Do the members of the Royal Family also bear a surname?

Answer 1

Yes, it's Windsor.

Answer 2

This gets asked at least twice a week... and it's a good question without a simple answer so read on. The short answer is they don't. We have surnames because in medieval times, as villages got bigger the idea evolved to tell people of the same name apart. That's why so many surnames are job titles, related to hair colour - the sort of thing that might be a nickname - and over time it got formalised into surnames. Sometimes this isn't obvious because they come from other languages or the job doesn't exist any more. David Morgan would be a descendant of someone who had white hair - Morgan is Welsh and that's what the name means. Peter Fletcher would have an ancestor who did the work of putting feathers on arrows. (Amazingly some countries still don't use surnames for anyone - Iceland doesn't. If you see an Icelander with a surname it isn't a surname, it's their patronymic - their father's name with -son or -dottir added to it.) Royalty have never needed that as everyone knew who they were. When you have Prince or some other title in front of your name you don't need anything after it. What they DO have is a "house name" usually related to where they ruled. But it's not a surname. The current house name of the British Royal Family is Windsor. It was changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (the house name of Prince Albert) in 1917 because Britain was fighting Germany at the time (First World War) and especially when Germany started using a bomber called the Gotha IV, it got embarrassing for the house name to be German - so King George V issued a Royal Proclamation to change it. To add further confusion to the current situation, of course the house name will change every time there is a reigning queen and the next monarch has the house name or surname of his/her father. This would mean that when Prince Charles becomes King, the house name would change to Mountbatten, the surname that Prince Philip took when he married Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen has, however, issued further Proclamations to say that the house name will remain Windsor and her non-royal descendants will have the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. This really annoyed her husband, who said "I am nothing but a bloody amoeba. I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." But it was good advice as it means the house name stays positively British - Mountbatten is the literal translation of Battenberg, a German name. But all the Queen's children, though they don't have to use a surname at all, have used Mountbatten-Windsor on their marriage certificates. Why they do this has never been explained but I can only imagine it is "to be nice to dad". Meanwhile, Princes William and Harry use Wales in the British Army. They're entitled to as it's their territorial designation as son of the Prince of Wales and it avoids the "Mountbatten Windsor controversy".

Answer 3

Sure. Members of English Royal Family's surname is Windsor. Other Royal Family have an other surname.

Answer 4

Until World War One, the British Royal Family were members of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha of the House of Wettin - which changed its name to the House of Windsor in 1917. Upon the death of the present Queen, using patrilineal descent (descent from father to son), the name of the British royal house will be that of her husband, the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg... although the name of the Royal Family will continue to be the House of Windsor in law.

Answer 5

The name of the Royal House is Windsor, but the surname is taken from the husband/ father as in general in the UK. Philip's family name was Battenburg, changed by his father during world war I to Mountbatten. Thus the queen is, technically Mrs Mountbatten and her children also bore that name. When Anne married her name changed to that of her husband (Phillips, then Lawrence) but her brothers remain Mountbatten. When the queen dies, the House name will change to Mountbatten-Windsor (as she has already decreed) but the family surname will not change.

Answer 6

Windsor.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5657.asp

Answer 7

Queen Elizabeth II's maiden name was Windsor. High anti-German feeling among the people during WWI prompted the Royal Family to abandon all titles held under the German crown and to change German-sounding titles and house names for English-sounding versions from Wettin to Windsor. The current official surname used for the House of Windsor is Mountbatten-Windsor.The Queen's children and grandchildren are from the House of Mountbatten (the royal house to which Prince Philip belonged). Prince Charles will officially change to House of Mountbatten-Windsor when he becomes King.
Although the official surname that royal children and grandchildren of the Queen is "Mountbatten-Windsor", the younger royal generation prefers to use their "territorial title" as oppose to their official surname. Prince William of Wales was registered as "William Wales" in college, and both Princess Beatrice and Eugenie of York were registered as "Beatrice and Eugenie York" in college. Also, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex's daughter was only styled as "Lady Louise Windsor".

Answer 8

For the UK Royal Family, for royals who do use surnames it is Mountbatten-Windsor. The Queen does not use a surname,she is of The Royal House of Windsor.Prince Philip's name of Mountbatten was originally Schlessweig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg,first changed to Battenberg,then to Mountbatten to assuage anti-German sentiments caused by World War II. Windsor was originally Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,but was changed days after 24 Gotha war planes bombed London.
Prince Charles is of The Royal House of Windsor and doesn't use a surname,but his family members,William,Harry and Camilla are often referred to as the Waleses,after his title. Andrew,Duke of York's family can use his title of York,while Edward,Earl of Wessex's family can use Wessex. Anne's children are not royally titled and use their father's surname.
Here's the complete story from
http://www.royal.gov/uk
"People often ask whether members of the Royal Family have a surname, and, if so, what it is.

The situation of members of the Royal Family is more complex than for most people, as they can be known both by the name of the Royal house, and by a surname, which are not always the same.

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 which 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 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). 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 naturalised, 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."

Answer 9

The current family is actually Mountbatten-Windsor. The Mountbatten is Prince Phillip's surname.

Answer 10

Their real surname is Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Adopted Winsor because of anti german sentiments.

Ps further reading of this article below will show that the british are and were not the magnificant perveyors of justice, like they have made out since the WW2. The shopkeepers riots reminds me of the crystalnacht in nazi germany. even though it was 20 years before it.

Answer 11

Windsor