London ? Prince Charles’ office on Saturday dismissed as speculation a newspaper report claiming the prince was considering becoming King George, rather than King Charles, when he takes the throne.

The Times quoted two anonymous “trusted friends” as saying the heir to the throne – whose full name is Charles Philip Arthur George – had discussed becoming King George VII.

A spokeswoman for Charles’ Clarence House office, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the report was “idle speculation.”

The monarch chooses his or her name at the time of coronation, and earlier kings and queens have adopted new names. Queen Victoria was formerly known as Princess Alexandrina, and George VI – father of Queen Elizabeth II – was christened Prince Albert.

The Times claimed Charles wanted to avoid the unhappy association of his namesake, Charles I, who was deposed and beheaded in 1649, after the English Civil War.

That king’s son, Charles II, was restored to the throne in 1660 and was nicknamed the “Merry Monarch” because of his reputation as a high-living adulterer.

The best-known King George is probably George III, who lost the American colonies and suffered bouts of apparent madness that have been blamed on the blood disorder porphyria or on arsenic poisoning.