How long will it take for the Princess of Cambridge's names to be announced?

Now that she has finally arrived, the question on many a royal watchers mind is what will William and Kate name their newborn daughter. People, especially those with money waged on the name, are impatient to know. How long will it take for the royal baby's name to be announced? The waits for royal names have varied.


Prince George's names were announced two days after he was born


Prince William's names announced one week after his birth


Prince Harry's names were announced 19 hours after his birth


Princess Beatrice's name was announced  two weeks later


Princess Eugenie's name was announced one week later


Possibly due to her premature arrival, Lady Louise Windsor's name was announced 19 days after her birth

Whereas her brother, James, Viscount Severn's name took four days.

Princess Anne's name was announced two weeks after her birth

Prince Charles' name was announced on December 14, 1948. Exactly one month after he was born.

Prince Andrew and Prince Edward's names were announced within a month of their births.

So Princess Cambridge's names could be released anywhere from tomorrow to a month! On the bright side, we can take heart in the fact that, unlike the Danish royal family, the British royals do not wait until the christening to provide the public with this information.


UPDATE: The baby has a name! Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Like her brother it took two days for her name to be announced.

© Marilyn Braun 2015


Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

Royal Fashionistas

In honor of New York Fashion Week and the relentless focus on Kate's clothing, I thought I would go  back and revisit some other royals who were quite the fashionistas in their day. Think Kate put the royal family on the fashion map? Au contraire!

No fashion list would be complete without Queen Victoria. She rocked the black dress well before Audrey Hepburn was a glimmer in her parent's eyes. Thankfully she did not pioneer the little black dress (shudder) but she was a true champion when it came to wearing black from head to toe. Pairing it with accessories, such as priceless jewels, a white veil and a ceremonial sash, no royal has ever done the color justice since.

Albert Edward,
The Prince of Wales

While he would later lend his name to an entire era, the future King Edward VII was once a mere babe in a formal portrait.  In this Winterhalter painting, the young prince wears a sailor suit. His mother Queen Victoria was so enchanted with the suits worn by sailors in the Royal Navy that she commissioned a scaled down version for her son, thus setting a fashion trend. It is somewhat ironic that Edward himself did not serve in the Royal Navy, unlike his sons. The original suit is preserved in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

No other royal could be credited with popularizing a physical disability. Just before the birth of her third child in 1867  Princess Alexandra, Princess of Wales, contracted rheumatic fever, which left her with a permanent limp. This started a trend amongst society ladies called the 'Alexandra limp'. Which just goes to prove that the tradition of sycophancy never goes out of style.

Edward, Prince of Wales, was the royal superstar of his day. The man who popularized patterned Fair Isle sweaters, the Windsor Knot (but did not invent it) reportedly owed his boyish figure to spanx. He favored plus-fours, loud check tweeds, as well as two-tone shoes. Chaffing against royal fashion constraints, one of his first acts upon becoming king was to banish the frock-coat from his court. 

The Princess Royal may not be renowned for her fashion sense but well before Kate was recycling her clothes, there was Anne. Case in point, at the 2008 wedding of Lady Rose Windsor, daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, Anne wore a dress older than the groom. The Maureen Baker dress had been worn at Charles and Diana's wedding 27 years earlier. Anne paired the outfit with the same John Boyd hat and it appears the same earrings. Instead of being criticized she was praised not only for her economy, but for still having the figure to fit into a dress at the age of 58 that she originally wore when she was 31.

© Marilyn Braun 2011

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Royal Visits to Canada - A Brief History

Image: Chris Jackson/St James's Palace

When Prince William and his new wife Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recently toured Canada, their visit highlighted the long association that the royal family has with Canada. A relationship that began back in 1786 with another Prince William.

The first visit by a British royal took place in 1786 when the future King William IV, came to Canada as part of a naval contingent. Since then there have been royal visits by many members of the royal family, included amongst them, several future monarchs. Many came as part of military service, some for personal visits, and some became Governor Generals of Canada. Most have come for official visits and to mark significant national events.

Normally royal visitors are accompanied by their spouse. Although they have been infrequent, there have been some visits that have been family affairs. In 1927 when Edward, Prince of Wales and his brother, Prince George visited Canada to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the Confederation. In 1970 the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne came to tour the Arctic. There would be another family visit in 1976 when the Queen came to open the Olympic Games in Montreal, which Princess Anne was competing in the equestrian event. She was watched by her parents and her three brothers, the only time the entire royal family has been abroad in one place. In 1977, during a visit to Alberta, Prince Charles was joined by Prince Andrew to watch the Calgary Stampede. The last official family visit occurred in 1991 Prince William and Prince Harry joined their parents in Ontario. In 1998, Prince Charles made a personal visit to Vancouver accompanied by Prince William and Prince Harry. The most recent sibling visit was in 2009 when Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of York attended the Toronto International Film Festival.

Queen Victoria was said to be rather fond of Canada, though she never visited it. The first visit by a reigning sovereign took place in 1939 when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth stepped foot on Canadian soil, in Quebec, and began a six-week coast to coast tour from Quebec to Vancouver and back to Halifax, 9,000 miles, in 40 days.

The present Queen first visited Canada as a princess in 1951. She was 25 at the time. Young, glamorous, with a handsome husband, they were the equivalent of Charles and Diana. Such was the interest in her visit that any little detail was made into news, such as one headline in the Globe and Mail titled “Princess Bringing Crinolines!” The tour was five weeks long and they received a rapturous welcome, having 13,000 school children sing O Canada for them and it is estimated that 200,000 people saw the royal couple.

Since that first visit, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have travelled through every province and territory in Canada. Visiting for many significant national events. In 1957 she became the first monarch to open parliament in Ottawa. Wearing her coronation gown for the event, she quoted the words of the first Elizabeth: ‘Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my Crown that I have reined with your love.” During this visit another historic event occurred when the Queen made her first televised broadcast, a precursor to the televised Christmas speech the same year.

During the 1959 visit the Queen, along with President Dwight Eisenhower, opened the St. Lawrence Seaway. She was in the early stages of her pregnancy with Prince Andrew and it was reported that she looked ‘rather off color’ at times. This pregnancy wasn’t revealed until after the tour was completed. The tour lasted 45 days and the royal couple visited every province and territory. A remarkable feat for someone in the early stages of pregnancy. It is rather apt that this child, Prince Andrew, would himself, later be closely associated with Canada when he attended Lakefield College for six months in the 1970s.

The Queen's next visit would occur in 1964, a few months after the birth of Prince Edward. And this time her arrival would not be so rapturously greeted, as she was met by demonstrators chanting and singing demands for a Quebec independent of the Canadian confederation. The Queen, however, was praised for her bravery in visiting despite these protests.

In July 1967 the Queen and Prince Philip would visit to mark Canada’s centennial celebration of Confederation. The Queen cut into a giant cake, the majority of which was plywood with icing on it. Prince Philip incidentally, is the most frequent visitor, having visited Canada 43 times, including 22 trips with the Queen.

The Queen made what was one of her most significant visits in 1982 both for herself as monarch and for Canada itself when she signed the act proclaiming the Canadian constitution and Canada’s independence from Britain.

Another significant visit that the Queen would make would be in 1992 when she celebrated Canada’s 125th birthday and the 40th anniversary of her accession. In 2002 she would visit in her Golden Jubilee year, where Canadian’s turned out in record numbers to celebrate right along with her. She visited in 2005 and most recently in 2010. There has been some speculation that these might be her last visits. But health permitting she is reportedly planning return in 2012 to mark 60 years on the throne.

© Marilyn Braun 2011

Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

Survivor Balmoral

Trapped in their home for 39 days with no servants to wait on them, no private secretaries as go betweens, the royals must communicate directly with each other and make their own beds. Through a series of challenges, each contestant will prove that they are the real Royal Survivor.

Day 30

On last week's episode we saw tribe Hanover prevail in the immunity challenge. Currently there is dissention in tribe Windsor, alliances have been formed and broken. Andrew currently has the Immunity Idol after winning the smiling and waving challenge, which Edward failed.

Edward: "Mummy, my arms are tired".

The Queen is not amused, she rolls her eyes.

The Queen: "I've been doing this for 80 years. Suck it up".

Next challenge: Charles attempts to iron his shirts and squeeze his own toothpaste. Without success.

Charles: "I dare say, this is harder than it looks. Where do you plug the toothpaste in?"

Philip: (already brushing his teeth) "You don't know what hardship is really like do you?"

Exasperated, Charles looks for paper and pen to write a memo to his father.

Charles: "This really isn't fair. How are we supposed to communicate with each other anyways?"

Meanwhile, William and Kate Middleton are having a disagreement....

Kate: "Where's the toilet?"

William: "No, it's called a 'lavatory'. Let's spell that together..L..A..V..."

Kate: "Pardon?"

William: "What?"

Later that day, at Tribal Council, the Queen waits for the remaining members of Tribe Windsor. Philip, Charles, Anne, Andrew, Edward, William, Harry and Kate Middleton, meet at Balmoral to vote off the next contestant.

Kate: (to the Queen) "Pleased to meet you."

Everyone glares at her.

Queen: You have come here today because, once again, your tribe lost the immunity challenge against Hanover, why do you think this happened?

Andrew: "I blame Harry, claiming to be sick anytime there's work to be done"

Edward: "Someone should be tested for drugs...."

Charles: "At least he's doing his time in the military".

Edward: "Mummy, are you going to let him say that to me?"

Harry gets up, fists ready. William goes to restrain him.

Harry: "Look William, there's a cheap blonde at the bar!"

William is distracted and lets Harry go. Harry lunges at Edward. Kate phones her lawyers.

The Queen: "Kate, I'm under the impression that you're not suitable royal bride material..some say you're middle class".

Everyone gasps

Kate: "William doesn't mind...do you William?...William?"

Philip: (Looks over at the bar) "Does he have his hand on her...."

Kate: "That's it!...I can't take this anymore!"

Kate runs off into the night. The remaining contestants look at each other, confused.

The Queen: "I guess the commoner has spoken!"

On next week's episode:

Charles tries to mow the lawn. And Edward draws his own bath.

© Marilyn Braun 2007

Canadian Royal Trivia

• Prince William, the future King William IV, was the first member of the royal family to visit Canada in 1786. He came as part of a naval contingent serving in North America and the West Indies. Upon arriving in Canada he labelled it "truly deplorable".

• The province of Prince Edward Island is named after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria.

• The province of Alberta was named after Princess Louise, one of Queen Victoria's daughters. Her full name was Louise Caroline Alberta. In the same province, Lake Louise was also named after her.

• During his visit to Canada in 1860, Prince Albert Edward, the future King Edward VII, watched Charles Blondin walk across Niagara Falls on a tight-rope. Afterwards he volunteered to be taken across the falls in Blondin's wheelbarrow until stopped by one of his minders.

• Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, was the first royal Governor General of Canada. He served from 1911-1916. Other members of the royal family who have served in this capacity: the Marquess of Lorne (husband of Princess Louise) from 1878-1883, Lord Athlone (husband of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone from 1940-1946.

• In 1901, the Duke and Duchess of York, the future King George V and Queen Mary, toured Canada coast to coast. The Duke recorded that he shook hands with 24,855 people at official receptions alone, laid 21 foundation stones, received 544 addresses, presented 4,329 medals, gave almost a hundred speeches, and distributed 140 titles.

• In 1939, King George VI, accompanied by Queen Elizabeth, became the first reigning sovereign to step foot on Canadian soil.

© Marilyn Braun