As Prince George turns 11, some fascinating details about his life and name have come to light.
George, who is second in line to the British throne after his father, Prince William, was not always going to be called George. His mother, Kate Middleton, had other plans.
Prince George was born on July 22, 2013, and the now Prince and Princess of Wales announced to the world that their son would be named George Alexander Louis.
However, it has been revealed that “George” was not Kate Middleton’s favorite name.
The origin of prince George’s name
Choosing the name of a future heir to the British throne is a process filled with tradition and personal significance.
Renowned royal expert Katie Nicholl shared in an interview with ‘The Mirror’ that the then-Duchess of Cambridge wanted her firstborn to be named Alexander, a Greek name meaning “defender of men.”
At that time, the Prince and Princess of Wales did not know the baby’s gender until birth. But Kate was clear that if it was a boy, she wanted to name him Alexander.
This option, however, did not entirely convince William, who preferred more traditional names in the British royal family, such as George, in honor of his great-grandfather George VI or George V.
Faced with a lack of consensus, the couple decided to leave the choice in the hands of someone very special: their dog Lupo.
They scattered pieces of paper with the names on the floor and let Lupo choose. The dog picked the paper with the name George, and thus the name of the little prince was decided, although Kate insisted that Alexander be included as a middle name. The result was George Alexander Louis.
The same dynamic was repeated with girls’ names when Kate became pregnant for the second time. Upon learning it would be a girl, both William and Kate agreed she would be named Charlotte, in honor of Queen Elizabeth and the late Diana. Thus, on May 2, 2015, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was born.
For their third child, born on April 23, 2018, the couple chose the name Louis, in memory of Lord Mountbatten. To Louis, they added the names Arthur, preferred by Kate, and Charles, in homage to the current monarch.