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Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, married former England rugby player Mike Tindall in 2011 – the same year as the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. Zara and Mike are now proud parents to two royal children, welcoming daughter Mia in 2014 and daughter Lena in 2018. But like most parents, when it came to naming their second child it took some time before Mike and Zara settled on a name for their youngest.

Lena was born on June 18, 2018, at a very healthy 9lbs 3oz – beating the record for the heaviest royal baby in recent history.

Zara explained to the Telegraph in 2018 why she and Mike decided on the name Lena, and it turns out the name they had originally planned wouldn’t be suitable for a hilarious reason.

She told the publication: “She was massive! I liked the name Elena but I didn’t want her initials to be ‘ET’ so she’s Lena.”

The name Lena, pronounced “Lay-na”, means light and is of Greek origin.

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But according to a spokeswoman for the couple at the time, Mike and Zara settled on the name because “it is just a name they liked”.

Mike and Zara also appear to have paid tribute to the Queen with their youngest daughter’s name, as she was given the middle name of Elizabeth.

Lena shares the same middle name as many other members of the Royal Family, with Princess Charlotte, Princess Beatrice, Princess Anne and Zara herself all sharing the middle name Elizabeth.

Although Lena’s middle name is very traditional, when deciding on a first name Zara and Mike steered clear of more typical names associated with members of the Royal Family.

Lena’s older sister Mia also has an unusual first name for a royal, and both of Zara’s daughters do not have longer versions of their names.

Both Mia and Lena are also without royal titles, unlike some of their royal cousins.

As the children of Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, George, Charlotte and Louis are all in possession of Prince and Princess titles.

But like their mother Zara, both Mia and Lena are not in possession of royal titles and will likely never receive them.

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Zara’s mother, Princess Anne, refused royal titles for both Zara and her son Peter Phillips.

Without the royal titles, Zara and Peter have been free to pursue their own careers and their own income away from the royal bubble.

Zara is an accomplished equestrian, winning a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.

In 2015 Zara spoke warmly to The Times about her parents’ decision not to give her and Peter royal titles.

She said: “I’m very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do.”

According to former Buckingham Palace press secretary Dickie Arbiter, Anne’s decision was a “masterstroke” for Zara.

He told The Sun: “It was a masterstroke of the Princess Royal when she decided not to give her children titles.

“Growing up as a commoner allowed Zara to thrive as her own woman, and there has never been pressure on her to conform.

“She has benefited from it in all sorts of ways.”

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