Louis Arthur Charles Cambridge was born at 11.01am on St George’s Day in St. Mary’s Hospital, west London, weighing 8lb 7oz. His full title will be Royal Highness Prince Louis Arthur Charles of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Newspapers cleared their front pages for the event while world leaders and celebrities rushed to Twitter to congratulate the royal parents. Some fans had camped outside the hospital for more than two weeks hoping for a glimpse of the fifth in line to the throne. One republican with a megaphone was the only anti-royal voice on the day itself – but how did Britain at large feel about the arrival of the new prince?
An exclusive survey by Atomik Research suggests that we are a nation divided rather than united by the arrival of the baby dubbed ‘Cutie the third’. We polled 2,014 adults across the UK and found 48% considered themselves to be a royalist with 42% denying they were fans of the royals.
Londoners and those from the north-east were most likely to be royal fans, with 59% describing themselves as royalists. Scots are the least likely to be cheering the birth – 61% said they were not royalists.
William and Kate revealed on Friday morning they had decided to name their baby Louis Arthur Charles. It is thought he may have been named after Prince Philip’s uncle Louise Mountbatten, who was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979.
Accoring to the research nearly half of those surveyed (49%) said they hoped the name would be more traditional, while 26% thought it should be something more up-to-date.
Interest in the Royal baby peaked among those aged 25-44, with 57% saying they cared about the event. But it is bad news for the 45-54-year-old age group, who the research revealed were the least interested in the birth.
For 38% of people think the Duchess of Cambridge has not yet finished expanding her brood – as opposed to 24% who do not think she will have another little prince or princess. Whether the Royal pair grow their family further or not, the vast majority of people want Prince William to become the next King.
An astonishing 70% said William should be next to take the Crown, with just 12% saying it should pass to his father, Prince Charles according to the research.
Prince William is also at the centre of the most popular Royal event of recent times – with 41% of Brits surveyed saying they were swept up in his marriage to Kate Middleton in April 2011. This was closely followed by the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in June 2002, with 40% saying they were swept up by the celebrations. But amid all the Royal excitement – with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle due to tie the knot on May 19 – one thing is apparently gripping us Brits more than anything else … Brexit.
An astonishing 46% of people said Britain’s withdrawal from the EU was the thing uppermost in their minds followed by Britain’s ongoing relations with Russia (35%). Fourteen per cent were chiefly gripped by Arsene Wenger leaving Arsenal (14%), the Snooker World Championships (14%) and the new series of Westworld (11%). But spare a thought for America’s first family of reality TV. Just five per cent of Brits gave a fig about the ongoing drama of the Kardashian clan.
Perhaps there’s hope for us all.
