LIVE TV
India
Recommended Stories
London: So, the newly born British prince officially has a name and it has an Indian connection too.
By choosing the name George Alexander Louis for their son, third in line to the throne, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton have opted for a safe traditional choice and embraced 300 years of royal tradition.
The baby's last name Louis stands for family tradition and is likely to be a tribute to Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy of India before independence in 1947, according to royal historians.
Prince Charles was immensely fond of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. Known by the Royal Family as Uncle Dickie, he was assassinated by the IRA in August 1979.
While George stands for royalty and Alexander just possibly because they liked the name, they said.
George is resolutely royal, and has been the most popular name in the Royal Family over the past 300 years. There have been six King Georges, and the third in line is now set to become King George VII when he accedes to the throne.
The name George was the favourite with the bookmakers, and left Paddy Power having to pay out 250,000 pounds.
"George is obviously a tribute to the Queen's father and will, I imagine, give Her Majesty great pleasure," Robert Lacey, the historian and biographer, was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper.
"George was the favourite name from the start and so in that sense the Duke and Duchess reflected a popular trend. I think Prince William said he wanted to get to know him before they chose the name so they must feel he is a George."
George will also be seen as a tribute to the Queen's Elizabeth II's father. The Queen was reportedly told of Prince George's name when she met him for the first time yesterday.
Charles Mosley, author of Blood Royal, said, "It (George) was the name of the sovereigns under whom this country became a world player - in the 19th Century, defeating Napoleon, and in the 20th Century, winning two world wars."
"Louis is a nod in the direction of the Mountbatten element in the Royal Family. And indeed the surname of the royal family is still Mountbatten," Mosley told BBC.
The only major surprise in the royal couple's choice of names was that they did not include a nod to the Middleton family as many had expected the baby's names to include that of the Duchess of Cambridge's father, Michael, her brother, James, or grandfather, Peter, but none of the prince's three names has an obvious Middleton connection.
