What has Kate Middleton and Prince William called the royal baby? Full name revealed
THE royal baby's name has been officially announced by The Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge - but what has the fifth in line to the throne been called?
Sky reporter shocked by announcement of Prince Louis’ name
After days of keeping the world guessing, the third child of Prince William and his wife Kate has been revealed.
The surprising choice was not one of the hot favourites which had swayed between Albert, Alexander and Arthur in recent days.
Prince William joked on Wednesday that his son had a “strong name”.
What has Kate Middleton and Prince William called the royal baby? Full name revealed
Kensington Palace announced in a statement today: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son Louis Arthur Charles.
"The baby will be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge."
The fifth in line to the throne was born on St George’s Day - Monday April 23 - weighing 8lb 7oz.
He is the younger brother of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh's sixth great-grandchild.
Prince William is said to have sought approval on the name from his grandmother, the Queen.
The young prince’s name has been revealed just hours after a Kensington Palace webpage link appeared to suggest Louis’s name might be Albert.
But Prince William waved away such suggestions on Thursday when asked about this, saying “I’m working on that”.
The name is a surprise as it is already the one of Prince George’s middle names.
It pays tribute to the Prince of Wales's great-uncle, Earl Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA.
The name seems to have taken punters by complete surprise too with the odds on Louis ranging as high as 25/1.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "Prince Louis has caught both bookies and punters by surprise.
“With it being one of Prince George's middle names fans didn’t see it as an obvious front runner for Kate and Wills second son."
“It looks like we made the right decision to keep betting open until the very end for royal punters, rather than suspending the market or paying out early due to the rumour mill going into overdrive, as we so often saw over the last few days.”
It has been a long wait to find out Prince Louis’s name with the announcement coming exactly four days after he was born.
His siblings, Prince George, four, and Princess Charlotte, two, were named after two day.