Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

[Olga Maria]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-baby/11581417/kate-middleton-royal-baby-princess-name-live.html

Finally the long wait is over! Congratulations to all who guessed it right! Beautiful name!!

[LisaG]

I wonder if waiting to tell the Queen wasn't because they were using Elizabeth, but to tell her they were using Diana. This, coupled with using Diana's engagement ring, is William's way of saying "You're not going to erase my mother from memory."

[RoyalWatcher]

Agreed, beautiful name and a loving tribute all the way around!

[Forum Admin]

I wonder if waiting to tell the Queen wasn't because they were using Elizabeth, but to tell her they were using Diana. This, coupled with using Diana's engagement ring, is William's way of saying "You're not going to erase my mother from memory."

They always wait to tell the Queen first.  As the Monarch and Great Grandmother she is given this courtesy and respect to be informed prior to the rest of the Country.  Read nothing more into it than that.

[LisaG]

It seemed like the made a POINT of doing a release/leak that they had decided on a name and were waiting to tell the Queen. They didn't do that with George.

[Forum Admin]

Not true actually.  The Queen visited them and George at Kensington Palace earlier in the day and told her of the name. They then released the name to the public at 6:30 pm later in that afternoon.

[LisaG]

No, I know that. But they didn't tell US that. This time they made a point of saying "We have a name but we're waiting on the Queen."

Anyhoo. It doesn't matter. They did what I thought they WOULDN'T do, which is honor Diana. I thought at the very least, they'd use Frances as a middle.

[TimM]

Charlotte Elizabeth Diana

What a lovely name.  A beautiful tribute to her grandmother and great-grandmother.

[Kalafrana]

I was hoping for Elizabeth, but happy with Charlotte. It's also been suggested by the British press that Charlotte is in part a tribute to the Prince of Wales.

It used to be the case until the 1970s that the child's name was not announced until the baptism.

Ann

[Превед]

The various Hanoverian princesses named Amelia used sometimes to be referred to as "Emily" in the press and peoples' reminiscences, according to what I've seen. Possibly the royal family may even have used "Emily" as an occasional nickname for George III"s Amelia - if we have a George III expert here maybe they will know, but I think I've read this name in a letter or two. Royal use of Amelia is certainly the reason the name Emily became popular in the UK, as the form Emily was obviously more palatable to English speakers. Amelia caught on later (1960s onwards?); I hate it, it's as twee as anything to my ear. :-)

I'm rooting for "Wallis", personally! :-D  

Interesting!
Speaking of "that woman", one of her Hessian collegues, the Countess Reichenbach-Lessonitz, was born (bourgeoisly) Emilie and gave two of her daughters some strange Æmilian names: One, who divorced and remarried the same man, was named Amalie Wilhelmine Emilie , while another was named merely Emilie!

BTW it seems that the little princess's namesake, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, had a paternal grandmother called (Christiane) Emilie, not Amalia, - of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

[TimM]

It's also been suggested by the British press that Charlotte is in part a tribute to the Prince of Wales.

Could be.  Charlotte is the female equivalent of Charles isn't it.   Anyway, I've heard of women named Charlotte going by the nickname "Charlie".

[Превед]

It's also been suggested by the British press that Charlotte is in part a tribute to the Prince of Wales.

Could be.  Charlotte is the female equivalent of Charles isn't it.  

Yes, by being the female version of Charlot, the French diminutive of Charles. The official female equivalent of Charles is Caroline (Carolina being the female version of the Latin form Carolus, hence North and South Carolina named after Charles I). The more direct equivalent is Carol, the name of Kate's mother, but that is of course far too plebeian for the RF, just like Charlene and Carola, despite Carola of Vasa, an (albeit Catholic) Queen of Saxony and a Charlène being Princess of Monaco. Carla is also not quite not comme il faut, despite Kate choosing the mother tongue of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy as her foreign language.

The Saxe-Cobourg-Gothas dits Windsor prefer the blend of German and French that is genuine English :-) Charlotte Elizabeth Diana really makes me think of the greatest Germano-Frenchwoman of all times, Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate aka Liselotte von der Pfalz aka Madame, the Duchess of Orléans, the celebrated correspondent and niece of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, who often was depicted "en Diane" because of her love of hunting. Let's not hope that this Charlotte Elizabeth's husband will be a crossdressing homosexual!

BTW I was intrigued to see that there was an effort to name a US state (and not just a city) after Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg: Vandalia (after the Slavic Wends originally inhabiting Mecklenburg and often erroneously confused with the Vandals), along the Ohio River, mostly in what is today West Virginia.

[mitia]

There is no real diminutive of Charles or Charlotte in France. For a man named Charles, Charly is rather " commoner " and Charlot has become a word used for a man who makes a fool of himself : he is a Charlot or " c'est un charlot " means the man is rather " funny ". Charlotte is just Charlotte and a name often given nowadays, just like Louise, Emma, Victoire etc...I would not say it is in the fashion, it is classic just like Louis, Paul, Alexandre etc...for boys.

[Greenowl]

Is Charlot not the French version of Charlie Chaplin? Jeannot is a diminutive form of Jean

[Greenowl]

I was hoping for Elizabeth, but happy with Charlotte. It's also been suggested by the British press that Charlotte is in part a tribute to the Prince of Wales.

I like it, and Elizabeth is the second name so all is well in my opinion