William and Kate welcomed their firstborn child in July 2013 – and future King George very nearly had a different first name, one that his mum had her ‘heart set on’

Prince William and Princess Kate’s oldest son Prince George almost had a completely different name – and it was one that mum Kate ‘had her heart set on’ at the time.

Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge was born on July 22, 2013, at St Mary’s Hospital in London. He is third in line to the throne after his dad, Prince William and grandfather King Charles.

His monikers are each a tribute to family members; “George” was chosen in honour of his great-great-grandfather, King George VI (the late Queen’s father).

The first of George’s middle names, Alexander, pays tribute to the late Queen, whose full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. And his third name, Louis, is the same middle name as his dad, whose full name is William Arthur Philip Louis.

It is likely that the name was given to honour Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle who was murdered by the IRA in 1979.

According to royal expert Katie Nicholl, Princess Kate favoured one of George’s middle names and actually had her “heart set on” Alexander.

“Courtiers insisted the pair had not found out the sex of their unborn baby, and friends close to the couple claim William wanted a surprise,” Katie said.

“Although Kate apparently suspected it was a boy and had set her heart on the name Alexander, they had not yet decided what to call their firstborn.”

For reasons unknown, they changed their mind and settled on George instead, and Alexander was given as his middle name.

William and Kate chose not to find out the sex of their first child together – but the mum-to-be did have a hunch it was a little boy.

A friend of the couple previously revealed: “When I saw William a few weeks before the birth he said they didn’t know [the baby’s sex] and didn’t want to find out.

“He said there are so few surprises in life — this was one he wanted to keep. Kate said she thought it was a boy because the baby kicked so much.”

It has also been reported that Prince William and Kate’s beloved dog Lupo took on an important role when it came to choosing Prince George’s name.

According to The Times , they wrote all the possible names on pieces of paper, put them on the floor of their home, and let Lupo in to see which piece of paper he went over to – and it is thought he picked George.

Lupo sadly passed away in November 2020, with the Duke and Duchess sharing the news on their Instagram account.

Meanwhile, it was previously revealed that Prince George has a particularly unusual nickname – inspired by a British brand of tea bags. Once his friends started abbreviating Prince George to ‘PG’, parents William and Kate apparently took the next logical step and dubbed him Tips.