A familiar name among British kings... George III, George V and George VI
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first baby has been named George Alexander Louis. But what's in the name?
It is a partial victory for the old maxim, "the bookmakers
are never wrong". George was the rock-solid favourite for boys' names
for a while, backed all the way down to 2/1. Alexander and Louis were
both not far behind.A cynic might point out that before we knew it was a boy, Alexandra - the Queen's first middle name - had been the favourite.
Of the three names, it is the significance of the third that is most obvious. Louis immediately makes one think of Louis Mountbatten, uncle of Prince Philip and last viceroy of India, who was killed by the IRA in a bomb attack on his yacht.
The boy called George
If Louis honours one side of the Royal Family, George clearly resonates with the other.
Despite St George being the patron saint of England, it took the arrival of a German king, George I, to cement the name's place in England. Long a popular name in Germany, it has Greek roots.
There have since been five other Georges to sit on the throne. George III, king during the loss of the American colonies, is perhaps now best known for his mental illness thanks to Alan Bennett's play and the subsequent film adaptation.
A long line of Georges
- King George I - 1714-27
- King George II - 1727-60
- King George III - 1760-1820
- King George IV - 1820-30
- King George V - 1910-36
- King George VI - 1936-52
His son George was a figure who
certainly attracted more than his share of criticism. Arguably the
best-known portrayal of him was by Hugh Laurie in the third series of Blackadder. In that comedy, he is a drunken, philandering fool of spectacularly limited grace and intelligence.
The real George was certainly both a drinker and womaniser
who ate too much - the Times labelled him an "inveterate voluptuary" -
but also an imaginative town planner, an ambitious patron of the arts
and, most probably, not an idiot.The most recent Georges reigned through two world wars. It was George V who declared war on Germany in 1914, pitting him against his first cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II.
George V recognised the strength of anti-German feeling and changed the Royal Family's name from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the more English sounding Windsor.
The name George plays a part in British life in many waysOn the other hand, Alexander has never been the name of a king of England or the UK, but was borne by three kings of Scotland.
And yet for any parent naming their child Alexander, it must be hard not to hear the phrase "the Great" sotto voce immediately afterwards.
Alexander famously conquered much of the known world and is often described as the best general ever to live. But he was not a well-rounded individual. An epic binge drinker who once killed a friend with a spear in a drunken rage, he only made it to the age of 32 before either ill health or well-disguised murder did for him.
Greatness follows the name AlexanderPerhaps the least successful Alexander was the sole Byzantine emperor to bear that name.
Of him, historian Viscount Norwich said: "The only good thing that can be said of the reign of the Emperor Alexander is that it was mercifully short."
This Alexander supposedly died after an ill-advised game of polo in very hot weather. Modern Alexanders might want to heed his example.
Also read... Fit For a (Future) King by Matthew Kilburn
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