Another Royal Baby

Where does the time go?! I feel like I was just writing about Prince George's arrival, but that was close to two years ago! Anyhow, I've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of William and Kate's new baby for the past several weeks, since I knew the baby was due mid-to-late April. They've been talking about the new baby on the news a lot for the past several weeks, and everyone's been speculating about when the baby would arrive, and if it would be another boy or perhaps a girl this time.

On Saturday morning, May 2, I heard that Duchess Kate was in labor and had gone to the hospital early that morning. She went to St. Mary's Hospital in London, and had her baby at 8:34 AM, roughly three hours after arriving. The baby weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz and was a little girl. Yay…just what I was hoping for! The Duke and Duchess emerged from the hospital a few hours later. Kate looked extremely beautiful in a pretty, yellow dress (she looked amazing, especially for giving birth just a few hours previously). They both looked so happy!

Lots of people called their babies "little prince" or "little princess" but there are very few people who can say it, and actually have it it really be true! Here are two of those select few, with their sweet princess:

I'd been expectantly waiting for the big name reveal ever since I heard that the baby had arrived. Everyone was speculating on what it would be. Some of the name contenders I heard tossed around were Alice, Victoria, Charlotte, Mary, Elizabeth, Alexandra, Frances and Diana. I'm not sure why, but I was thinking they might choose Victoria. It was just a pure guess, though, and I did absolutely no research, which would probably be why I was WRONG! Instead they went with Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

Named for: Queen Charlotte (wife of George III), Queen Elizabeth II (her great-grandmother), and Princess Diana (her grandmother)

Here is a little background on the name: Charlotte is the feminine version of Charles, the father of Prince William and is a version of Carole, the name of Kate's mother. Charlotte is also the middle name of Pippa Middleton, Kate's sister. Elizabeth is the name of the current Queen of England and Prince William's grandmother, and Diana is a beautiful tribute to the late Princess Diana, the baby's grandmother.

The name "Charlotte" has certainly made a resurgence in the past decade. 10-15 years ago I wouldn't have cared for the name, and would have thought it old-fashioned since its popularity had faded in the latter half of the 20th century. But it's been growing on me in recent years, and I actually like it so much now that it would probably make my top 10 list of favorite girl names. I also love the name Elizabeth, so I'm glad that the new princess has that as one of her names, as well as Diana. I know Diana seems to be unliked by some in the Royal family, but I always felt like she really cared about people. She was definitely the most humble and down-to-earth one of the Royal bunch! I'm so glad the new Princess carries the name of Diana, since she is the Princess' grandmother, after all!

Charlotte is fourth in line to the throne. That's a mighty big responsibility for a little lady that is not even a week old!