As the entire planet knows by now, except possibly that small tribe native to the jungles of Papua, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William named their first born son George Alexander Louis. And, no, this wasn't after George Louis Costanza, famously played by Jason Alexander, as Twitter would have you believe.
People seem torn on the name, with many finding it a total fit for a future king, and others finding it kinda meh. (Count me in that one.) And many are wondering where Diana is. A nod to her in the form of using the name Spencer somewhere in there would have been nice. Did the Queen, who famously did not like Diana, deny the couple their Prince Spencer? Or maybe that whole Heidi and Spencer thing just turned the royal couple off? (It would me.)
Having the name Spencer, Diana's family name, anywhere near the little royal was always a long shot, given the animosity between the Spencer family and the royals. Diana's brother, Charles, gave a famously contentious eulogy at Diana's funeral.
Officially, the couple did not have to ask Queen Elizabeth to vet their son's name, but chances are they didn't want to upset the castle-filled apple cart. Would you?
On the other hand, wouldn't it have been a nice nod not only to William's mother, but to the people of the world who continue to love Diana, if they'd put Spencer or Daniel or Dionis or something in there? Kind of baffling if you ask me, but perhaps they were determined to keep the little prince his own man. Still, there are reasons behind the trio of royal baby names.
George has always been the front runner for the London bettors -- what did they know that everyone else didn't? For starters, George is the name of Queen Elizabeth's father. King George VI reigned from 1936 until 1952. His life was famously depicted in the film The King's Speech. He had a speech impediment (that he overcame with the help of a speech therapist) and took over the throne after his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated because he wanted to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Wallis would have been an interesting choice of name. Without her, neither Kate nor William would be who they are, but as I predicted awhile ago, there was a snowball's chance in hell of that happening!
Louis is the first name of the Queen's husband Prince Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten. Alexander has no real special significance and could indeed just be a name they liked. Which gives you a clue that if it were a girl, maybe her name would have been Alexandra after all, as everyone was saying. (Funny how these things get out, eh?)
At any rate, there's always Spencer or Diana for the next baby. As for what Diana would have thought, I think we all know she would just be thrilled no matter the baby's name. So we should do the same. Nobody, not even a royal, likes to be told what to name their baby.
Were you disappointed with them leaving Diana out of the name?
Image via Getty