Zoo apologises for naming baby monkey after Princess Charlotte

Japan's Takasakiyama Zoo has had to apologise after naming its baby macaque monkey Charlotte in honour of the new British princess.

The zoo, which is in the south of the country, gave the public the chance to choose the name for their newest addition who was born just a day after The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton gave birth to Princess Charlotte.

Takasakiyama has a tradition for getting the public to vote for the name of the first macaque monkey to be born each year, the BBC reports.

However 'Charlotte' only received 59 votes out of the 853 people who voted, suggesting it wasn't the overwhelming majority of visitors who thought it appropriate to name the baby monkey after the Queen's newest great-grandchild.

According to Kyodo News, the zoo was faced with a barrage of complaints from people demanding the name be changed.

Akira Asano, a zoo official, said that many had complained the monkey's name was disrespectful and urged the zoo to consider how the Japanese people would feel if a British monkey was named after a member of the Japanese royal family.

The zoo is now discussing a name change for the baby monkey, the Mirror reports.

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