Naming Baby Sussex - Will It Be Albert Or Alice?

Traditional or modern? Debate heats up ahead of the royal birth

- Tony Powell

When Prince Henry Charles Albert David and Rachel Meghan Markle tied the knot in May last year, we already knew they desperately wanted children.

Before he even met Meghan, Harry (34) publicly declared, “I’ve longed for kids since I was very, very young.” And a month before she found her prince, Meghan (37) wrote on her former blog, “Other bucket-list items… I can’t wait to start a family, but in due time.”

That time has come and the baby (or babies – one bookmaker offers 4/1 on twins) will come into the world by the end of this month or in early May at the latest.

We don’t know the gender, but that’s not stopping speculation about possible names. Bookies are giving odds on them and pretty much everything else, from the date of birth, weight, hair and eye colour to whether he or she will marry before cousin Prince Louis, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s third child, who turns one this month. Punters will have a long wait for a payout on that one!

When it comes to names, Harry and Meghan have been sent many suggestions. She told children accompanying her on a Melbourne tram trip during the couple’s tour of Australia last year, “We’ve been given a long list of names from everyone. We’re going to sit down and have a look at them.” Not that the Sussexes had made any decision at that point. One of the kids there, Ella Burns (12), says, “She said that she hadn’t thought of one as it was still quite early.”

It’s now quite late, so it’s likely that the decision is made – and everyone is looking for clues. It might be worthwhile to note that senior royals can be pretty stuffy about what they call their offspring, using a small selection of tried and tested names, so most people making a bet are looking for a precedent.

Traditional royal names