# Kate Middleton is pregnant **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859 "2012-12-03T16:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/21 "2012-12-03T16:53:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Morbid question: if Elizabeth, Charles, and William were to all die before the baby was born, I assume he/she get skipped in the line of succession and Harry becomes king. But suppose the new child is a day old and the three people in front all kick the royal bucket- could there be an infant monarch? Nope. The baby takes William’s place and becomes monarch. Queen Victoria displaced several of her uncles after her father died before assuming the throne. Harry might be appointed regent. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/22 "2012-12-03T16:54:48Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Ah, gottcha. > > Out of further curiousity, does the inheritance still favour males? That is, if the current baby turns out to be female, and then she’s followed by a baby brother in a few years, is the heir apparent the older female or her younger brother? They just changed them. A firstborn child of any gender will be first in line. [http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2098162,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2098162,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/23 "2012-12-03T16:55:45Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Ah, gottcha. > > Out of further curiousity, does the inheritance still favour males? That is, if the current baby turns out to be female, and then she’s followed by a baby brother in a few years, is the heir apparent the older female or her younger brother? I believe Britain just changed the rule that favors boys, so the oldest child will be the heir even if she’s a girl. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Morbid question: if Elizabeth, Charles, and William were to all die before the baby was born, I assume he/she get skipped in the line of succession and Harry becomes king. But suppose the new child is a day old and the three people in front all kick the royal bucket- could there be an infant monarch? I know back in the day there would have been a regency until the child was old enough to be monarch, with someone like Harry or Kate acting as regent. I have no idea if that’s how it still works. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/24 "2012-12-03T16:57:19Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Nope. The baby takes William’s place and becomes monarch. Queen Victoria displaced several of her uncles after her father died before assuming the throne. Harry might be appointed regent. Really? So if Harry became king today, and the new baby comes say August 2013, then Harry would stop being king and be the regent for the infant king/queen? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/25 "2012-12-03T16:58:05Z")
Does anyone know if there are any suspects? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/26 "2012-12-03T17:01:59Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Arthur George William Charles Michael (great great grandad, both grandads, dad and Arthur because, well, how brilliant would King Arthur be?) Unlikely they’ll pick Arthur will the aim of it being the regal name, the last Prince Arthur died at 15 (Henry VIII’s older brother - how history would have changed if he’d lived!) so it’s not the tradition. Plus, when he becomes monarch is he King Arthur II or just King Arthur? There are problems with both. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/27 "2012-12-03T17:04:43Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Really? So if Harry became king today, and the new baby comes say August 2013, then Harry would stop being king and be the regent for the infant king/queen? With a baby on the way, Harry wouldn’t be appointed King at all, as we no longer ‘un-king’ people. He would simply be regent while we waited the arrival. Or Kate could be regent, there aren’t rules of succession around who gets to be regent. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/28 "2012-12-03T17:05:14Z")
As for names, I rather doubt Elizabeth. The current monarch is so insanely popular that it might be a bit much to saddle her with the same name. I think it should be Victoria or Anne. For a boy, I would put my money on Philip George Charles William. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/29 "2012-12-03T17:05:54Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Really? So if Harry became king today, and the new baby comes say August 2013, then Harry would stop being king and be the regent for the infant king/queen? That’s what I’ve read. Once the child is born Harry can become regent. Or they could appoint someone else like Kate. Once the child comes of age, the child assumes William’s place in the succession and becomes monarch. Even before the law was changed this applied to both male and female heirs. Queen Victoria was born to a 4th son of George the III. The son never assumed the throne because he died when she was only eight months old. But she became monarch about a month after her eighteenth birthday. She did so after her elderly uncle died. The uncle had several younger brothers. Victoria became queen ahead of them. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/30 "2012-12-03T17:09:03Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Unlikely they’ll pick Arthur will the aim of it being the regal name, the last Prince Arthur died at 15 (Henry VIII’s older brother - how history would have changed if he’d lived!) so it’s not the tradition. Plus, when he becomes monarch is he King Arthur II or just King Arthur? There are problems with both. Just ‘King Arthur’, as the counting thing only starts from William the Conqueror (1066, for those of you asleep in history class). And while it isn’t a name that has appeared in the role of monarchs since then, doesn’t mean it couldn’t be. ‘Victoria’ has been the one and only of that name after all, and an Elizabeth hadn’t been Queen for 400 odd years. Okay, it isn’t\* likely\* to be Arthur, but I can dream. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/31 "2012-12-03T17:11:10Z")
Also, the kid’s name is not necessarily the name she would use to reign. Edward VII was known to his family as “David”, and his brother “Bertie” reigned as George VI. My vote for name, for either pink booties or blue: Stormageddon. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/32 "2012-12-03T17:17:07Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Also, the kid’s name is not necessarily the name she would use to reign. Edward VII was known to his family as “David”, and his brother “Bertie” reigned as George VI. Ooh, how about David then? The boy child would be Prince of Wales, eventually, and I think it would be great to honour the Welsh in this way as they hardly ever get a look in. King David does have a certain ring to it… ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/33 "2012-12-03T17:18:32Z")
They should ditch regal numbers and go back to distinguishing between monarchs with the same name by epithets (Edward the Confessor, Charles the Fat, Ethelred the Unready, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/34 "2012-12-03T17:20:36Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Ooh, how about David then? The boy child would be Prince of Wales, eventually, and I think it would be great to honour the Welsh in this way as they hardly ever get a look in. > > King David does have a certain ring to it… Probably not. The last king known as David was Edward the 8th. He was Nazi loving moron who abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. David was the name his family called him. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/35 "2012-12-03T17:21:52Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > King David does have a certain ring to it… [Mel Brooks/] Too Jewish [/Mel Brooks] Why does the counting only goes back to William The Conqueror? Seems a bit confusing that there were two sets of Edward I, II, and III. So I guess we can rule out Ethelbert II. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/36 "2012-12-03T17:22:21Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > They should ditch regal numbers and go back to distinguishing between monarchs with the same name by epithets (Edward the Confessor, Charles the Fat, Ethelred the Unready, etc.) Charles the Tampon Lover Edward the Extremely Fat Cheater Mary the Kleptomaniac 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/37 "2012-12-03T17:24:38Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Does anyone know if there are any suspects? Wasn’t me! ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/38 "2012-12-03T17:34:59Z")
I will pay good money for a ginger heir. IIRC, it’s quite likely that William carries a recessive red-hair gene, but doesn’t Kate have to as well in order for the possibility of a ginger? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/39 "2012-12-03T17:35:03Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Probably not. The last king known as David was Edward the 8th. He was Nazi loving moron who abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. David was the name his family called him. But I doubt any of that would stop us having another King Edward. The royals don’t really look back at individual records. See Charles. Or Henry for that matter! And people don’t really associate David with Edward VIII, even if that was his real name. It would be seen as a huge compliment to the Welsh – William has strong links to Wales, being the future Prince of Wales and living there in the first years of his marriage (he is stationed there). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/40 "2012-12-03T17:39:14Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > There will also be a royal scandal when child(ren) get multiple tattoos at age 14 and marry their same-sex partner at age 18. As long as they don’t marry Catholics, it should be okay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859.md?page=3)