Prince George was very nearly given a completely different name that Kate had her 'heart set on'

Prince George's name was nearly something completely different, as a royal expert has claimed that the Princess of Wales wanted a very different for her firstborn.

George seems like the perfect name for the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, it has a long royal history, it's popular but not too trendy, and it's extremely British. However, there was another name that was very nearly selected for the youngster, and it's also a pretty great option. In an article for Vanity Fair, Katie Nicholls revealed that the Princess of Wales originally wanted her son to be called 'Alexander' as it was a name that she 'had her heart set on.'

Katie began by explaining that names were very up in the air for the royal couple as they wanted to be surprised by their child's gender so had girl and boy names at the ready. "Courtiers insisted the pair had not found out the sex of their unborn baby, and friends close to the couple claim William wanted a surprise," said the expert. "Although Kate apparently suspected it was a boy and had set her heart on the name Alexander, they had not yet decided what to call their firstborn."

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Of course, Prince George's full name is George Alexander Louis, so Kate's favourite name was still incorporated into his full title, even if it's just a middle name. 

In keeping with royal tradition, all of Prince William and Kate Middleton's children have three names, one first name and two middle names. All of their children have names with special links to other members of the Royal Family, some who have been monarchs and some who are grandparents. For example, Princess Charlotte's name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana and Prince Louis's is Louis Arthur Charles. These names are obvious tribute's to King Charles III, the late Princess Diana, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, just to name a few.

In the article, Katie added that there was a significant amount of betting on possible names, but between the royal couple, they affectionately called Prince George after a fruit while he was still in utero. "Kate was reported to have affectionately referred to her bump as “our little grape” while she was pregnant, and there was a flurry of betting on possible names," said Katie.

A friend spoke to Katie about the baby and corroborated that they didn't want to know George's gender before he was born. In the article, the expert wrote, "'When I saw William a few weeks before the birth he said they didn’t know [the baby’s gender] and didn’t want to find out,' says a friend. 'He said there are so few surprises in life—this was one he wanted to keep. Kate said she thought it was a boy because the baby kicked so much.'"