Less than a week old, and the royal baby Princess Charlotte is already learning what it’s like to be famous in the age of the internet. After her name was announced on Monday, sparking a wave of nearly identical online jokes , the birth of the new princess was officially registered on Tuesday — causing her birth certificate to immediately go viral.
And the birth certificate itself has caused royal watchers all over the world to break down in hysterics. Why? Is there something funny about Princess Charlotte?
Not exactly. Check out the official royal baby birth certificate and see if you can find the odd detail causing hilarity for Twitter users everywhere.
See it? If not, here’s a hint — take a close look at the “signature of informant,” namely, the baby’s father Prince William.
If you still don’t get it, let Twitter user “tom” spell it out for you.
Is it just me who thinks Prince William’s signature looks like it says “Willy”? pic.twitter.com/pRsbco4ZC4
— ?tom? (@autumnalsheeran) May 6, 2015
Did Prince Williams actually sign “Willy” as his official name? If so, this would be the second time, because when his first child, Prince George, was born in August of 2013, his signature looked the same and provoked largely the same response.
“I love the royals — but after seeing William’s signature, I love them even more!” wrote another Twitter user, this time around, while others good-naturedly chided the Prince for his penmanship.
. @fenifur @KensingtonRoyal @BritishMonarchy I also despaired at the poor penmanship, prob more than general anachronism of whole thing
— green rocinante (@greenrocinante) May 5, 2015
Others still marveled at the oddity of the seeming lack of a surname for the prince — or his new daughter, for that matter.
@suzettejo Thanks, so strange not having a last name. It’s like a fairytale, love it.
— Deanna Rigano (@48nylady) May 5, 2015
If all of these Royal oddities have you a little puzzled as well, here are some answers.
No, Prince William did not sign his name “Willy” on the birth certificates for Princess Charlotte and Prince George. That’s just the way he signs his name — “William” with nothing but a long curved line where the “iam” should be.
In fact, even if the Prince were to be so informal as to sign a nickname on the Royal Baby birth certificate, that name would not be “Willy.” In fact, since his boyhood , close friends and family have used the nickname “Wills” to refer to the Prince.
As for the lack of a last name, the Royal Family sometimes uses the surname “Mountbatten-Windsor,” but by tradition, the royals are not required to use a family name. So the new Royal Baby is just “Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.” And that seems to be enough.
[Images: Photo Pool/Getty Images]
