LONDON,
July 24, 2013 (AFP) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate on
Wednesday named their baby boy George Alexander Louis, sticking firmly
to royal tradition with a first name used by six previous monarchs.
George
was the bookmakers’ clear favourite for the third-in-line to the throne
as it pays apparent tribute to Queen Elizabeth II’s father King George
VI, the infant’s great-great-grandfather, who died in 1952.
“The
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have
named their son George Alexander Louis. The baby will be known as His
Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge,” Kensington Palace said in a
statement.
George Alexander Louis and his parents
The
baby will not automatically be King George VII whenever he comes to the
throne, however, as there have been reports that William’s father
Prince Charles may take that title when he becomes king.
The
announcement came just hours after the queen visited William and Kate at
Kensington Palace, their London residence, and met her newborn
great-grandson for the first time.
The 87-year-old monarch would
have given final clearance for the name to ensure that it was in keeping
with the traditions of the House of Windsor and a monarchy that has
lasted more than 1,000 years.
Louis is one of William’s middle
names and was also the first name of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Viceroy
of India and a mentor to Prince Charles. Mountbatten was killed in an
IRA bombing in the 1970s.
Bookmakers had George and James as the favourites.
The
naming was relatively quick by royal standards. Charles and his first
wife Diana took a week to announce William’s name in 1982, while the
world had to wait a month after Charles was born in 1948.
Under
British law, parents have 42 days to register the birth — and the name —
of their child. It is not clear whether William and Kate have
officially done so yet.
The queen earlier spent just over half an
hour at the palace, where the young couple spent the first night after
leaving hospital with the baby, before she was driven away in a green
Bentley limousine.
She has said she is “thrilled” about the latest
addition to the family, who will one day succeed her as head of state
of Britain and monarch of 15 Commonwealth realms around the globe.
A
few hours later, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took the little
prince to stay with his maternal grandparents in the village of
Bucklebury west of London, arriving in a convoy of four-by-four vehicles
with police outriders.
Carole and Michael Middleton, self-made
millionaires from a party goods business, visited the baby in hospital
on Tuesday, where Kate’s mother pronounced her first grandson
“absolutely beautiful”.
Prince George’s uncle Prince Harry —
William’s younger brother, who has been knocked down to fourth in line
to the throne — and Kate’s sister Pippa Middleton made separate visits
to the couple at the palace.
William is taking two weeks of
paternity leave from his job as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue
pilot, and the couple, both 31, are expected to take some time away from
the cameras.
“This is now private and quiet time for them to get to know their son,” a palace spokesman said.
Royal
aides said the couple had no immediate plans to hire a nanny, and Kate
is expected to rely on her mother for support in the early weeks.