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

[Giselle374]

I read Lady Colin Campbell's book a while ago about Harry & Meghan. A lot of the claims seemed ridiculous- they can certainly be criticised but the book went beyond reasonable. Anyway, one of the points I found odd was that Campbell claimed naming rules have always been very strict for royals, and mentioned an earlier name choice for Beatrice being vetoed.
I googled and found this choice was Annabel, which the Queen apparently vetoed for being 'too yuppie'. Was it really seen that way in the 80s or was this just some eccentricity of hers? 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.
Not a traditional royal one : but then she was OK with Zara.

(Not the main point, but while I think they were wrong to choose Lilibet, I didn't agree with Campbell's argument that the Annabel veto meant the Queen remained just as strict in the 2010s. She clearly wasn't if she allowed Savannah, Sienna and Mia, all nice names but arguably more non traditional than Annabel)

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.

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.

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

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

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

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 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.

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. 😁

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

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.

Sounds glorious, is it too late to change my name 😂

Annabel, Camilla and Susannah were the 80s sloane ranger names definitely. Not "yuppie" which implied working hard in the city and making loadsamoney. Sloanes were nice gels who floated around with a "job" in an art gallery, auctioneer or PR and spent their nights in Mayfair nightclubs. Very much like Diana pre-marriage.

Good point. Beatrice was later allowed to choose the more non traditional Sienna but notably the other non traditional choices (Savannah and Mia) were Zara's line too.

Very interesting! I'd definitely like to know more about this Annabel..

Italian yuppie = Isabella Necessario Nella Bicicleta

Tbf you are basically describing Fergie there 🤣

Annabel was a Sloan Ranger name in the 80s.

It was also the name of the then Camilla Parker Bowles' sister, iirc.

I'd say the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up when she heard it proposed.

I would say, that the scandal around Lady Annabel Goldsmith, would have been one of the reasons for the veto... it was, in the words of the time, rather a fast set by Court standards

And it was the name of that nightclub they all spent their nights in.

Exactly...

Yes,,that sounds likely! I didn't know about Camilla's sister but that makes sense.

Yes but the connotations of Camilla having a sister called Annabel would've been different for TLQ in the 80s..

BTW I suppose this sister was named after their grandmother Sonia Keppel- she wrote quite an interesting memoir, Edwardian Daughter.

Yes, this.

😂 I need to hear more about this Annabel!