Imported ImageA colony of Gentoo penguins at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham have put their psychic abilities to the test to predict the gender and name of the next royal baby, as announced yesterday, due to be born to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Spring 2019.


Princess Diana seems to be the result they settled on.

‘Our penguins are very curious creatures and love playing new games, especially when it puts their predicting powers to the test,’ explains Jonny Rudd, Curator at the National Sea Life Centre.

‘Led by our keenest predictor, Pablo, the colony were quick to choose a girl, and later decided on the name Diana, after much squawking debate – it was a close call between the bookies’ favourites, Diana and Alice!’

‘Their predictions have an impressive track record, having successfully predicted the results of 4 of the 5 of England’s World Cup matches in this year’s World Cup, as well as the 2014 World Cup. Will they be right again?’

The aquarium welcomed some new arrivals of their own last summer as two of the aquarium’s resident penguins Arabel and Pablo became parents to two penguin chicks, nicknamed Hulk and Dumpling due to their sizes. The rare pair are the first ever to hatch at the centre as part of a global breeding programme after Gentoo penguin numbers declined rapidly. Their parents crossed continents to conceive, coming all the way to Birmingham from as far as New Zealand, Canada and Denmark.

Visitors can meet the Gentoo penguin family for themselves at the Penguin Ice Adventure exhibit at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham. For further information or to book tickets visit www.sealife.co.uk/birmingham.