The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their son George Alexander Louis. He will be known as "HRH Prince George of Cambridge." While I superstitiously refrained from saying so, George was actually my first choice. I
hope this will put to rest speculation that the Prince of Wales will
reign as "George VII" and that he will reign as "Charles III" so that
his grandson (after "William V") can be "George VII." "Alexander," while never used by a King of England, was the name of three medieval Kings of Scots, and more recently of Queen Mary's brother the Earl of Athlone (1874-1957) and of Prince Alexander of Hesse (1823-1888), progenitor of the Battenbergs/Mountbattens. "Louis" of course was the name of the Prince of Wales's beloved great-uncle Lord Mountbatten (1900-1979) and is the Duke of Cambridge's own fourth name. The only departure from tradition is the use of three, rather than four, Christian names. Perhaps this is what commentators mean when they talk about a "slimmed down" monarchy.
All hail the mighty Prince George Alexander Louis!
These are the uses of the new prince's names in European monarchies [A.D.]:
George:
6 kings of Great Britain (2 also of Hanover)
2 kings of Greece
1 king of Bohemia
1 king of Saxony
1 additional king of Hanover
Alexander:
(8 popes)
3 kings of Scotland
3 emperors of Russia
2 kings of Serbia/Yugoslavia
1 king of Greece
1 Byzantine (Eastern Roman) emperor
1 Roman emperor
Louis:
18 kings of France
4 Holy Roman Emperors
3 kings of Bavaria
3 kings (?) of Naples
2 kings of Hungary (1 also of Bohemia)
1 king of Spain
1 king of Portugal
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2 comments:
and King Alexander I of Georgia
I did not forget Georgia, of which there were also twelve kings named George, but Georgia is not generally considered part of Europe.
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