Royal Baby Named Prince Louis
The Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge have named their third child Louis Arthur Charles.
The couple's
second son was born at 11:01 BST on Monday at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's
Hospital in London, weighing 8lb 7oz.
A tweet from
Kensington Palace said the baby would be known as His Royal Highness
Prince Louis of Cambridge (pronounced Lou-ee, not Lou-iss).
The new
prince is fifth in line to the throne.
Louis is one
of the middle names of Prince William and of the new prince's brother, George.
It was also
the first name of Lord Mountbatten - his great-great-great-uncle - who was
killed by the IRA in 1979.
Lord
Mountbatten had a strong influence in the upbringing of great-nephew Prince
Charles and was described by the latter as "the grandfather I never
had".
Arthur is
also one of the duke's middle names, and was a middle name of King George VI -
the Queen's father.
The pool of
names considered suitable for a prince is not large and yet, the wait between
birth and public naming suggests there was some indecision about what to call
the new baby.
It did give
punters four days to place their bets, though - and most of them will be
disappointed.
Louis
certainly wasn't the front-runner as far as the bookies were concerned, but it
is clearly a family favourite.
William and
George both have it as a middle name.
But with its
French and German origins, it will no doubt generate some eyebrow-raising,
Brexit-related comment.
There will
also no doubt be some confusion over the pronunciation (Loo-ee not Loo-iss).
What is
certain is that we are unlikely to see much of Prince Louis of Cambridge in the
coming months and years.
His parents
remain determined to bring up all three of their children away from the
public's gaze as much as is possible.
Bookmakers
had Arthur as the favourite name for the prince, followed by James and Philip.
Historian
Judith Rowbotham said Louis is "not a traditional Windsor name" and a
"little surprising" - but said it was still a safe choice for the
royals.
"It's
very much an acknowledgement of a wider heritage," Dr Rowbotham said,
adding that it is also "very much an affectionate tribute" to the
Prince of Wales, who was "deeply devoted" to Lord Mountbatten.
Among those
who reacted to the news was singer and former One Direction star Louis
Tomlinson, who tweeted: "Young Louis welcome to the world. I'll take you
under my wing lad. The Adidas tracksuit is in the post!"
Louis is the
71st most popular name for a boy in England and Wales, according to the Office
for National Statistics (ONS).
The name was
38th out of the top 100 baby names for boys in 2004 but since then has been
declining in popularity.
In 2016, 911
newborn boys were named Louis by their parents compared to more than 5,000 who
were named George.
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