There have been two Scottish King Davids.
David I reigned 1124–1153.
David II reigned 1329 to 1371.
Now that was a few centuries ago, but it’s been two centuries more or less since the last King William, and five centuries since the last King Henry, so I think it’s fair to say that David is a traditional royal name in Britain.
And since David is the patron saint of Wales, my guess is that David would be a very acceptable regal name to large segments of the population of the U.K.
Charles is also the first male heir born after Queen Victoria’s death, though.
I think it would awfully cool of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to hang around in Wales until their first child is born. They’ve both stated that they really like living there.
Seems like the people of Wales would be very fond of a future Prince of Wales that was actually BORN in Wales. 
And by the by, as an American, can I say that my first impulse is to refer to the Duchess of Cambridge as “Princess Kate”? (Yes, I do understand WHY she is not referred to as a princess. But it still feels wrong to me.)
She is in fact a princess by being the lawfully wedded consort of a prince. After the Queen’s death she will likely be Princess of Wales. However, her husband’s actual title as Duyke of Cambridge supersedes his honorary title as son of the Prince of Wales. We Americans tend to think Princes/Princesses always outrank Dukes/Duchesses. That’s not always true.
Well Beatrice and Eugenie are 5th and 6th in line for the throne, and are not exactly the standard Windsor names. Princess Anne’s granddaughters (through her son Peter) are 12th and 13th, and they are named Savannah and Isla. Anne’s daughter, who is 14th in line, is named Zara. And of course there’s always Lord Culloden, aka Xan Windsor, the son of the Duke of Gloucester, who is currently 23rd in line.
So just 22 sudden and unfortunate deaths and we are looking at a King Xan. The Beefeaters will have XR on their shirts?
Someone actually named their child ‘Xan’?
That is rather nontraditional, isn’t it?
In my family, we only have four or five names to spread around.
Gagundathar is a rather drab name compared to Xan.
Somehow, I fell cheated.
Presumably it’s just a diminutive of his father’s name, Alexander. It does seem a bit unusual to register the nickname rather than the full thing, but there again I know a Sandy and a Zander who have those on their birth certificates.
Some interesting statistics from the Social Security Adminstration database. Apparently 6 baby boys were named Xan in the U.S. in 2011. Interestingly, if you scroll down it looks like there was a huge boom in baby girl Xans in 1965 and 1966. A fictional character name, maybe?
Most of the Xans I’ve heard of do seem to be in the UK, including my favorite, Guardian editor Xan Brooks.
Not all Xans are “Zan” as in Alexander (although that’s a good bet for Lord Culloden). Some of them are pronounced “Shawn”.
This raises another question for me: when he does become King, and assuming that the Duchess of Cornwall becomes Queen, could she also choose a different name?
I had a lovely reply half written with cites and everything until the cat deleted it all so I’m just going to say that Beatrice (Elizabeth Mary) and Eugenie (Victoria Helena) are named after daughters of Queen Victoria as is Lady Louise daughter of Prince Edward.
Although she is a princess, by virtue of being married to a prince, she cannot be Princess Kate because she was not born a princess. When (or if) her husband becomes The Prince of Wales she can be Catherine, Princess of Wales, but not Princess Catherine of Wales. Just like Diana wasnt really Princess Diana. I think! I know someone more knowledgeable can correct me.
There’s also the fact that her uncle, King Edward VIII, had been childless. So Elizabeth (and her children) had already been in the direct line for the throne before Edward’s abdication. If Edward hadn’t abdicated, Elizabeth would have become Queen when he died in 1972 and we’d be celebrating her 40th Jubilee this year.
Yes, I do understand why she’s not popularly referred to as Princess Kate - and despite the inaccuracy, that didn’t seem to stop the American media from referring to Diana as “Princess Di” practically any time she was mentioned. It’s actually kind of nice to see that the American media has so far resisted the urge to Princessize Kate, but I’m sure all deference will be swept aside when William actually becomes Prince of Wales.
Of course, technically Camilla is now Princess of Wales (though she chooses to use the Duchess of Cornwall title in deference to the memory of Diana)… what will her title be once Prince Charles kicks the bucket?
Dowager Princess of Wales / Duchess of Cornwall?
Assuming that Charles dies before his mother, she would be entitled to be called Dowager Princess of Wales and Dowager Duchess of Cornwall. She would be the fourth Dowager Princess of Wales (after Joan of Kent, Catherine of Aragon and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha), but she would probably only be called Dowager Duchess of Cornwall.
(And if Charles dies after his mother but before Camilla, she would be Queen Camilla, with her step-daughter-in-law being Queen Catherine.)
Actually using the word “dowager” is only really necessary if there’s someone else with that title, though. If Charles died before his mother, there wouldn’t be any other Duchess of Cornwall.
If the Prince of Wales does choose “Charles”, he’ll never be able to assume the title of “the Great” as that has already been taken.
Wouldn’t the title of Duke of Cornwall pass on to William, the new heir apparent, and thereby make Catherine the Duchess of Cornwall?
Yes, William would immediately become Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, and would fairly quickly become Prince of Wales. Thus Catherine would be Duchess of Cambridge, Cornwall and Rothesay. However, the only person who’s been in a similar situation – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – when her father-in-law died and her husband became the Duke of Edinburgh – did not use the title. (Prince George became Prince of Wales about three weeks after become Duke of Edinburgh, and is better known to history as King George III.)