It's no secret that the royals are sticklers for tradition—especially when it comes to baby names. However, it turns out that we missed a fascinating detail about Queen Elizabeth and a few of her female descendants.
According to the royal family tree, five of the queen's family members share the middle name "Elizabeth," including her only daughter, Anne, Princess Royal.
Anne's full name is Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise—but the tradition hasn't stopped there. She and Mark Phillips share an equestrian daughter named Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall, and Zara's second daughter, who was born in 2018, is named Lena Elizabeth Tindall.
Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, named their eldest daughter Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary (who, BTW, is now pregnant with her first child). Meanwhile, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, named their daughter Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary.
As for the queen's great grandchildren, Prince William and Kate Middleton's daughter is named Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, while Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly's second daughter is named Isla Elizabeth.
The ongoing tradition of naming royal babies after their ancestors is nothing new, as Queen Elizabeth herself was named Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor in honor of her late grandmother, Queen Mary of Teck and her great-grandmother, Alexandra of Denmark. We get the feeling that "Elizabeth"—which, according to Babynames.com, means "God is my oath"—will continue to be quite common among future female members of the royal family.
