Royal Family

[beejaybee]

I know that both Prince Philip adopted the name Mountbatten, but can anyone tell me Mr. & Mrs what they are please.

[beejaybee]

I did mean The Queen & Prince Philip. Lol

[shammydodger]

Windsor

[MangoPete]

he was a greek prince and her side are from Germany
Yet they call themselves Windsor though that is not their true name, its a bit like Paris Hilton, Elton John , Sting Bono etc etc

[shammydodger]

George V changed the name from Mountbatten-Windsor to Windsor during WW1, alledgedly because of the Germanic overtones of the former.

[shammydodger]

See this website and links therein

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountbatten-Winds or#Holders_of_the_surname_Mountbatten-Windsor< /p>

[beejaybee]

Windsor is the name adopted by descendants of The Queen. Mountbatten was the name Prince Philip adopted in 1947 when he became a British citizen. He must have a legal name.

[kempie]

Some clarification is required here...

The House of Windsor never originated from any Mountbatten connection. The change in name made by King George V in 1917 was to distance himself and his family from his German ancestry - he was born into the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Prince Louis of Battenberg (Prince Philip's maternal grandfather) changed his family name to Mountbatten for the same reason as above.

Prince Philip was born into the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Gl�cksburg.

Queen Elizabeth is legally a Windsor.
Prince Philip is legally a Mountbatten.

[shammydodger]

Thanks Kempie. One is never too proud to learn!

I suppose what bee might be asking is, under what surname does the couple sign the hotel register on a dirty weekend away? Both officially and unofficially?

[Narolines]

Smith, of course - doesn't everybody?

[jmahdavi]

Just as children can take their surnames from their father, so sovereigns normally take the name of their 'House' from their father. 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).

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. (In 1947, when Prince Philip of Greece took the Oath of Allegiance, he became naturalised, and assumed the name of Philip Mountbatten.)

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.

[beejaybee]

Thanks a lot for all your answers.

[lady_p_gold]

Can someone just run that by me again .. why are Charles and Anne different from the other two ???

[roxygirl]

So does anyone know why Prince Harry's army 'gear' (or whatever the technical name is!) has 'Wales' as his surname, because I'm confused!

[jmahdavi]

And Prince Harry, is actually called Prince Henry!

Also Prince Edward uses Wessex now instead of Windsor.

In theory, if you read the ambiguously worded Order-in-Council from the 1960's it suggests that:

* The Official Surname of the Royal family, known as the Royal House, would remain as Windsor. This was raised in parliament by Winson Chirchill.

* Descendents of The Queen and Prince Philip who are styled as Royal Highness, and are Titled as Prince/Princess would maintain Windsor as their name. Anyone else would assume Mountbatten-Windsor. Females who had the name Mountbatten-Windsor would only do so until they married.

However, many members of the royal famils actually assume the Mountbatten-Windsor surname, (read the wiki posted earlier)

However if you take the details litterally then:

Prince Charles would be Windsor as he is a Prince and styled HRH

This is a subject which is by no means closed as there is conflicting evidence even from official sources, it would appear.

*

[Kay]

What I dont understand is when Charles married Diana she became Princess Of Wales as Charles is Prince Of Wales. They were know as the "Wales's". So were they Mrs and Mrs Wales? Please educate me:--)

[jmahdavi]

They were both Windsor, as far as I understand. They were Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince and Princess of Wales.

Royal Highness being their Style and Prince and Princess their Title.

[lady_p_gold]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh !!!! Thanks for explaining it ... er ... I think