To wonder whether, as per this claim, Annabel was really seen as a 'yuppie' name in the 80s?

Sloane ranger more than yuppie.

the lady Annabel Goldsmith who Annanels nightclub was named for (by her first husband, Marc Birley) was a very interesting woman (mother of Zac & Ben goldsmith & Jamima Khan by her second husband) her first marriage produced robin birley (unbelievably mauled by a friends pet tiger tiger as a child) Rupert who sadly went missing on an expedition and India who is an artist and runs her dads clubs. She was beautiful and very posh but scandalous, especially for openly cheating on her first husband with her second, mixed socially with the likes of Lord Lucan, long known in royal circles, her dad was the Marquess of Londonderry (and later a good friend of princess Diana after her divorce, she was with her on the trip to Pakistan when she met Hasnat Khans family). She did not give a single shit what anyone thought of her. It was her home in which Diana famously confronted Camilla at a birthday party about her affair with Charles, wherever Annabel was, drama seemed to be there too. In the 80s I can imagine the queen dismissing the name based on this very Annabel.

It would have never occurred to me that Annabel is thought to be negative.

Our current Queen has a sister named Annabel ( well Sonia Annabel but she goes by Annabel)

The vast majority of us are not royal so the rules of the late Queen Elizabeth thankfully don’t apply

The nickname for Henry is Harry. Prince Harry is Henry.

Harry is one of those names that:
A, Can sound posh or small-time criminal circa Minder 1980.
Or raffish slightly dodgy posh boy.

B, Some people have taken to calling their children Harry and having the name as Harry on the certificate not 'Henry'. Maybe they didn't know or care it was supposed to be Henry. I've no strong opinion on it.
Bit like some people are putting Charlie not Charles on the birth certificate.
This I don't understand: Charlie is obviously a diminutive of Charles AND putting Charles on the certificate at least gives the child the option of two names.

Now I'm reminded of Half Man Half Biscuit. 😁

I was born early 2000s and knew quite a few Annabels and Isabel/Isabellas, also one Arabella. It just seemed like a classic name, hardly one to complain about.

Surely this is enough of a reason for a Queen to veto a name; if its popular among the commoners and peasants why oh why would one want it for royalty? Definitely one to complain about.

Agreed. I also suspect that, as a name, Zara was leftfield, that there were no associations with it. (Although, the opposite applies to Peter).

But yes, I grew up in central London, in the 1980s on the peripheries of Chelsea. Lots of posh girls called Annabel - also Camilla, Victoria.

I guess Henry is an acceptable King name. There’s been a few of them.

Odd that the name Henry didn’t suffer the same snobbery as Annabelle. Hooray Henry. Though I do think her late Maj is allowed to be as picky as she wants.

I immediately think of this....some up a certain age group..

I love you from the bottom, of my pencil case
I love you in the songs, I write and sing
Love you because, you put me in my rightful place
And I love the PRS cheques, that you bring
Cheap, never cheap
I'll sing you songs till you're asleep
When you've gone upstairs I'll creep
And write it all down, down, down, down
Oh Shirley, oh Deborah, oh Julie, oh Jane
I wrote so many songs about you
I forget your name, I forget your name
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I forget your name
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I forget your name
I love your from the bottom of my pencil case
I love the way you never ask me why
I love to write about each wrinkle on your face
And I love you 'till my fountain pen runs dry
Deep so deep, the number one I hope to reap
Depends upon the tears you weep, so cry, lovey cry, cry, cry, cry
Oh Cathy, oh Alison, oh Phillipa, oh Sue
You made me so much money, I wrote this song for you
I wrote this song for you
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I wrote this song for you
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
Oh Cathy, oh Alison, oh Phillipa, oh Sue
You made me so much money, I wrote this song for you
I wrote this song for you
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I wrote this song for you
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
For you, for you
I wrote this song for you
I wrote this song for you

Princess Anne made it clear that her children would not be titled so perhaps she had more free rein over their names

Yes. I think this is correct.
Kind of picturing expensive sweaters with a bit of dog hair and pearls.
You didn't have to be one to know one because in the 80s this sort of girl was tabloid fodder to an extent.

They were a phenomenon you couldn't help know about if you read the papers.

Annabel’s nightclub is the only nightclub the Queen ever visited.

Definitely a Sloaney type name. I can’t imagine a Queen Annabel. Queen Beatrice sounds more traditional.

I'd say more Sloane Ranger.

Big difference between 'Sloaney' and 'Yuppie' and I suspect HMQ would very well have known the difference. Sloppy reporting and decidedly dubious source - that well known bastion of accuracy The Sun.

Definitely Sloaney rather than yuppie. I don’t even know what a yuppie name would be.

Annabel was the name of a famous nightclub. That’s probably why the name wasn’t allowed

I thought it was 'Sloaney' rather than 'yuppie', but I wouldn't want to argue with the late HMQ.

The yuppy Annabels were born in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Middle-aged, borderline elderly now! Gulp.

It's hard to imagine a Queen Annabel, but the new monarch always has the option of picking a new regnal name. Edward VII was Bertie to his friends and family.

Agree with previous posters.
If you don't want your child to have any pre-conceptions made about him/ her based on their name you've really got to pick a fairly bland but classless name and that may not necessarily be one that you're too keen on.

Too many people give their children stupid names that disadvantage them.

Why not pick something like Elizabeth.
Or David or John or Michael.

Yep still there and full of made in Chelsea types

YABU for reading anything by Lady Colin Campbell, but yes, Annabel was a yuppie name.

Annabel wore a pearl necklace, an 18th birthday present from her godfather, and a nice little angora sweater with a witty pattern knitted in. Under the sweater was a pintucked blouse of very fine linen, then a proper silk petticoat. Her plaid skirt was wool, in a tartan belonging to the Scots branch of her family. Her slightly frizzy blonde bob hid her understated pearl and diamond earrings, except when she threw her head back in very loud laughter - which was often. Everything was, for Annabel, the most tremendous lark.

She larked around at the bank where she worked ("I'm not sure what I do there! Haaaaahahahah!") and in Verbier, where she stayed with 14 of her closest friends for the ski season ("Don't forget the most important part, the après-ski! Haaaaahahahah!"), she had larks on the lakes when she summered at the family home in Como, and "Such crazy larks!" on holidays in the Med with her friends. She couldn't possibly tell you what went on there: "Highly confidential! Pain of death!" but she would after her third bottle of Bolly ("It's a truth drug! Haaaaahahahah!")

Annabel was a passable rider, knew her dogs and could shoot a deer if it stood still for a minute, but she simply wasn't serious people to the real aristocrats.

Times change. Annabel was definitely yuppie in the 80s and there was a very high profile nightclub that was frequented by the aristocracy and it was a bit of a gambling den initially. I can see why the Queen vetoed it.

I remember a family member being born in the 80s and her parents named her Melissa. My MIL was ridiculous, privately disparaging the name because it wasn't very popular at the time and she thought they were being 'posh'. She was a not nice woman tho.

Yes very yuppie in the 80s, and went with the Sloane ranger look - velvet alice band, string of pearls, turned up shirt collar and belted long skirt.

Very yuppy. And Beatrice was a lot higher up the line of succession than Zara.

It really was I think.