Interesting. I have always heard it pronounced with a hard S. When I hear the French pronunciation, I think of that song "Louie, Louie."
Interesting. I have always heard it pronounced with a hard S. When I hear the French pronunciation, I think of that song "Louie, Louie."
Louis Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans. St. Louis was founded by the French.
Osipi said:I'm just going to keep reminding myself that Prince Louis' name is pronounced like in Donald Duck's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.
When I say WnK were forced to name their kids certain ways I mean no one would allow them to name their children non royal but still traditional British names.
French "Louis" sounds too aristocratic in English to be a name the broader public can relate to. I may be wrong of course as that may not be the case in Britain.
It certainly isn't the case in Britain. Louis is a popular name here, although less so now than in the 2000s, and it's commonly known that it is pronounced Louie unless it is spelled Lewis.
People here are familiar with the French-style pronunciation. There are plenty of people with the name who appear on TV, eg Louis Theroux, Louis Walsh, Louis Tomlinson. All with a silent S.
In Lousiana perhaps (where there is a French-speaking minority), or in Maine (that borders Quebec) ? Just kidding, but I guess no one pronounces for example St. Louis or Louis Armstrong the French way. Sometimes you get "Lewis" as in English or, more rarely, "Louie" with a silent 's', but not "Looee" with strong stress on the final syllable as in French.
I know "Louis Tomlinson" is pronounced "Louie" (with a silent 's'), but my point remains "Louie" is not the same as French "Louis" as used in William's wedding, see the experiment I proposed to Osipi above.
My question is how popular French "Louis" (as opposed to Louie) is outside aristocratic or obviously Francophile circles ? In North America, it would be terribly pedantic and you wpuld probably get teased in school (Louie would be OK though, probably).
When I say "French" pronunciation I simply mean that the S is silent, Loo-ee rather than Loo-is.
I agree that many French people would say "Lwee", but I think most people are only concerned about the basic difference and the finer points don't matter here.
Try hearing "Louie" with English as the source language on Google Translator and then hear "Louis" with French as the source language. Type as indicated above.
Can't see Prince Philip naming his son after a father that put his mother in an Asylum and abandoned him to be shunted among his relatives while going off to live with his latest mistress.
Michael should have been a name if not Carole or Caroline. And it wouldn't be a problem if Michael was a second name but Pippa used it as a first name. It's really quite sad that her dad has mostly been forgotten.
When I say WnK were forced to name their kids certain ways I mean no one would allow them to name their children non royal but still traditional British names.
I think they would avoid it like the plague. James brings up too many difficulties with regnal number (it differs between England/Wales and Scotland) and the Jacobite pretenders.
As for "needed" for the direct line - there are plenty of names that are dignified enough for a monarch. I do not believe that there is any rule that the name of an heir must have a regnal precedent. If anyone knows different, I would be most interested to see proof of it.
In any case there would be no issue with more than one person in the family having the same forename.
ETA: That said, with Kate having a brother and now also a brother-in-law called James, that might be more than enough of them for now!
Now that I hear a second time, yes it's true. William says "Lewey" and Catherine says "Looee". I like "Lewey" better than the french "Looee". But I still perfer without the silent "S". Here in Portugal we say the "S", so it's gonna be difficult to get used to "Louie".
The Young Pretender was named Charles and his brother (and "successor") Cardinal Stuart was named Henry so it seems the Windsors aren't worried about using Jacobite names.
When the present Queen ascended the throne as Elizabeth II there were protests in Scotland, which had never had an Elizabeth I. The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, stated "I think it would be reasonable and logical to continue to adopt in future whichever numeral in the English or Scottish line were higher."
So if a King James does ascend the British throne again he will be James VIII not James III.
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1953/apr/15/royal-style-and-title
I agree with those who have said they don't understand the fuss over Louis being one of George's middle names; due to the associations with Louis Mountbatten. He was clearly a well loved cousin as William, George and now the baby prince have all been named after him (and Lord Nicholas Windsor has a son named Louis as well, who is a year older than Charlotte). And, as others have mentioned, it's common for royals to repeat names.
On another note; there are large stocks of commemorative memorabilia in some of the supermarkets. I brought myself a commemorative biscuit tin to complete my collection (starting from a coronation plate from George V's era which I inherited from my grandmother, who was a fellow royalty enthusiast).
Now that I hear a second time, yes it's true. William says "Lewey" and Catherine says "Looee". I like "Lewey" better than the french "Looee".
The Young Pretender was named Charles and his brother (and "successor") Cardinal Stuart was named Henry so it seems the Windsors aren't worried about using Jacobite names.
When the present Queen ascended the throne as Elizabeth II there were protests in Scotland, which had never had an Elizabeth I. The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, stated "I think it would be reasonable and logical to continue to adopt in future whichever numeral in the English or Scottish line were higher."
So if a King James does ascend the British throne again he will be James VIII not James III.
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1953/apr/15/royal-style-and-title
Another evidence that Kate is "posher" than William ! Or she knows French better.
Another evidence that Kate is "posher" than William ! Or she knows French better.
Well, exactly. Many Scots are very sensitive about such matters.
The "Old Pretender", son of the deposed James II, was also a James so that adds to the controversy over regnal numbers. It's a can of worms that is probably best not opened again.
Well, I've always thought the Queen should have overruled Edward, when he named his son James.
James is a regnal name, which might be needed for the direct line.
I think the Cambridges might have chosen that, if it hadn't already been in use.