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Re-wind back to the summer of 2013, and you might remember that George’s arrival was followed with an announcement from Clarence House, confirming that ‘the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son George Alexander Louis.’ Since then, we’ve all referred to him by the shorter moniker of Prince George.
As the great-grandchild of the Queen and the grandchild of the Prince of Wales, George has the title of His Royal Highness, or HRH, which means that he does not need to use a surname.
As part of the royal family, George has a title that means he does not ordinarily need to use a surname.
As the Royal Family’s website puts it, “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.”
That particular surname was introduced back in 1960, when it was declared 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,’ a double-barrelled name which also reflects Prince Philip’s surname.
How time flies! Prince George (pictured here with the rest of his family on their arrival into Poland for the start of an official royal tour) will be going to school in just a few months. Photo: Getty
Things gets a little more complicated, however, when you realise that the royals can actually use a particular location in lieu of their surname: when Princes William and Harry enrolled in the RAF and the Army respectively, they went by William Wales and Harry Wales, a nod to their father’s title.
When George starts at school, then, he’s likely to either take the traditional royal surname (Mountbatten-Windsor) or be known as George Cambridge. Which certainly has a ring to it, we think…
