Would Prince William Choose A Different Regnal Name When He Ascends The Throne?

Even at 93 years of age, Queen Elizabeth II is still pretty active and involved in running the monarchy. At this point, it is still uncertain just when Prince Charles might finally ascend the throne, which also means that the second in line, Prince William, might have a long wait ahead, just like his father.

But that’s not stopping fans from speculating on what’s going to happen once William becomes king. One favorite topic among the royally obsessed is whether or not the Duke of Cambridge might opt to change his regnal name once he becomes the monarch.

Back in 2005, there were already speculations that Prince Charles might change his name once he takes over Queen Elizabeth II as the monarch. As the second in line, William has been the subject of such type of speculation as well.

However, many believe that William is more likely to retain his name when he becomes king, and the reason is surprisingly simple. As far as royal names go, “William” is better than others — it doesn’t have negative connotations as the name “Charles,” at least.

“‘William’ as a royal name doesn’t have an awful lot of negative baggage behind it (unlike, in some views, ‘Charles’), so it doesn’t seem like a bad idea,” Harry Kriewaldt wrote on Quora.

Another reason for retaining his name is that he has been known as William since he was a child back when Princess Diana was still alive. As far as branding is concerned, it would make sense for him to retain that name.

“Additionally, he’s become very well known as Prince William — to the extent that he doesn’t tend to get referred to as the Duke of Cambridge very often at all — so there’s almost a ‘brand’ that he wouldn’t want to change, particularly by the time he ascends to the throne,” Kriewaldt added.

Of course it’s likewise possible that William might change his regnal name. Thankfully, he still has three other names to choose from.

His full name is William Arthur Philip Louis. This means that should he opt to discard William when he becomes the monarch, he can still choose either Arthur or Philip or Louis.

“William’s other given names — Arthur, Philip and Louis — are, I suspect, less likely to be used, as well,” Kriewaldt explained. “‘Arthur’ has all the overtones of the mythical hero, ‘Louis’ is French, and while there’s never been a King Philip in the UK, it may seem odd given the longevity of his grandfather as Prince Philip. Conversely, the longevity of the Duke of Edinburgh may be a positive reason for William to reign as King Philip.”