Normally, even punters without much of an inkling of such things can have a good stab at the Royal Baby Name betting market.
There is a rich history of such blue blooded names, and it’s rare for the royals to navigate away from this well-trodden path of Williams, Charles’ and Elizabeths.
That’s why so many got stuck into the book covering the name of the offspring of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the latest addition to the Windsor family.
However, few came up with Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, or Archie to his friends.
Bookmakers have confirmed that their major liabilities were on Alexander, Spencer or Arthur, which would have cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Incredibly, somebody did have a flutter on Archie as the name of the new Royal Baby, and landed more than £18,000 for their troubles.
The unnamed woman put £120 on simply for the reason that she has a grandchild called Archie, and she came up trumps at odds of 150/1.
“The reason I went for Archie was because my grandson, who is born on the same day as the Prince, is named Archie, so I thought I’d go for a cheeky bet as perhaps my Archie would bring some luck,” she said, in logic that will drive traditional punters around the bend.
“And here I am, £18,000 richer; the money though, I’m going to put aside for my grandson.”
Favoured Names Avoided
Ladbrokes/Coral have since come out and confirmed they received just 60 bets on Archie across the brand worth a total of £100, which ensures the market was closed on a very profitable chapter for the bookies.
Coral’s John Hill revealed:
“We only took a handful of bets on Archie, so this has to go down as one of the biggest surprises in Royal betting history as it was a 100/1 outsider before the name was revealed.”
And his counterpart at Ladbrokes, Alex Apathi, confirmed:
“Harry and Meghan have settled for a 100/1 shot in the betting and we couldn’t be more pleased for the happy couple.”
As tends to be the case in such situations, the prospect of inside information and Chinese whispers regarding the name saw some big money bets come in at the eleventh hour. Paddy Power were inundated with wagers for Theodore, which saw them cut the price from 16/1 to 5/1.
However, that proved to be something of a red herring for everyone involved.
The name Archie has German origins – rather than Scottish as most presume – and means ‘truly brave’. The youngster will be the first member of the Royal Family with that name, which suggests Harry and Meghan want their children to live as normal a life as possible.
That has been confirmed by the pair’s decision not to burden the nipper with a official title: he could have been either the Earl of Dumbarton or Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, but they have decided not to give him a ‘courtesy’ title.
And that might be worth remembering should the couple welcome a second child to the family; they are odds-on to have another baby in 2020, according to the bookies.