Royal watchers celebrated Monday as Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a son at a London hospital, her husband Prince William at her side.
The tyke is now third in line as heir to the British throne and will one day be the sovereign ruler of Canada, barring some ridiculous change whereby Canada becomes a republic.
Along with being only the second future king to ever witness his wife give birth (Charles was the first), Will also greeted his son for the first time in a hospital. His grandmother gave birth to Charles in Buckingham Palace but Charles and Diana had their children in St. Mary's Hospital, the same place Will and Kate went to have their baby.
But let's move on to the most important choice Will and Kate, as new parents, will make and that's the baby's name.
We'll have to hold our horses for a bit on that. Elizabeth and Philip didn't announce Charles as the name of their first born until a month after he arrived, although Charles and Diana sped things up and revealed William's name a week after his birth. It's unlikely we'll have to wait that long. While tradition may be important when it comes to the monarchy, so is being seen as modern and relevant, so they will announce a name and release pictures in record time.
The name itself will likely be most traditional.
At betting shops across the U.K., George is the front runner for a boy's name and that has real implications for this city that could share the name Prince George with the once and future king. Depending on who you talk to, that will either destroy Prince George's (the city) online connectivity (sorry, folks, the #princegeorge tag on Twitter could soon get usurped by His Royal Highness) or it will generate additional traffic from royal watchers who will accidentally find themselves reading about the restoration of paid parking downtown and the reconstruction of a destroyed sawmill.
How about Prince Rupert? Our neighbour to the west could use the extra attention.
Or Prince Albert? Nothing wrong with some love towards rural Saskatchewan.
Even better would be Andrew, in honour of both Will's uncle but also Andy Murray, the tennis superstar who became the first British man to win the single's title at Wimbledon since 1936.
Philip would work, since it would honour both his great-grandfather and his aunt, Kate's sister Philippa.
There is a case to be made, however, for Prince George. King George VI was Elizabeth's father and the man largely credited with restoring the monarchy after the crisis brought on by the abdication of his older brother Edward, so he could marry a divorced American socialite. Although he was born as Albert, he took the name George as king to keep the connection with his father. As king during the Second World War, he was beloved by the British public for his relentless touring of the country and his regular visits to the troops.
The last King George is also embedded in recent popular culture. The 2010 Oscar winner for best picture was The King's Speech, chronicling George's efforts to conquer his debilitating stutter. And the whole "Keep Calm and Carry On" line came from a proposed line of motivational posters at the outset of the war.
So if it is Prince George, let's run with it proudly. We already regularly take phone calls from our friends in Prince George County, Maryland, so surely we can work in a connection with a young fellow who one day we will call king. And let's make some inquiries now to see if his parents will include his namesake city as part of his inaugural visit to Canada, when he's 19-months-old and Prince George hosts the Canada Winter Games.
Just a thought.
