April 2016 A to Z Challenge – I’m writing about history.

R is for Royalty. What’s in a Name?

Royals have no surnames. That’s right. Queen Elizabeth is Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth. Period. Her family’s name is Windsor, but she doesn’t use it. She doesn’t have to.

She’s married to Prince Philip. Period. He doesn’t use the Mountbatten part of his name.

Their son Prince Charles was born His Royal Highness Charles Philip Arthur George. His father’s name of Mountbatten is not included. Not even the formal Mountbatten-Windsor is used.

Isn’t that strange?

It gets weirder.

If a Royal does need a last name for anything, he or she uses the title of their parents. Prince Charles’s father is Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, so Prince Charles used Charles Edinburgh. Prince Charles is the Prince of Wales, so  his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, use the last name of Wales when at work with the Royal Air Force.

Prince William’s son, George, can use Prince William’s title of Duke of Cambridge and be known in the real world as George Cambridge. Later, if Prince Charles becomes king and the title of Prince of Wales passes to Prince William, George can change his every-day name to George Wales. I guess that’s better than Mountbatten.

And, a very happy birthday to the Queen – 90 years old today – April 21st.