Princess Eugenie picks one of the oldest royal names of all for her new daughter

 

Princess Eugenie has delved into the history books for the name of her new daughter and chosen one of the oldest royal monikers of all for her little girl. The baby now fifteenth in line to the throne is called Adelaide.

Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank was born in Lisbon on August 3rd, a third child and first daughter for Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. Baby Adelaide joins August, 5, and Ernest, 3, in the Brooksbank nursery in Portugal.

The names of her brothers is probably the best clue for the inspiration for Adelaide's name. Like the boys in the Brooksbank family, Adelaide has a 19th century link to it. All the names are found in the family tree of the shared ancestors of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It had come back into use in Britain with the marriage of the future King William IV to Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. When she became Queen Adelaide, her royal relations started to use her name for their daughters. Among them were the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who named their daughter Mary Adelaide. She became the mother of another Mary who became Queen of England as the wife of King George V in 1935.  However, Adelaide has royal links far older than that.

The name, in its other versions, was popular in the medieval royal world. William the Conqueror had a daughter called Adeliza and another called Adela. Both those names and Adelaide come from the same word, Adal, which means noble. It's why it became a popular name with royals as the whole concept of a leading family with hereditary rights to the throne took hold. In 1121, Henry I married Adeliza of Louvain and the name became that of a Queen of England. Queen Adeliza was consort for 14 years. Following Henry I's death, his daughter Matilda tried to win the throne but lost to a cousin called Stephen whose mother had been Adela, daughter of the Conqueror. Despite all those links, the name fell from royal use as the Angevins came to power.

It's been rarely used by royalty in the last century but now it's back, thanks to Princess Eugenie. Her little girl is the latest to use a very royal name indeed.