Am I unreasonable to ask if there have been theories about why Harry/Meghan called their child Archie?

[ARudeTerriblePerson]

I am a republican and don't follow royal reporting except when it hits me in the face (yes, that's you, Sky News).

I would be grateful if people could fill in my obvious ignorance about why he might have been named Archie? Obviously unless you're a sacked nanny, you're unlikely to know for sure, but there have probably been guesses by columnists which MNers might have read.

@Lillyhatesjaz

Half the boys in my nursery are called Archie it's really popular. I have wondered if it stems from the tv show Monarch of the Glen

I vaguely remember a smug MC parenting magazine (so judge me!) around twenty years ago where one of the features was about the resurgence in old fashioned names - its title 'But Archie's such a lovely name!'.

Depending upon the age of the parents concerned, I suspect Balamory also had something to do with it, though - especially if they had younger siblings who would have watched.

Why did Andrew & Sarah call their daughters Beatrice and Eugenie

Now this is something I’d be interesting in knowing.

Archie is such a popular name that it really didn’t even cross my mind to question it. Far more curious about the motivation for these names.

@NeverDropYourMoonCup immediately disregarded your theory because there is no way Balamory is twenty years old. Have googled it. How wrong I was.

I think Eugenie is then name of one of Queen Victoria's children.

[quote ReeseWitherfork]@NeverDropYourMoonCup immediately disregarded your theory because there is no way Balamory is twenty years old. Have googled it. How wrong I was.[/quote]
I'm sorry!

Twenty bloody years of that song in my head. Twenty bloody years.

I think Eugenie is then name of one of Queen Victoria's children.

Beatrice was Victoria's youngest daughter but she had a daughter (Victoria's granddaughter) named Victoria Eugenie and Victoria Eugenie's godmother was Eugénie de Montijo, former empress of France, wife of Napoleon III, and friend to the Royal family.

Fergie wrote a book about Queen Victoria and was extremely interested in her, around the time she had her DDs. I expect she got a liking for the names while doing her research.

Fun fact: in Gone With The Wind, Scarlett's second daughter Bonnie is actually named Eugenie Victoria and it is mentioned that she is named after two queens. Not sure who Queen Eugenie was though.

Oh I think foxythefox has just told me!

She was an interesting woman, @BalloonSlayer, and one of those historical figures that people don't really know about unless she crops up as part of someone else's story. She did a lot to push for women's rights and equality, she was an advocate for educating women to the same standards as men and for recognising the achievements of women. She was very intelligent too and had a lot of influence on her husband's policy making, she stood in as regent for him several times, and was pretty much savaged in the press and by various political activists for it, everything that went wrong was blamed on her by them simply because she was a opinionated woman at a time when women were not supposed to be opinionated.

So many deletions who's the sensitive flower with no sense of humour?

I think we can blame Monarch of the Glen for the rise in popularity of the name Archie. I wanted to call my bump Archie but I had a miscarriage and then my MIL’s NDN had a boy who they called Archie so we decided to forego the name. My son (born a couple of years later) escaped the name and I’m relieved as I don’t like the name anymore.

Thanks, all. Have no idea what the deletions were. I don't like the name, and like a pp thought it was a joke on first announcement. It certainly seems like one in the eye for the establishment; they might as well have called him Mikey or Sid, raising the prospect of a KIng Sid in the future. However in terms of being parents, of course they can choose any name they want, regardless of whether he's likely to sit on the UK throne.

@ReeseWitherfork

Why did Andrew & Sarah call their daughters Beatrice and Eugenie

Now this is something I’d be interesting in knowing.

Archie is such a popular name that it really didn’t even cross my mind to question it. Far more curious about the motivation for these names.

Beatrice is after Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, who was called "Baby" by her mother (and expected to devote her entire life to the aging monarch's care, by all accounts), and Eugenie is after the Empress Eugenie, the last French Empress and the wife of Napoleon III.

As for why Archie? I suspect because of George's family nickname, to be honest. There's always seemd to be a rivalry towards Catherine by Meghan, and if she could force - or try to, at least - a change in the family nickname for a future King, having perhap realised precisely how low down her own child would be on the List of Succession? I can see her going for it. Unless, of course, young Archie Harrison is called "Georgie" by his parents...

Beatrice was to be named Annabel but the Queen didn't like it and (eventually) suggested Beatrice instead.
I think Eugenia was a natural continuation from that.
Archibald means 'gift from God' and has several noble associations. I guess the Queen approved the contraction as it is more usually used in the shortened form now.

@ARudeTerriblePerson:

"raising the prospect of a KIng Sid in the future"

He'll never be King, though. He will, as a previous poster said, simply slip further and further down the line of succession until he's dead. On the other hand, I can see the potential for a President Archie Windsor of the United States of America one day...

What a ludicrous question.

The longer version, Archibald, is a traditional British name going back centuries, and Archie is currently really common.

Honestly, the conspiracy theories people find in things never fail to astound me.

It's not a traditional royal name but then again nor is Harry. I know Harry is officially Henry but it was declared from day one that he was to be known as Harry.

I assume they just both liked the name!

Just as when Princess Anne named her daughter Zara - unusual at the time.

I think I read on here that it was because Archie is (almost) an anagram of Rachel (Meghan’s first name) and then the Harrison bit was for Harry.

Errrrrm..... I'm lost
They had a baby, and they liked the name so they chose it like we all do when we have a kid?!
Why does everything have to be a conspiracy theory or whatever it is you're hinting at lol

There's always seemd to be a rivalry towards Catherine by Meghan, and if she could force - or try to, at least - a change in the family nickname for a future King, having perhap realised precisely how low down her own child would be on the List of Succession? I can see her going for it.

Wow, I didn't realise you were privy to the inner dynamics of the family How long have you known them all so intimately?

There's always seemd to be a rivalry towards Catherine by Meghan

Has there?! Was it the Daily Shit Stirring Mail you picked that up on one of their bile filled pieces perchance, or do you know them and seen it for yourself?

My father's mother was a cousin to the Queen and when she was a little girl, Beatrice and Eugenie's mother frequently declared that she was going to marry my father. My best friend from school also dated Peter Phillips at uni, and my daughter's father was one of his housemates. I also attended Eugenie's wedding to Jack, just as I did Peter's to Autumn.

Also, who in their right mind considers The Daily Fail as anything more than a children's comic?!

Does that answer your questions @FoxyTheFox and @Quaagars?

I did say "seemed to be" not "there definitely is" a rivalry between them. Personally, I don't mind Meghan, am rather fond of Harry - despite his trend towards activisim these days, he fought on the frontline during battle after all... when he didn't have to - and whilst I don't agree with the way they've gone about things, I know that none of us have exactly followed our family's plans for us (my father was adamant I was going to marry Prince Charles when I was born, for crying out loud. Did I? No. I was 5 when he married Diana Spencer!).

However, as another poster has stated, it is on public record that George announced his name was Archie to a dogwalker one day. And then, lo and behold, we have Archie Harrison! I genuinely think that Meghan didn't realise, fully, how our monarchy works - ie, the fact that if anything happens to William, it will be George who is next in line, not Harry. That's okay. A lot of my American friends don't seem to understand it, either. Hence my "spiteful" comment.

Not, actually, that I need to explain myself to either one of you.

^Contrary* Are you a Lascelles?