Tuesday 1 October 2013

Names fit for a prince - Alexander

This is an easy one.  Prince George of Cambridge is the first man in line to be monarch of England to have the name Alexander.  It's a bit more exciting than that but the main point remains the same.  There's never been a male Alex on the English throne.


Making his first claim to history.  George Alexander Louis of Cambridge will be the first male monarch with Alex in his name.
He won't be the first monarch with the name hidden among the long list of monikers that usually accompanies royal babies.  His great grandmother is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, given her second name in honour of the queen who wore a consort's crown between 1901 and 1910 and who was her own great grandmother.  The arrival of that Alexandra, a princess of Denmark, at Buckingham Palace in 1863 wasn't the first time a princess who walked its corridors had born the name but it was the first time one had been known as an Alex. 

Alexandra, Queen of England, shown early on in her marriage to the man who would become
King Edward VII.  She was Princess of Wales for almost 38 years.
Alix of Denmark's mother-in-law was christened Alexandrina Victoria but had never been called by her official first name which had been imposed at the font by her grumpy uncle, the Prince Regent, who wanted to honour the baby princess' godfather, Tsar Alexander I of Russia.  But it didn't stick so by the time Victoria's son and heir, Albert Edward, chose the eldest daughter of the king of Denmark as his wife it was as rare a name in royal circles as Victoria had been at one time.
Queen Victoria in 1823 when she was four years old.  By then she was being seen as a future queen and her first name, Alexandrina, had been sidelined in favour of her other name, which she shared with her ambitious mother, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
But once Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia had married into the family, the name began to put down roots.  Two of her daughters had it as a middle name but its translation as a male name for members of the family began with tragedy.  In 1871, Princess Alexandra gave birth to her last child, a third son, who was fourth in line to the throne.  But Prince Alexander John of Wales died aged just one day. 

Alexandra of Denmark, Princess of Wales, in 1889
Three of Alexandra's surviving children went on to have children of their own and all had daughters with Alexandra as either a first or middle name.  A year after Alexandra became queen consort of England, her eldest surviving son, George V, and his wife, Mary, called their fourth son George Edward Alexander Edmund.  He went on to become Duke of Kent and was killed in an air crash World War Two.
George Edward Alexander Edmund, Duke of Kent, was killed in an air crash in 1942
Queen Alexandra had just one daughter who didn't bear her name - Princess Maud, born in 1869.  But it was Maud who first gave a male version of her mother's name to a future king.  In 1896 she married Prince Carl of Denmark and in 1903 their only child was born.  The little boy was named Alexander Edward Christian Frederick but he wasn't known by that name for long.  In 1905, Carl was offered the throne of Norway and on his accession he changed his own name to Haakon and his son's name to Olav.  The little boy grew up to be Olav V, king of Norway from 1957 to 1991, and one of the most popular figures in his country's history. 
Prince Alexander of Denmark in the arms of his father, Carl, as they arrived in Norway to form the country's new royal family.  From then on, the little boy was known as Olav.
And while George Alexander Louis of Cambridge is the first boy born to be king of England to bear the name, he's not the only future monarch of Europe to have a version of the name.  Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway was named, partly, in honour of Olav V.  As their reigns will most likely co-incide, George of England and Ingrid of Norway will both bring the name of that Danish princess who won over the royal family and her adopted country to regal prominence once more.

Ingrid Alexandra, future queen of Norway, sits on her dad's lap as the family pose for official photos in the summer of 2013
There are other young European royals with the name but none in line to be king or queen.  In Denmark, the younger son of Crown Prince Frederick is Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander while his cousin, and eldest grandson of Queen Margrethe II, is Nikolai William Alexander Frederik.  In 1999 Princess Caroline of Monaco called her youngest daughter, and only child with Ernest of Hanover, Alexandra while the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg chose the name for their only daughter, born in 1991. 

Prince Nikolai William Alexander Frederik of Denmark, born in 1999, was named partly in honour of his mother, Alexandra.
And of course just months before George's birth, Europe got a king called Alex when Willem-Alexander became monarch of the Netherlands on the abdication of his mother, Beatrix, on April 30th 2013.  He has a daughter, Alexia, named in his honour but she is second in line to the throne and unlikely to ever succeed.

The moment got its first king called Alex for a long time - Beatrix of the Netherlands signs away her crown in favour of her son, Willem-Alexander, on April 30th 2013
It's not really surprising that the Cambridges chose the name - the hot favourite with bookmakers for a baby princess had been Alexandra.  Alexander has got a lot of popular currency and names related to it are popular for both boys and girls in the UK at the moment. And little George won't be the first king in one part of his kingdom to bear the name.  Scotland has had three kings called Alexander.  But they all ruled in the 13th century meaning that while George won't be first, he will be the first king in any part of the UK in 750 years to bear the name Alexander.

No comments:

Post a Comment