BBC Breakfast

Just to let you know that I appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning to discuss the royal baby's name - George Alexander Louis. The show will be available on the BBC I-Player later on and I will post the link later. I appear at 7.10am.

George was actually the name that I guessed for the baby. It has a huge amount of symbolism and history for the House of Windsor, with George V and George VI dominating the first half of the twentieth century. The name George has, since the eighteenth century, meant stability for the royal family. It is even used to name an era, the Georgian period of 1714 to 1830, when four Georges in turn sat on the English throne. It is also, of course, first and foremost a tribute to the queen's father, George VI, who re-stabilised the monarchy after his brother's abdication and reigned over Britain through the trauma of the Second World War.

I also discussed the prince's middle names, Alexander and Louis. Louis is one of Prince William's middle names and honours Lord Mountbatten. It is also, of course, a very traditional royal name, associated with the French royal family from whom the prince is descended. Alexander is less commonly used in the royal family, although Edward VII's wife was Queen Alexandra. Queen Victoria's first name was actually Alexandrina and the baby's name may well also be a nod to this.