People often ask whether
members of the Royal Family have a surname, and, if so, what it is. Members of
the Royal Family can be known both by the name of the Royal house and by a surname,
which is not always the same. And often they do not use a surname at all.
Before 1917, members of the
British Royal Family had no surname, but only the name of the house or dynasty
to which they belonged.
Kings and princes were
historically known by the names of the countries over which they and their
families ruled. Kings and queens, therefore, signed themselves by their first
names only, a tradition in the United Kingdom that has continued to the
present day.
The names of dynasties tended
to change when the line of succession was taken by a rival faction within the
family (for example, Henry IV and the Lancastrians, Edward IV and the Yorkists,
Henry VII and the Tudors), or when succession passed to a different family
branch through females (for example, Henry II and the Angevins, James I and the
Stuarts, George I and the Hanoverians).
Just as children can take
their surnames from their fathers, so sovereigns normally take the name of their
‘House’ from their fathers. For this reason, Queen Victoria’s eldest son Edward
VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (the family name of his father
Prince Albert). Edward VII’s son George V became the second king of that
dynasty when he succeeded to the throne in 1910.
In 1917, there was a radical
change, when George V specifically adopted Windsor, not only as the name of the
‘House’ or dynasty, but also as the surname of his family. The family name was
changed as a result of anti-German feeling during the First World War, and the
name Windsor was adopted after the Castle of the same name.
At a meeting of the Privy
Council on 17 July 1917, George V declared that ‘all descendants in the male
line of Queen Victoria, who are subjects of these realms, other than female
descendants who marry or who have married, shall bear the name of
Windsor’.
The Royal Family name of
Windsor was confirmed by The Queen after her accession in 1952. However, in
1960, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh decided that they would like their
own direct descendants to be distinguished from the rest of the Royal Family
(without changing the name of the Royal House), as Windsor is the surname used
by all the male and unmarried female descendants of George V.
It was therefore declared in
the Privy Council that The Queen’s descendants, other than those with the style
of Royal Highness and the title of Prince/Princess, or female descendants who
marry, would carry the name of Mountbatten-Windsor.
This reflected Prince Philip’s
surname. In 1947, when Prince Philip of Greece became naturalized, he assumed
the name of Philip Mountbatten as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
The effect of the declaration
was that all The Queen’s children, on occasions when they needed a surname,
would have the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
For the most part, members of the
Royal Family who are entitled to the style and dignity of HRH Prince or
Princess do not need a surname, but if at any time any of them do need a
surname (such as upon marriage), that surname is Mountbatten-Windsor.
The surname
Mountbatten-Windsor first appeared on an official document on 14 November 1973,
in the marriage register at Westminster Abbey for the marriage of Princess Anne
and Captain Mark Phillips.
A proclamation on the Royal
Family name by the reigning monarch is not statutory; unlike an Act of
Parliament, it does not pass into the law of the land. Such a proclamation is
not binding on succeeding reigning sovereigns, nor does it set a precedent
which must be followed by reigning sovereigns who come after.
Unless The Prince of Wales
chooses to alter the present decisions when he becomes king, he will continue
to be of the House of Windsor and his grandchildren will use the surname
Mountbatten-Windsor.
