Why Harry/Henry??

[Roslyn]

Here's the French pronunciation of "Henry". Click on the arrow next to "Audio Pronunciation"...

inogolo - Pronunciation of Henri : How to pronounce Henri

Yep! As I thought. Nothing like "Harry".

 

[Iluvbertie]

AdmirerUS- If you enjoyed Lillie, there is another mini-series from the same period- Edward the King. I saw it when it was originally on and don't remember too much, other than I loved it!

It may also be called 'Edward VII' which is the original British name for the series.

It was also filmed in part at Osborne House.

I remember walking around Osborne and thinking, I have seen all this before, and I knew I hadn't been there (well no in this life) and then I re-watched that series when I came home and sure enough many of the scenes were filmed there.

 

[NGalitzine]

I can't believe that there are already 4 pages discussing the merits of the name of a 28 year old man.

 

[Meraude]

Maybe the reason why Harry was christened to Henry, even if his parents chose to call him Harry, was that if something would have happened to William before he had a heir of his own, it would have been better to have a Henry IX as king rather than Harry I or Charles IV.

 

[Roslyn]

I can't believe that there are already 4 pages discussing the merits of the name of a 28 year old man.

Go and have a look at the number of pages dedicated to photographs of the clothing his mother wore. I find that unbelievable. We all have our own little harmless eccentricities.

 

[Spheno]

It is simple. "Harry" is not christian name. There is no "Saint Harry". Harry is a nickname or derivative, but not proper chriatian name.

 

[Iluvbertie]

It isn't that simple. Parents can, and do, give 'Harry' to their children as their Christian name.

In fact if you look at the most popular names for boys in the UK for 2011/2 Harry is the most popular, followed by Jack and Charlie.

Henry comes in at #23 while Harrison is also in the list - another name that is often shortened to Harry. Both James and Jamie are in the top 100 as well as are Sam and Samuel, Tom, Thomas and Tommy, Jack and John, Ben and Benjamin.

Top 100 baby names in the UK in 2012 - Netmums

 

[Elenath]

This doesn't seem too strange to me. I see this here all the time and at least Harry is related to Henry (if only distantly). Not too long ago I saw a child at work with (for instance) the names Johanna Maria Hubertina who was called Desteny. Now the spelling was an abhorrence in itself but it wasn't even close to her given names. And she's not the only one. It's not what I would do but there are plenty of traditional people from traditional families that do.

Other example. I once saw a family where the parents had picked out 3 names to give to there children. Let's say A, B and C. Child number one was called A B C, Child number two B A C and number three C A B. This would never have been a problem if they had picked out gender neutral names. They hadn't. Two of the names were feminine and one masculine. They only had one girl and two boys. One of the boys ended up with a name distinctly feminine. Poor guy...

 

[Spheno]

Thera are a lot of popular names which are not canonical Christian names.

 

[Roslyn]

One of the boys ended up with a name distinctly feminine. Poor guy...

Wouldn't be the first time. Wonder what Marion Robert Morrison thought of the names his parents gave him. Hint: he went on to be known as "John Wayne" in his career in the movies.

 

[Kataryn]

Maybe Diana insisted on "Harry" and Charles wanted a more regal name so they compromised. We now know how she was these days, how she recalled Charles' "disappointment" in a "ginger son" which ended the marriage for her - surely if she at this time wanted her son to be named Harry, she would have fought for it and made life very, very difficult for the Royals. So probably it was simply the compromise that HRH Prince Henry of Wales would be officially known as "Prince Harry", so both got what they wanted. For honesty, I don't see history buff Charles liking the idea of an official "Prince Harry" one bit, though he might like to call him that in private.

 

[kathia_sophia]

Maybe the reason why Harry was christened to Henry, even if his parents chose to call him Harry, was that if something would have happened to William before he had a heir of his own, it would have been better to have a Henry IX as king rather than Harry I or Charles IV.

not quite exactly. when a Monarch ascends he/she can use a middle name if he/she finds it more regal than their given name, like it happened to Queen Victoria and QEII father.
so if Prince Harry was really christened Harry, even if he were to reign, he could use one of his other 3 names, not necessarily his first.

 

[EIIR]

I think the practice of picking a totally different name when ascending the throne is over. With the pervasive media saturation now, we know the royals a lot better than we used to. To the entire country, Prince Charles is exactly that - Charles. If he decided to be George VII it would be seen as very odd and wouldn't really make sense to the vast majority of people.

 

[Roslyn]

I think the practice of picking a totally different name when ascending the throne is over. With the pervasive media saturation now, we know the royals a lot better than we used to. To the entire country, Prince Charles is exactly that - Charles. If he decided to be George VII it would be seen as very odd and wouldn't really make sense to the vast majority of people.

Yes, I can't see him being known as anything but Charles. Apart from the fact that that's the name he's gone by for over 60 years, he's just managed to shed the image of being an oddball because of some of his ideas and habits, with some of his views about the environment, etc., becoming mainstream. If he decides to be known by a different name out of the blue he's going to be thought of as wacky again.

 

[Ish]

This thread appears to be dead, but I had a thought.

British Royals (and really, people in general) have a history of naming children after people. Prince William himself was named after Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen's cousin, who is said to have been a friend of Prince Charles'. Prince William of Gloucester's father was Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, leading to the implication that the Prince and Princess of Wales went a bit thematic with their name choices - their eldest son named for the Prince's first cousin once removed, and their younger son for the Prince's great-uncle. If Prince Harry was in fact named after the Queen's uncle then it stands to reason that either they chose to call him Harry because that was what the Duke of Gloucester went by thus furthering the in memoriam, or because that was not what the Duke of Gloucester went by, thus distinguishing Prince Harry.

 

[EIIR]

I think the likeliest explanation is that there's just a tradition in the BRF for nicknames.

Even in my own family, and we're certainly not royal, we have rather random examples of people being known as something different to their given name. My uncle Robert has been known his whole life as Albert. My late granny was Mary, but was never called anything other than May.

I suspect Henry was chosen as a suitably regal name in the off-chance that he might one day succeed to the throne, but Harry is more informal so it was used day to day.

 

[NGalitzine]

This thread appears to be dead, but I had a thought.

British Royals (and really, people in general) have a history of naming children after people. Prince William himself was named after Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen's cousin, who is said to have been a friend of Prince Charles'.

I have read several times on these boards that William is named after William of Gloucester but I also recall at the time of his birth Charles' saying it was just a name they both liked and that neither of them knew a William they were close to.
I suspect in both cases, William and Henry were chosen because they liked the names.

 

[Trillian]

My Uncle Henry was known as Harry all his life. Just putting that out there.

 

[Mariel]

Also they might have been thinking ahead to the present child of William. Perhaps they thought William's son might be called Henry, and then they could easily distinguish between Prince Henry and his ginger uncle Harry. I hope the child is not ginger and subject to the scorn of Prince Charles. Ginger is the color of most of the early royal Stuarts such as Mary Queen of Scots and her son James I/VI. The early Stuarts were said to be tall, slender, with ginger hair and prominent noses. Some of the later ones had other "genes" and got fat, like Queen Anne, the poor lady who had 17 children and no heir (they all died, a ghastly misfortune).

 

[Artemisia]

Scorn of Prince Charles? The poor man only made one comment - "he's even got red hair" - which Diana turned into "I hate my own son" type of story.
It was just an innocent comment, nothing more. Besides, since Charles has been a loving father to Harry his entire life, I very much doubt Harry earned his "scorn".

 

[KittyAtlanta]

Back when Diana was expecting Harry, she wanted to name him Oliver. Charles put his foot down as I recall.

It is simple. "Harry" is not christian name. There is no "Saint Harry". Harry is a nickname or derivative, but not proper chriatian name.

Don't tell my grandfather, Harry, that his name is not a proper Christian name.

 

[Ish]

Back when Diana was expecting Harry, she wanted to name him Oliver. Charles put his foot down as I recall.

Diana seriously wanted to call him Oliver? I can understand why she wanted John for Prince William and why it was not used in the end (the name being her father's name but also viewed as cursed in the RF). Oliver, however, is another case - the name is literally associated with destroying (or attempting to) the monarchy. I can see why Charles vetoed it; it seems kind of tactless for Diana to have suggested it.

 

[NGalitzine]

Maybe she was a fan of "Love Story".

 

[Artemisia]

Maybe she was a fan of "Love Story".

Or Charles Dickens.

I doubt Oliver Cromwell was the reason Charles vetoed the name. After all, royal babies still get named Richard and Henry despite the fact Richard Cromwell succeeded his father as the Lord Protector and Henry Cromwell was Lord Deputy of Ireland.

 

[Ish]

Yes, but there's a lot more of an association between Oliver Cromwell, the English Civil War, the execution of the king (also named Charles), and the (albeit temporarily) dissolution of the monarchy, than there is with the names "Richard" or "Henry," especially as both Richard and Henry have also been used as regal names.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Yes, but there's a lot more of an association between Oliver Cromwell, the English Civil War, the execution of the king (also named Charles), and the (albeit temporarily) dissolution of the monarchy, than there is with the names "Richard" or "Henry," especially as both Richard and Henry have also been used as regal names.

And if you can find anyone who's not royal, has read history or is potentially on this forum that knows who Oliver Cromwell is in the UK I'll eat a hat!

 

[NGalitzine]

And if you can find anyone who's not royal, has read history or is potentially on this forum that knows who Oliver Cromwell is in the UK I'll eat a hat!

Has the state school system become that bad that someone could graduate without ever hearing Cromwell mentioned? Thats is pathetic but certainly explains a lot.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Has the state school system become that bad that someone could graduate without ever hearing Cromwell mentioned? Thats is pathetic but certainly explains a lot.

My 15 years of UK education in North Yorkshire and Oxford I have never been taught about Cromwell or the surrounding issues. I know of him from research through other areas of history.

 

[Artemisia]

If that's true than the British education system has lost its outstanding qualities since my parents studied there. When the new generation doesn't know its history, it's simply tragic. And like it or not, Cromwell is a huge part of English history.

Even in our (Armenian) school we studied the English Revolutioin and the character of Oliver Cromwell separately; I even wrote an essay on him. Admittedly, it's a private school but I know that English history is taught in virtually all English-oriented schools here.

 

[Alison H]

The Spencer red hair dates back to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who would be ecstatic to know that her direct descendant Prince William was the future king .

It's becoming increasingly common to call children Jack rather than John, Charlie rather than Charles, Harry rather than Henry, etc, but royals do have to stick with tradition to a certain extent, and go with the "official" version of the name.

Prince Charles did say years ago that he planned to be known as George VII, but I can't see it. George VI chose to be known as George rather than Albert partly to show continuity with his father after all the upset of the Abdication and partly because (as with Edward VII) the name Albert was associated with the German Prince Albert, whereas George was seen as a British name ... er, despite not having been used by any British royals before the Hanoverians! Edward VII was known as Prince Edward even though his family called him Bertie: everyone knows Prince Charles as Charles and it would be totally weird to start calling him George!