Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

The royal baby has a name! It is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. She will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.

Why is the royal baby's name Charlotte? Meaning, history, namesakes and surname

 

 

Two days after her arrival into the world the new princess's name has been officially announced today. Weighing 8lb 3oz, Charlotte, the name given to the newest member of the Royal Family, was short odds with the bookies.

An official statement released this afternoon said: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. "The baby will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge."

Charlotte's parents are understood to have had a few ideas for names in mind and waited to confirm which one was right for their daughter, possibly conferring with their family when they visited. But the decision of what to call their second child was William and Kate's alone, and the name was chosen simply because they liked it.

Her middle names were chosen in honour of Charlotte's great-grandmother the Queen, and her late grandmother Princess Diana. So after keeping a joyous nation waiting, why did they settle on Charlotte?

Predecessor: Born Sophia, Queen Charlotte adopted the name given to the royal baby

 

It is thought William and Kate may have chosen Charlotte - the feminine version of Charles - in honour of the Duke's father, the Prince of Wales.

The name has historic royal links having already had a Queen Charlotte and Princess Charlottes - although they were all several hundreds of years ago. Although born Sophie in 1744, Queen Charlotte, who was married to George III, shunned her Christian name to go by the title. She was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from their marriage in 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms in 1801, after which she was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1818.

Historical link: Charlotte, Princess Royal, was born in 1766

 

In 1766 Queen Charlotte gave birth to a daughter, who she called Charlotte. She was known as the Princess Royal. The daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick was Princess Charlotte of Wales.

Born in 1796, had she outlived both her grandfather King George III and her father, she would have become Queen. However, she died following aged just 21 in 1817 following childbirth, leading to a mass outpouring of national grief.

And it could be that Kate wanted to include her family's heritage in the naming process as well, with Charlotte being the middle name of her sister Pippa.

Tragic: Princess Charlotte of Wales died aged just 21 following childbirth

 

Surname

Royals don't tend to use their surnames much - Prince William is known as Captain Wales in the army for example.

His father Charles is the Prince of Wales so William grew up as Prince William of Wales in the same way his son is Prince George of Cambridge. Day to day Charlotte will be known as Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. But if she does need a surname (most likely for marriage) she will be styled Mountbatten-Windsor.

 

Titles

Until a few years ago the Duke and Duchess' daughter would not have been entitled to call herself a princess.

In 1917 George V decreed that the titles HRH - and so the title prince and princess - were limited to the monarch, the children of the sovereign's sons as well as the Prince of Wales' first grandson.

If those rules had still being in force Charlotte would have been styled Lady Charlotte Mountbatten-Windsor.

However, shortly before Prince George's birth the Queen used an ancient style of legal powers to repeal the rules allowing all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales can carry the title HRH, meaning the newborn will be known as HRH Princess Charlotte.

 Congratulations to William and Kate!