- After hundreds bet on baby being called Arthur or Alexander, he’s named Louis
- The choice of the 20/1 ‘outsider’ name means bookmakers have made millions
- Delay between birth and the naming led to thousands of people having a flutter
Bookies have made millions from nationwide betting on the name of the royal baby after Kate and William named chose 20/1 outsider Louis as his name.
Britons have taken advantage of the four days in which the royal baby went unnamed to have a flutter on what the new prince might be called.
Arthur and Alexander were two of the favourite names among punters, with Arthur around 11/4 and Alexander 8/1.
Britain has been betting millions of the possible name of the royal baby but bookies, like Ladbrokes Alex Apati (pictured outside the Lindo Wing), were the real winners today
Albert was another favourite at 1/3 while James, Philip and Henry were all around 12/1.
But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced they had chosen the name Louis this morning, in an apparent tribute to the Prince of Wales’s great-uncle, Earl Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA.
With relatively few Britons have bet on the name Louis, bookmakers around the UK will now keep the vast majority of the money wagered.
Alex Apati, of bookmakers 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.’
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their baby son Louis Arthur Charles
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