Curiosity asks:
What is Prince Williams's and Prince Harry's last name?
I knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, that the royal family's last name is Windsor. However, this question prompted me to do a little bit of research.
I came across this lovely site that teaches you everything you ever wanted to know about royalty. According to their page on the British royal family, it turns out that the royals do not use last names in any official sense. I suppose they have no need for them.
The royal family is descended from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gothe. However, during World War 1, people became concerned that this particular title sounded too German. The name Windsor was selected by King George V, and has been used ever since.
When Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth married Prince Phillip Mountbatten of Greece, she decreed that the last names would be hyphenated.
So, if you're addressing the Princes, HRH Prince William of Wales and HRH Prince Harry of Wales are correct. But technically, I suppose their last name is Mountbatten-Windsor.
CORRECTION: Upon further reading, I realize that anyone with the title Royal Highness has the last name Windsor, not Mountbatten-Windsor. Since William and Harry are both styled HRH, they would be Windsors. I do not know if this means Mountbatten-Windsor is reserved for those styled Majesty, or if it is for untitled descendants of the royal family. If you have further knowledge or information, please leave it in the comments, as I am now fascinated.
This is like thinking of the space time continuum that is outerspace. So confusing and mind numbing! So they don't have to put anything on their birth certificates? Do they even have birth certificates?
ReplyDeleteAnon, I can't help you with birth certificates, but as you can see from my correction above, this is even more confusing than I originally thought.
ReplyDeleteWhen Queen Liz decreed that her and her issue would be styled as "Mountbatten-Windsors", it was pretty ambiguous.
ReplyDeleteDue to the long history of the House of Windsor, almost everyone that counts as Liz and Phil's issue -- Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward, Princess Anne and their spouses and kids -- do not use "Mountbatten-Windsor."
Almost all of them just use "Windsor" or their specific County or Duchy, and they are generally referred to directly and in the press as such.
Thanks for the information, Anon.
ReplyDeleteHRH only refers to the direct descendants i.e. heirs (no matter the degree) to the throne. So, Husband Philip is not a HRH, his title is Crown Prince or something like that. Elizabeth is HRH and her children are HRH, but their spouses are not. HRH =/= last name.
ReplyDeleteVaruna