicians, one of the the great grandparents almost smiled when she heard the news and the great grandfather wonders if it's got slitty eyes or some other affliction, and the taxpayer recently blew a million quid doing up the gaff the happy couple live in, it's apparently in a road called Kensington place.
She shouldn't be working if she has children. She should stay at home to look after them. William is the one who works.
HISTORY REPEATS
September 1984: Prince Charles takes his young son Prince William into the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, to see his new baby brother Prince Henry (who we now call Harry)
May 2015: Prince William takes his young son Prince George through the very same doorway to show him his new baby sister
Had this baby been born before 2013, she would not have been a princess.
According to a decree made by George V in 1917, the titles HRH and, therefore, prince and princess were restricted to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons and the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.
However, using one of the very few powers a British monarch now has, the Queen changed the rules in 2013 to ensure that all of the children of Prince William, rather than just George, would each be a Prince or Princess.
Possible names - the odds
According to bookmaker William Hill, the latest baby name odds are:
Charlotte - 5/2
Alice - 3/1
Elizabeth - 5/1
Olivia - 5/1
Victoria - 11/2
Ladbrokes latest betting:
Alice - 3/1
Charlotte - 3/1
Victoria - 5/1
Elizabeth - 6/1
Olivia - 7/1
Alexandra - 8/1
Diana - 10/1
Mary - 12/1
Frances - 25/1
Grace - 25/1
Samantha - 25/1
And Coral's betting:
Charlotte - 5/2
Alice - 3/1
Olivia - 4/1
Victoria - 6/1
Elizabeth - 6/1
Alexandra - 9/1
Diana - 10/1
Grace - 16/1
Mary - 16/1
Possible godparents - the odds
Princess Beatrice - 1/5
Princess Eugenie - 1/5
Peter Phillips - 1/1
Tiggy Pettifer - 5/4
Sam Waley-Cohen - 6/4
William Van Cutsem - 6/4
Alice St John Webster - 2/1
Alicia Fox-Pitt - 2/1
Eddie Van Cutsem - 2/1
Pippa Middleton - 2/1
Prince Harry - 2/1
Thomas van Straubenzee - 2/1
Mike Tindall - 3/1
Lady Iona Douglas-Home - 4/1
Earl Spencer - 5/1
Zara Phillips - 6/1
Guy Pelly - 8/1
Ben Fogle - 16/1
Victoria or David Beckham - 25/1
Boris Johnson - 100/1
David Cameron - 100/1
Significance in royal history
The last time a great-granddaughter of a still-serving sovereign was born in direct succession on the male line was Queen Elizabeth II's aunt 118 years ago.
King George VI's younger sister Princess Mary (above) was born in 1897 when her great-grandmother Queen Victoria was on the throne.
She arrived in Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year and her grandfather, the Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VII, was said to have suggested Diamond as a first name.
She was eventually christened Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, but was known as Mary.
Line of succession
The new royal baby has now become the fourth in line to the throne, bumping Prince Harry and everyone else below him one place down in the pecking order.
And it is far from impossible that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's second child could one day wear the crown herself, particularly if her brother, Prince George, fails to have children.
If she does become queen, the new baby will be the first to claim the throne since the law relating to the line of succession was changed in 2013.
Under the Succession to the Crown Act, princes no longer take precedence over their sisters, bringing an end to the system of male preference primogeniture which had been in place since the Act of Settlement of 1701.
That means the new princess will remain fourth in line to the throne regardless of whether or not her parents go on to have another son.
Settling in at home
The Cambridges are expected to spend Sunday at Kensington Palace, but may well head to Anmer Hall on Bank Holiday Monday.
Their country retreat on the Queen's Sandringham estate, in Norfolk, will be their base until at least the end of the month and probably most of the summer.
While in London, they are likely to be visited by proud grandparents Michael and Carole Middleton and possibly members of the royal family.
The Cambridges' country retreat, Anmer Hall in Norfolk
Worth £1bn before she's 10
The new baby heralds an era of girl power in the royal family. It has been almost 65 years since the last princess was born into such a prominent position within the House of Windsor.
And while Anne, the Princess Royal, born in 1950 in an age before the internet, was something of a “sporty spice”, going on to compete in the 1976 Olympic Games, the new princess is already being viewed as likely to be a more glamorous, more romantic leading lady.
Her every move, her every dress and her every hairstyle is certain to be scrutinised, studied and copied across the globe. Welcome to life as a princess in the 21st century. One retail expert has already estimated that the new princess will be worth in the region of £150 million a year to the economy – mainly as a benefit to the fashion and beauty industry.
Before she is even 10, she will be worth a billion pounds.
The reaction
David Cameron led the congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth their new daughter.
"I'm absolutely delighted for them," the Prime Minister declared on his Twitter feed.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that he and his wife Miriam wished them "all the best as their family grows".
"This is great news and an exciting time not only for them, but also Prince George," he said.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was "delighted" at the news and offered her "warmest congratulations" to the royal couple.
Royal baby: Everything we know about the new princess on Sunday morning - Telegraph