British bookmakers are taking a mountain of bets involving the pending baby of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, from the baby’s sex to the name that will be chosen by the royal couple.
Early betting lines are overwhelmingly leaning toward a girl as the gender, and the smart betting is on the name Diana.
“The secret’s out, as far as we’re concerned,” William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams told the Associated Press of the odds-on favorite that the baby will be a girl. “It could be because someone somewhere has seen the scan, or someone has heard something.”
So far, Diana is the front runner in the name category, with William Hill putting the odds at 4-to-1. Victoria, Alice, Grace and Elizabeth are close behind, while Albert, Arthur and James are popular guesses for a boy.
“A ridiculous number—80 percent of bets taken—are for the name Diana,” Adams told the AP, adding that he personally doubts Harry would choose a name that so directly evokes his mother’s tragic death in 1997. Carolyn Harris, a royal historian who teaches at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, agreed, adding that that Diana could be a middle name.
“The choice of Diana as a first name would place a lot of pressure on the royal baby, as the press would constantly compare her to her famous grandmother,” she said.
