With the Prince of Cambridge now safely delivered, all attention has focused on what name the new parents, William and Kate, plan to bestow on the future King.
If the money passing hands at British bookmakers is any guide, we could soon have a King James to reign over us.
James has emerged overnight in the UK as the name most punters are betting their future monarch will be called, with George and Henry running a close second and third respectively.
England’s Daily Mail reports the royal birth was the biggest non-sporting betting event in the history of British bookmakers, Coral, with UK punters laying down their hard-earned to predict everything from the sex of the baby to its weight and hair colour.
“The announcement that the Duchess was in labour sent punters to the betting shops, and bookmaker Paddy Power said they took £ 390,000 (A$ 647,000) in bets in the three hours after this morning’s news,” The Daily Mail reports today.
Of course, given the young royal couple’s tendency to do things their own way — as much as stiff royal protocol allows — there’s every chance they will select a name that confounds the punters.
One such option would be to choose name with significance to Kate’s side of the family. Her father’s name is Michael. His middle name is Francis. William’s late mother, Diana’s middle name was Frances — prompting speculation the second in line to the British throne could choose to honour the memory of his mother with a Prince Francis.
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