British Queen's great-granddaughter gets non-royal name

British Queen Elizabeth II's newest great-granddaughter will be known as Mia Grace as her parents chose to go for a name with no royal connection.

Zara Philips, the Queen's granddaughter, and her former England rugby player husband Mike Tindall officially announced the name today.

Philips followed her mother Princess Anne's example by choosing a name with no royal or family connections and sprung a surprise as bookies had made Poppy the favourite in their betting odds.

Gloucester rugby player Tindall announced the news on Twitter, saying: "For everyone who has asked what our daughter's name (is), it's Mia Grace Tindall."

Queen Elizabeth's fourth great-grandchild, who is 16th in line to the throne, was born at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital six days ago.

The announcement of her name was delayed for almost a week. The couple did not know the sex of the baby before she was born, and had not apparently agreed on a name when she arrived.

Money had been bet on royal favourites such as Charlotte, Emma, Elizabeth, Victoria and Anne. Mia was a 100/1 rank outsider.

Like her mother, Mia Grace will have no royal title, in keeping with the wishes of Princess Anne, who decided not to give her children the HRH status when they were born.

No official photograph of Mia has yet been arranged, though a spokesperson for the couple said they expected to release one in the next few days.

Mia Grace is the Queen's fourth great-grandchild, after Prince George was born to Prince William and Kate Middleton last July.

Her parents met during England's Rugby World Cup-winning campaign in Australia in 2003.

Tindall is now a player-coach at Gloucester and his wife has achieved sporting success in her own right as an equestrian. As a member of the Great Britain eventing team, she won a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.

She is planning to take part in the next Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.