http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3065147/Royal-Baby-odds-reveal-Charlotte-favourite-ahead-Alice-Kate-Middleton.html
Name is bookies' favourite at 5/4 as Kate Middleton gives birth to baby girl
- William Hill has announced Charlotte as the new favourite for royal baby
- Odds have fallen to 5/4 Charlotte - which is Pippa Middleton's middle name
- It is followed by Alice, with odds of 11/8 and Elizabeth with odds of 9/2
PUBLISHED: 08:59 GMT, 2 May 2015 | UPDATED: 22:40 GMT, 2 May 2015
After the sex of the royal baby was announced, attention quickly turned to what name might be given to the little Princess of Cambridge.
As the Duchess of Cambridge went into labour this morning, a late surge saw Charlotte emerge as the favourite for the name of the new royal baby - overtaking long-time favourite Alice.
Bookmaker William Hill yesterday slashed the odds of the baby being named Princess Charlotte, which stand at 5/4 now that the sex of the baby has been announced.
But other bookies have Alice still as their top pick - with Ladbrokes offering odds of 5/4.
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A sister for George: A late surge has seen Charlotte emerge as the favourite for the name of the princess
Royal favourites: Queen Charlotte, left, married to George III. Charlotte is Pippa Middleton's middle name
A town crier celebrated the little princess, announcing her birth on the steps of the Lindo Wing this morning
The princess was born at 8.34am this morning weighing 8lbs 3oz, with the Duke of Cambridge present for the birth.
Kensington Palace announced the birth shortly after 11am this morning, some five hours 'The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news.
'Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.'
Moments after the sex of the baby was announced, bookmakers released new odds on what name will be given to the princess.
William Hill have Charlotte as the favourite, with odds standing at 5/4.
Rupert Adams, a spokesman for the bookmaker, said the company was due to pay out £50,000 to punters who placed bets on it being a girl. Industry-wide, this payout could total £250,000, he said.
And if Alice - which was the favourite for weeks - is chosen, William Hill can expect to payout £100,000. It could cost the industry £500,000.
News of the birth of the little princess was met with jubilation by well-wishers outside the Lindo Wing
Bookmakers' Ladbrokes still have Alice as the favourite, offering odds of 5/4, followed by Charlotte
Celebration: Royal fans cheer outside the Lindo wing after receiving news that the baby is a girl
The Duke and Duchess could choose Charlotte - the feminine form of Charles - in honour of the Duke's father and the baby's grandfather, the Prince of Wales.
The name was also has historic royal standing with Queen Charlotte, born in 1744, using it instead of her given first name, Sophie. The royal was married to George III and founded Kew Gardens.
Her daughter, born in 1766, was also called Charlotte and later known as the Princess Royal.
George IV also named his only child Charlotte, but she died in childbirth at the age of 21, leading to a mass outpouring of grief across the nation
Charlotte is also the middle name of Kate's sister Pippa Middleton.
Tribute: Odds for Diana now stand at 10/1
After Charlotte, the next most popular name with punters is Alice - the former long-standing favourite - with William Hill offering odds of 11/8.
According to William Hill, the names are followed by Elizabeth at 9/2, Victoria at 7/1 and Alexandra at 9/1. Diana - the name of William's mother, the Princess of Wales - comes in at 10/1.
The newest addition to the royal family takes her place behind her brother George as fourth in line to the throne.
But few are likely to realise that until just a few years ago, she would not have been afforded the title of princess.
According to a decree made by George V in 1917, the titles HRH and, therefore, prince and princess were restricted to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons and the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.
Hence Prince Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie are princesses, but not Zara or Peter Phillips, the children of Princess Anne.
Prince Edward’s young son and daughter, Louise and James, were entitled to use the HRH title, but Edward and his wife, Sophie, declined it as they wanted their children to have more of a ‘normal life’.
Their daughter, while technically being a princess, use the courtesy title of the daughter of an Earl instead and is known as Lady Louise. Her brother is James, Viscount Severn.
So if William and Kate’s first born child had been a girl, she would also have been styled Lady Mountbatten-Windsor.
A second-born son would have similarly lacked the HRH title and become Lord (forename) Mountbatten-Windsor rather than a prince.
Shortly before the birth of Prince George, the Queen, who had long been keen to rectify this imbalance, issued what are known as Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, an ancient type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by the monarch.
Letters Patent are a form of public proclamation and a rare exercise of extra-parliamentary power by the sovereign, known as royal prerogative. Its name derives from the Latin pateo, meaning exposed and accessible.
In it she ordered that all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should be able to use the HRH title.
Charlotte: 5/4
Princess Alice, the second
The Duke and Duchess could name a daughter Charlotte - the feminine form of Charles - in honour of the Duke's father and the baby's grandfather, the Prince of Wales.
The name was also has historic royal standing with Queen Charlotte, born in 1744, using it instead of her given first name, Sophie.
The royal was married to George III and founded Kew Gardens.
Her daughter, born in 1766, was also called Charlotte and later known as the Princess Royal.
George IV also named his only child Charlotte, but she died in childbirth at the age of 21, leading to a mass outpouring of grief across the nation
Charlotte is also the middle name of Kate's sister Pippa Middleton.
Alice: 11/8
Alice was a long-time favourite of the bookmakers.
Princess Alice was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and the great-grandmother of the Duke of Edinburgh. Her daughter Alix married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and was later executed alongside her family by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
Her granddaughter, also called Alice, was the Duke of Edinburgh's mother - Princess Alice of Battenberg. Later Princess Andrew of Greece, she saw little of Philip when he was a child.
In later years, she went to live at Buckingham Palace and was said to walk around in a nun's habit, smoking Woodbines.
Another Princess Alice was the Duchess of Gloucester - who died at the age of 102 in 2004 and was the mother of the present Duke of Gloucester.
Elizabeth: 9/2
There is speculation William and Kate will pick Elizabeth - if not as a first name then as a middle name - for a girl in honour of William's grandmother and the reigning Queen.
The Queen is held in great respect by her family and William has spoken of how she has become an even more important part of his life as he has grown older. Kate too has forged a strong bond with William's grandmother in her short time as a royal. The Queen was known as Lilibet as a child.
William's great-grandmother the Queen Mother was also an Elizabeth. It is Kate's middle name and her mother's middle name too.
Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, ruled from 1558 until 1603.
Tradition: Elizabeth I, right, the last Tudor monarch may lend her name to the baby. Left, Queen Victoria
Victoria: 7/1
Queen Victoria is the longest-reigning monarch in British history - although she is due to be overtaken by Elizabeth II this September.
She was actually named Alexandrina Victoria and as a child was nicknamed Drina, but ruled as Victoria, which she is said to have preferred.
The name has been a popular choice for princesses in the British royal family in tribute to Victoria.
On numerous occasions, royal daughters have been christened Victoria but often been known by one of their middle names instead.
Alexandra: 9/1
Alexandra is one of the Queen's middle names. It is also the name of her cousin Princess Alexandra. The Queen's great-grandmother was Queen Alexandra.
Queen Alexandra, who was born in 1844, was married to King Edward VII. A Danish princess, she had a happy childhood and was known to her family as Alix.
She was once considered one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe. Like William's mother, she held the title the Princess of Wales before Queen Victoria's son Edward VII acceded to the throne.
Diana: 10/1
William and Kate are also likely to want to remember the Duke's late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash when William was just 15.
It is thought likely they would use the name Diana, if not as a first name, then as one of a baby daughter's middle names.
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