When someone asks the surname of the British royal family, most will hazard a guess of ‘Windsor’.
But it’s not necessarily correct.
Technically, the most famous family in the world don’t even need a last name. After all, they’re so well-known by their respective titles and first names, why would they need another moniker for identification?
However, when members of the royal family do require a surname, in school or in the military for example, they have a few options.
Before 1917, members of the royal family only used their first names and the name of the house/dynasty they were part of. I.e. House of Tudor.
In 1917, King George V decided to change the house name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.
The Independent reports this was due to “anti-German sentiments brewing at the start of World War I (the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha name was of German origin). “Windsor” came from Windsor Castle, one of the royal family’s properties.”
While he was at it, he decided Windsor would be their surname too.
But not all the royals use it.
The name was shaken up again when Queen Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten. Many years later, in 1960, Queen Elizabeth decreed their descendants would be ‘Mountbatten-Windsor’.
It was a historic decision. But again, not all the royals use it.
To confuse (but fascinate!) us further, most of the royals have chosen not to use Mountbatten-Windsor.
Any royal with the title “His Royal Highness Prince” or “Her Royal Highness Princess” doesn’t need to use a surname at all.
But when Prince William and Prince Harry served in the military, they both went by ‘William Wales’ and ‘Harry Wales’ because their father, Prince Charles, is the Prince of Wales.
Princess Anne’s kids took their father’s last name, Phillips. And the daughter of Prince Edward goes with ‘Windsor’ without the Mountbatten.
It’s all rather confusing so we guess it’s lucky they’re all so identifiable with their royal titles only!
We wonder if Prince George or Princess Charlotte will ever go with ‘Mountbatten-Windsor’?
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