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Did Kate and Wills nick Princess Charlotte’s name from their uncle?

A little friendly name-spiration or straight out theft?

Proving that there are just not enough royal names to go around, Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, has revealed that he thinks Princess Charlotte’s name is “perfect”… because that’s his kid’s name.

Earl Spencer, who generally flies underneath the radar, reminded everyone today (well, we’re not sure that anybody knew in the first place) that the new royal Princess shares a name with his fifth daughter, Lady Charlotte Diana.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced overnight that their newborn daughter will be named Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge. The public’s first reaction was that Elizabeth and Diana were for her great-grandmother and late grandmother, respectively, and that ‘Charlotte’ was after Queen Charlotte, or a nod to Pippa Middleton’s middle name.

But did Kate and Will source a little sneaky name-spiration from their uncle?

Earl Spencer and his third wife, Canadian Karen Gordon, welcomed little Lady Charlotte Diana in 2012. Her middle was, of course, a nod to his late sister.

The Earl commented, “We hadn’t settled on a first name before the birth, but Charlotte is a name we both love, and it really suits her. We knew that as soon as we saw her. And though it’s been 15 years since Diana died, I still miss her every day and I wanted her commemorated in the naming of our daughter.”

So – was it a case of (forgive us) copy-Kate? Or perhaps just a limited name pool? Whatever it is, it going to make for some awkward family reunions.

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