Prince George to King Charles: the secret royal names they almost had

The name of the future king is paramount in the royal family, and Prince George was no exception. Before his birth, Prince William and Princess Kate reportedly did not know the gender of their baby, and had different ideas about what his name should be.

"Catherine had her heart set on Alexander for a boy or Alexandra (also Queen Elizabeth's middle name) for a girl," wrote Russell Myers in his biography, William and Catherine, The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story.

"William had privately voiced his preference for having a girl, and was keen to incorporate a tribute to his late mother, most likely in the form of a middle name."

Russell added: "The couple had been given a book of baby names by a close friend, which they spent hours thumbing through – they often ended up in fits of laughter after one or the other had presented a more left-field suggestion."

In the end, William and Kate went with George as a nod to Queen Elizabeth II's father, King George VI, who helped to guide Britain through World War II. The name Alexander was still included, though, and became one of the young prince's middle names.

King Charles and his former wife, Princess Diana, had very different ideas when it came to naming their two sons, William and Harry. 

According to Andrew Morton's book Diana: Her True Story, Diana was the one who landed on the names for her sons.

"I chose William and Harry, but Charles did the rest," she told Andrew. "He wanted Albert and Arthur [for the first names], and I said no. Too old!"

"There weren't fights over it. It was just a fait accompli," she concluded. Instead, William earned the middle name Arthur, while Albert was given to Harry as a middle name.

Interestingly, Harry is not even the prince's real name; rather, he was born Henry Charles Albert David, and he picked up his famous nickname as a child. 

"My name is Henry as well," he shared with a young attendee at the WellChild Awards in 2022. "But everyone calls me Harry. I have no idea why."

The father of two is still referred to as Prince Henry for formal occasions, like when his engagement to Meghan Markle was announced in 2017.

Similarly, the Duchess of Sussex is not known by her birth name, but rather by her middle name. In fact, she was born Rachel Meghan Markle, and opted to go by Meghan when embarking on her acting career. 

As a fun coincidence, the character that Meghan portrayed on her TV show Suits was also named Rachel. Many royal fans were shocked when Queen Elizabeth used Meghan's full name while blessing her marriage to Prince Harry. 

"My Lords, I declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between My Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle, which Consent I am causing to be signified under the Great Seal and to be entered in the Books of the Privy Council," she declared.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, debated for a long time over what to name their son, before landing on Archie – a rather modern name that no other British royal had been given before.

However, the name Harrison was a strong contender, as Meghan shared with Sherry McBain and her wife Mandy at the 2022 Invictus Games.

"She was like 'Harrison, that's Archie's middle name,' and Mandy was like 'Yeah, I know,'" Sherry recalled. "They were just having a chat because Harry and Meghan couldn't decide between Archie and Harrison for the first name." 

The duo eventually landed on Archie, which means "genuine", "bold" or "brave", and chose Harrison as his middle name to denote "son of Harry".

When it came to naming Princess Beatrice, the eldest daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, Queen Elizabeth had something to say about their desired moniker, Annabel, meaning "lovable".

According to a report from The Sun at the time of Beatrice's birth, Elizabeth declared that Annabel was "too yuppie" for a royal name, and suggested that they name her after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's youngest child, Princess Beatrice, instead.

Rather than giving her Annabel as a second name, the moniker instead went to their second daughter, Princess Eugenie, who has it as one of her middle names.

In the wake of Queen Elizabeth's death in 2022, royal watchers expected King Charles to change his name upon ascension to the British throne, as many of his ancestors had done before him – including his grandfather, King George, who was born Albert Frederick Arthur George.

It was also assumed that Charles would change his name to avoid the association with King Charles I and II, the former of whom was overthrown by Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War in 1649, and the latter of whom restored the monarchy 11 years later, but developed quite the reputation for philandering and partying. 

Charles then surprised pundits when he decided to keep his birth name after his coronation, becoming King Charles III.

Queen Victoria was actually born Alexandrina Victoria after her godfather, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, yet decided to ditch her first name when she became the monarch in 1837, as she had preferred her more English-sounding middle name her entire life.