What will Prince William and Kate Middleton name the royal baby?

Everyone's placing their bets...

kate middleton wedges
(Image credit: REX)

Everyone's placing their bets...

The Duchess of Cambridge’s due date is this month and now the whole world is not-so-patiently awaiting the arrival of Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s third baby – set to become fifth in line to the throne.

The Lindo Wing is ready, with barricades set up outside St. Mary’s Hospital in preparation for the Duke and Duchess’ arrival and their 23-strong royal birthing team is prepped and ready to go. That’s three midwives, two obstetricians, three anaesthesiologists, four surgical staff members, two special care staffers, four paediatricians, one lab technician for blood tests, and three or four managers.

The royal couple is said to be announcing the news that Kate is going into labour on Instagram for baby number 3, so until we get a social media update, royal fans have been busying themselves speculating what will happen after the birth.

Aside from predicting who the couple will appoint their new baby's god parents (with fans campaigning for Meghan Markle to be god mother), the public's attention has focused mainly on the royal baby name, with a lot of people placing bets.

prince william and kate middleton are expecting their third child

Credit: REX
(Image credit: Rex)

What will the new royal baby name be?

We won't know the new royal baby name until after his or her arrival, but judging by the bookies, there are some top favourites to bet on. It's hard to know where to put your money yet, as the baby's gender is still unknown, despite some believing that Prince William may have let the gender slip earlier this week, overheard joking that he wanted to name the baby 'Jack' after an Aston Villa player.

According to the multiple sources, the most likely royal baby names are Philip for a boy and a toss up between Mary and Alice for a girl. All the names are traditionally royal, with a number of past Princesses and in some cases Queens bearing the names Alice and Mary, and Philip being a tribute to Prince William's grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.

prince george princess charlotte on tour

Rex
(Image credit: Rex)

Mary 3/1

Alice 4/1

Victoria 8/1

Elizabeth 12/1

Alexandra 16/1

Grace 16/1

Henry 8/1

Albert 12/1

Arthur 12/1

James 16/1

Philip 16/1

Frederick 16/1

Alexander 20/1

Edward 33/1

It looks like we'll have to wait and see what they decide.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.