A Son for Félix and Claire - Liam Henri Hartmut: November 28, 2016

[HereditaryPrincess]

I'm another who is rather surprised by the little prince's name - Amalia is more of a common regal name (it has regularly been used amongst the Germanic royal/noble families; and Claire is also from Germany originally) so I wasn't too surprised when I heard it. On a more personal level I'm not fond of the name Liam itself; but perhaps after hearing "Prince Liam" more regularly, it will grow on me and I'll get used to it; which is what happened to me with Estelle.

It seems that some of the modern royal parents are getting more adventurous (for royalty) with their name choices; or perhaps Félix and Claire thought that, considering Liam is the second born child of minor members of the GD family, they can be more relaxed about their name choice - Liam won't be a Grand Duke so he is less significant, in the terms of succession. We'll never know (unless the couple ever say in an interview) what other 'non royal' sounding names they liked for Amalia, so it could be possible that Liam was one of the names they considered for her before they found out that she was a girl.
NB: This is all just my personal thoughts and I don't mean any harm by them (of course, you're obviously entitled to disagree with them if you do; it's just that I don't mean to offend anyone or come across as overreacting). I'm just putting my viewpoints into post form.

[Denville]

Liam? That's interesting, it is of course the Irish for William. Is there any Irish blood in Felix's wife's family?

[Rayarena]

Originally Posted by Denville

Liam? That's interesting, it is of course the Irish for William. Is there any Irish blood in Felix's wife's family?

To my knowledge, the only Irish blood in Felix comes in interestingly enough through his mother, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. It's very distant dating back to the 1600's. Maria Teresa comes from a very wealthy ennobled family in Cuba that was founded when an Irish businessman, Richard O'Farrill O'Daly, who was born in Monserratt, but whose family came from Londonderry, County Londonderry, UK married a creole countess. Felix would no doubt be aware of his Irish ancestor since he was so instrumental in Maria Teresa's family history. Perhaps Liam is in honor of this ancestor?

[Denville]

That's interesting. The form "Liam" is I think more common now in the UK, because of course there are a lot of Irish people living there.. and the Iirsh names have crossed over. but it IS unusual for a Continental Royal to use that form, Guillaume, Wilhelm, WIlliam. are versions that are used.. quite frequently....but Liam's unusual. Maybe they just like the sound and that it is short and simple.. and the baby is nto that close to the throne..so they can be more flexible. Amalia's name is more convnetional.
His other name Hartnog? that's strange to me. Where does that come from.

[sjetajiem]

Hartmut is the name of Princess Claire's father

[CrownPrincessJava]

Originally Posted by Denville

That's interesting. The form "Liam" is I think more common now in the UK, because of course there are a lot of Irish people living there.. and the Iirsh names have crossed over. but it IS unusual for a Continental Royal to use that form, Guillaume, Wilhelm, WIlliam. are versions that are used.. quite frequently....but Liam's unusual. Maybe they just like the sound and that it is short and simple.. and the baby is nto that close to the throne..so they can be more flexible. Amalia's name is more convnetional.
His other name Hartnog? that's strange to me. Where does that come from.

Liam's other names are after his paternal and maternal grandfathers, respectively. This was the same for Amalia, but named for her paternal and maternal grandmothers

[Denville]

Sorry I shoudl have checked to get the name right. Does anyone know what it means, Hartmut? I think that it is a nice mix, a name tehy like, and the names of a relative on each side..

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by Denville

Does anyone know what it means, Hartmut? .

Behind the Name: Meaning, origin and history of the name Hartmut

[ricarda]

Hartmut is an old Germanic name and means "Brave/Strong (=hart) Mind (=mut)".

[Bamboleio]

I used to think about Joachim&Marie's choice of name for Athena as the most nonstandard and surprising. I don't want to offend anyone, but Danish Princess with such a Greek name, I mean, it must have been shock for the Danes, even though she is unlikely to become a Crown Princess/Queen.
But Prince Liam sounds even more strange to me, like the name of the hero from movies kind of "The Princess Diaries" and so on.
But I think it's OK,considering the fact that he most likely won't become a monarch someday

[Denville]

Originally Posted by Bamboleio

I used to think about Joachim&Marie's choice of name for Athena as the most nonstandard and surprising. I don't want to offend anyone, but Danish Princess with such a Greek name, I mean, it must have been shock for the Danes, even though she is unlikely to become a Crown Princess/Queen.
But Prince Liam sounds even more strange to me, like the name of the hero from movies kind of "The Princess Diaries" and so on.
But I think it's OK,considering the fact that he most likely won't become a monarch someday

isn't there a Prince Liam in one of those UK monarchy serials? But I think that Athena is fine, it is a classical name, and its not like she was called Brett or Tracy..

[Countessmeout]

The prince In the American 'the royals' series about a fictional English monarchy is Liam.

Athena may be a classical name but certainly not in Scandinavia. Just as Estelle is classical, just not Swedish or Royal.

[Duc_et_Pair]

While Catharina-Amalia surely has a regal sound and both names appear in the genealogical tree of the House Orange-Nassau, her sisters Alexia and Ariane have "new" royal names in said tree. I think it is safe to say: the furtherer from the the throne, the more freedom the parents have.

Regarding Liam: I would have preferred Guillaume/Wilhelm as formal name and Liam as calling name, but okay: that is the same situation as Harry/Henry in the UK.

[Biri]

Still nothing known about the christening?

[IloveCP]

Originally Posted by Biri

Still nothing known about the christening?

Yes I am surprised there is not even an announcement regarding the christening, even though it's been almost 4 months since his birth.

[Lindy]

Originally Posted by carlota

I wonder why they chose to deliver in Switzerland since Amalia was born in Luxembourg and they live in France; Switzerland is unexpected. Maybe the birth was sooner than expected? Or maybe they wanted one of their kids to have a connection to the country where Felix and Claire met? Interesting choice.

Recent updates to Claire's official biography state that Felix and Claire live in Geneva, although they still oversee the vineyard estate of Chateau-les-Crostes in the south of France. That helps to explain why Claire chose to give birth in Switzerland.

http://www.monarchie.lu/pictures/pho...e_Mars2017.pdf

[Blog Real]

By this time should we not know the date of the baptism of Prince Liam?

[Shikha Pal]

Hasn't Prince Liam been baptized before?

[An Ard Ri]

His sister Princess Amalia was baptised a little over a month after her birth,strange that Prince Liam has not been baptised yet.

[JessRulz]

A new thread has been made for Saturday's christening:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...7-a-42191.html