Courts ban French couple from naming their son 'Prince Williams'

October 15, 2015 9:06 PM

The parents said they thought the connection with British royalty would be useful, but a court ruled that using ‘Prince William’ as an extended first name could lead to a ‘lifetime of mockery’.

Prince Williams and Kate Middleton

A French couple has been banned by courts from naming their son ‘Prince William’.

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The couple, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, then asked to use the name ‘Mini Cooper’, after the classic British car, but that too was overruled.

The court cited an article of France’s civil code, which ‘allows judges to protect a child from a potential lifetime of mockery by overruling the parents’.

In the last year, a court in Valenciennes, northern France, has banned one couple from naming their daughter Nutella, after the hazelnut spread.

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Another couple was banned from calling their baby girl Strawberry, because both youngsters would face being mocked.