Royal Baby named Charlotte leaves betting shop William Hill paying out $183,000
The largest betting house in the United Kingdom says it will pay out about £100,000 — more than $180,000 Canadian — among the 5,096 people who correctly wagered that the Royal Baby would be named Charlotte.
Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, on Monday announced the name they picked for Britain's newborn princess was Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Her full title will be Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge and she is currently fourth in line for the British throne, after her grandfather Charles, her father William and her brother George. She outranks her uncle, Harry.
Fun bet for gamblers
As soon as the royal couple announced their pregnancy, betting on what the child's name would be was one of the biggest things in Britain's thriving gambling community.
As the biggest betting shop in the U.K., William Hill was the home for a lot of that action, and on Monday the company announced it would be paying out a purse of more than £100,000 split among 5,096 individual bettors who correctly picked "Charlotte" as the name for the heir to spare.
Although on the hook for a big chunk of cash, a spokesperson for the company told CBC News on Monday that it could have been worse.
"Alice had been the long term favourite and would have been by far the worst result," Rupert Adams said in an interview.
In the past two weeks, there were many bets made backing the regal names of Elizabeth and Victoria, making those two names the second and third most-popular predictions. Charlotte was the fourth most-popular bet, thanks to a late surge in the past week. "Any of those top three would have been pretty bad," Adams said.
William Hill rival Ladbrokes said that firm saw similar numbers. "Charlotte was the hot tip over the weekend," Ladbrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge said. "We may have lost a fortune, but we're paying out with a smile and wish the duke and duchess all the best."
After hyping up activity over the name, Adams says in retrospect the company may not make much money out of the name speculation.
"it's been a long-winded reality for what — in betting terms — was a complete waste of time," he said.
