One very lucky punter over in the UK has won a princely prize of £18,000 (around $23,300) after betting on ‘Archie’ as the chosen name of the new royal baby.
The anonymous grandmother reportedly chose the outside name as the birth of the regal baby boy happened to fall on the birthday of her own grandson. In an even more fortuitous turn of events, her grandson is also named Archie!
The punter in question placed a bet of £120 on the name, which was at 150-1 odds. Later, it would be dropped to odds of 100-1. In a very unexpected turn of events, her wager brought her a hefty return of £18,120 – and now, she says that she is planning to put aside the winnings for her equally lucky grandson.
The new baby of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle carried the nickname of ‘Baby Sussex’ for a short time after his birth on Monday, May 6, 2019. His real name was not announced to the public until the Queen of England and Prince Philip paid the happy family a visit at Windsor on the following Wednesday.
The winning grandmother has since admitted that her bet was more of a ‘cheeky’ one than one based on inside information. Elaborating on her choice, she explained that the reason she bet on Archie is because her grandson (who, as mentioned above, was born on the same day as the prince) carries the same name, so she thought she would wager on it as her own Archie might bring her some good fortune!
Before the royal baby’s name was revealed, many bookmakers were banking on more traditional names like James, Alexander and Arthur. Another favorite was the name Spencer, as many guessed that Harry may name his first born son after his beloved mother, Princess Diana Spencer. The majority of the bets placed – a whopping 72% - were on the baby being named Alexander.
In earlier Scottish reigns, Archibald was indeed a popular name, but to date, there has not been a King Archie just yet. This is likely why bookmakers were only offering a payout of 100-1 on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex naming their baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Winsor. According to Ladbrokes, a mere £100 was staked across 60 wagers on Archie, and Coral also noted that the name attracted just a small handful of bets. Both bookies considered the name to be a very unlikely winner.
Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati estimated that over $1.3 million will be won across the UK from royal baby wagers, including those placed on due date and gender. Of the surprising announcement, he said that Harry and Meghan have settled for a 100-1 betting shot, and his company could not be more pleased for the royal couple.