Will it Be Alice? Royal Baby Name Bets Soar

The world is expecting a new royal baby soon as Princess Kate began her maternity leave this Monday, and online bookies are filled with odds and predictions.

When Will be the Royal Delivery Date?

In October, Kensington Palace announced that Kate's due date is April 2015, and estimations place a possible birth as late as April 20 although an overdue baby could drag the date all the way to May. William Hill Sports is offering very specific markets on the exact date and time of the delivery – odds are 25/1 that Kate will deliver by next Wednesday.

Will it be a Boy or Girl?

While the gender of William and Kate's second baby is still unknown to the general public, it seems that the general spirit leans towards a girl. This was helped by Kate's choice to wear a lot of pink in her public appearances before she went into maternal leave, and her craving for sweets as reported by the Daily Mail - according to an old wives' tales this indicates that she is carrying a girl.

Bet on Alice or Arthur

Specifically in William Hill which leads in royal baby betting markets, the odds for a girl are 8/11 while a boy is 1-1, evens. With this rocky certainty, the name markets are going wild, and the majority of punters believe that Alice will be the name of the newborn. At William Hill's specials for the royal baby name, Alice led with 2/1 odds, followed by Elizabeth at 9/2, Charlotte at 11/2 and Victoria at 12/1.

If it will be a male after all, Hill holds 20/1 that his name will be Arthur, the same numbers going for Henry and James, Alexander also being a viable option at 25/1.

Who'll hold the Baby?

If all these markets aren't enough, Hill also has a special market predicting who'll be holding the royal baby when the couple first emerge from the hospital. Kate gets 1/3 while William is 9/4. With a royal baby delivery being an option every moment now, don't delay and place a wager on one of William Hill's royal specials – there's a lot to be made here!