Currently, available bets range from trivial things such as the grades that the royal children will achieve at school and which prince will go bald first, to more serious matters like potential future marriages and births.
Obviously, this falls more into the category of celebrity gossip than knowledge of statecraft and the inner workings of the aristocracy, so it may be prudent to do a fair bit of research before committing funds.
Some of the current betting markets at PaddyPower right now:
Harry & Meghan – Baby Specials
First Series Meghan Will Appear In?
Harry & Meghan to permanently reside in the UK by 2025?
Of course, there is also the age-old question of succession, with many people placing bets on who the next monarch will be. Opinion tends to shift between Prince Charles and Prince William being the next person to sit on the throne after Queen Elizabeth and the odds tend to shift just as much.
Generally speaking, these bets tend to focus more on the individual who will eventually get the job, rather than the exact year in which the transition will take place. Some bookmakers will even offer odds on lower orders of the line of succession, with where minor royals fall being up for debate.
Best for Royals
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£10 RISK FREE FIRST BET MONEY BACK IN CASH IF IT LOSES
Due to the potentially confusing nature of betting on the Royals, many punters can be left at a loss for how to approach some of the wagers on offer. Whilst it is always a good idea to have some good background knowledge and a clear idea of how much you are willing to risk, there are some particular methods that a person can use in order to maximize their chances of winning big when betting on the royal family.
1 The most crucial thing to keep in mind is the need to oftentimes bet in advance. This is because many times, information regarding things like official events will be released quite rapidly in the weeks preceding an occasion such as a wedding or birth, effectively nullifying any profits that might be made from speculating on topics like the identity of a maid of honour or the gender of a child. This means that people who place their bets at the earliest opportunity will be able to take advantage of any uncertainty and reap the largest profits before bookmakers adjust their odds.
2 Obviously, it pays dividends to be at least nominally conversant with the subject matter, as being able to tell your Princes from your Princesses will come in handy when trying to make sense of some of the offered wagers. Thankfully, it’s easy to keep up with the royals, and any events due to the massive amount of attention they receive in the press. Check gossip columns and pieces by royal reporters on a regular basis in order to make sure you are operating with the latest information. Also, there are a huge number of blogs online that look at aspects of the royal family in exhaustive detail, meaning that there is no shortage of material to help build a clearer picture of the issues surrounding a potential bet. Everything from interpersonal rivalries amongst the minor royals to the interior design elements of the royal palaces and residences is examined, meaning that any topic can be broken down and understood.
3 Another vital element of making a successful bet is being sure to possess a solid knowledge of the history of the royal family and its traditions. This is especially true when it comes to official functions. Generally speaking, on occasions such as a wedding, a close relation of each spouse will fill the role of best man or head bridesmaid, as opposed to a friend of the couple. Additionally, godparents will usually be kept within the family. The actual minutiae of who can attend certain functions can also play a part in some bets. For example, when honours are presented, it is usually done by either the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh or Prince Charles, with others taking over only when the most senior members of the family are indisposed.
How Is Betting On The Royal Family Different To Betting On Sports?
Whilst the vast majority of gamblers are intimately familiar with the process of sports betting and the associated risks and rewards, they should keep in mind that betting on the royal family is a very different game with its own set of potential pitfalls.
Firstly, betting on sports like football takes into account a set of variables that are for the most part quantifiable. This means that things like player performance, team cohesion, past rankings and the quality of the pitch the match is being played on are all fairly simple to measure. Whilst things such as the attitude of the supporters and the weather can negatively affect one of the teams, in general, the variables are much easier to measure and make a decision with.
When betting on the royal family, however, the situation changes quite drastically. This is because many of the available bets are based on social factors and interpersonal relationships. Things such as marriages and partnerships can be hard to predict without having direct knowledge of a couple’s private life, as information presented to the public can be drastically different from what is actually going on behind closed doors.
Also, bets reliant on predicting things such as who will be a Prince’s best man are subject to the changes in a friendship over time, which is also hard to get an accurate picture of.
Then, there are the other large bets such as when a baby will be born or what its gender is. These type of things are purely down to random chance, and cannot be predicted with any degree of pinpoint accuracy. Thus, engaging in betting on these subjects is really a pure game of chance rather than a truly calculated bet where research and some ‘back of envelope calculations’ can win a comfortable jackpot.
Lastly, there are things that rely on a very close knowledge of the royal household, such as potential baby names and choices of godparents. These matters require the gambler to have built up a fairly comprehensive picture of the inner workings of the royal family and may require some very in-depth research in order to determine with any degree of certainty due to the individual tastes and attitudes that will be at work in these situations.
Therefore, betting on the royal family can sometimes be a matter of just blind luck for someone looking to earn some decent winnings. For people crossing over from sports betting, though, there are areas in which research and knowledge of the subject matter will pay dividends – it is just a matter of patience and making a calm, reasoned decision when the time comes to decide on an option to pick.
In the past, bookies have offered a wide variety of opportunities to make money off events surrounding the royal family. Some are fairly obvious, whilst others may come as a surprise.
Previously, big events had garnered some pretty large gambling opportunities. The marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton, for example, had over one hundred million people watching live across the world. In the wake of this, there was a huge amount of speculation regarding the gender of their first child and who the godparents would be. Even the name of a royal baby is fertile ground for bookies, though Prince George had 2/1 odds in his favour before the name was officially announced. Their third child, Prince Louis (named after the famous Lord Louis Mountbatten), actually had odds of 33/1 against his name, meaning that a bet of £100 would have netted a payout of £3300.
The date of a child’s birth can also be of great interest both to the public at large and to gamblers. As recently as early 2019, there was much speculation that Megan Markle’s baby would be delivered in late April, with a particular fixation on the idea that it would come on St George’s day – the 23rd. In actuality, baby Archie was delivered on 6th May, disappointing the superstitious but no doubt delighting gamblers who had made the right call.
Betting on the colour of The Queen’s hat is a popular market
Also commonly the subject of wagers is the Queen’s Speech following each general election. This not only announces who will lead the new government but also outlines which of the political parties will form it. Thus, there is sometimes a great deal of speculation surrounding the speech, especially in close elections where a coalition government will have to be formed. Another public address that can provide fodder for betting is the content of the Queen’s Christmas Day message to the nation, where people can try and guess the topics that will be covered.
More unlikely things can also be the subject of bets. For example, in 2005, when Princes William and Harry attended the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, there was some speculation regarding their training. This covered things like whether they would pass the course or not, to how highly they would place. Additionally, there was speculation over which regiments they would join once they commissioned as officers. Given the historic links going back multiple centuries between many elements the British Army and the Royal family, it was by no means immediately obvious which organizations they would join.
Although historically, the Royal family had far more political power and could influence financial markets and international trade with a single sentence, they are still very much at the heart of the British political system. Gamblers with the right mix of talent and skill, research and keeping up with current affairs will almost always lead to a favourable result when betting on the Royal family.
Updated: 2024
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