LONDON, Greater London: Football superstar David Beckham recommended his friend Prince William and his wife Catherine call their baby David if it’s a boy.
The former England captain, 38, who attended the couple’s wedding in April 2011 with his Spice Girl singer wife Victoria, suggested his own name for the new royal arrival.
“David’s pretty good! David’s not bad. I think they should go for David — if a boy!,” he told Sky News television.
British bookmakers make the name David an outsider at odds of between 33/1 and 100/1.
The father of four said the 31-year-old prince’s maturity would help him in his new role.
“They’re going to be amazing parents because they are so loving toward children,” he said.
William has been the president of the Football Association, the sport’s governing body in England, since 2006.
“I’ve seen more of William than I have of Kate but William has been in all of our lives for so many years and we’ve seen him grow from that young boy into an unbelievable gentleman,” Beckham said.
“And that’s an amazing quality that he shows. I think that, as a father, is so important.”
In 2010, Beckham, William and British Prime Minister David Cameron teamed up and flew to Zurich in a bid to bring the 2018 football World Cup to England.
However, the all-out charm offensive flopped, with England only earning two of 22 votes — one of them their own.
Beckham, who won six English league titles with Manchester United, likes to tease William about being an Aston Villa fan.
King Edward VIII, who inherited the throne in 1936 before abdicating, was known in the royal family as David, one of his other given names.
Beckham says call royal baby David
Beckham says call royal baby David
Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A marble elephant designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini has been damaged, with its left tusk found snapped off and lying at the base of the monument in the heart of Rome, authorities said.
The damage was uncovered on Monday night and police said they would review video footage from Piazza della Minerva to determine whether the tusk was vandalised or simply fell off following weeks of unusually heavy rains.
Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli made clear he thought it was deliberate, saying the 17th statue, which supports an ancient Egyptian obelisk, was victim of an "absurd act of barbarity".
"It is unacceptable that once again the nation's artistic and cultural heritage must suffer such serious damage," he said in a statement.
It is not the first time the sculpture, popularly known as the Elefantino (little elephant), has been damaged.
In November 2016, the tip of the same tusk was similarly found broken off. The piece was reattached during restoration work.
The sculpture, created in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini, stands a short distance from the Pantheon, one of most visited tourist sites in Rome. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Crispian Balmer)
