Royal Weddings II - The Name

As was alluded to last week by Sara, I'd been wondering what royal families answer when asked for their last name (or "surname" as they say in the UK, which plays host to the royals we are focusing on right now). After all, they're always referred to by title and first name, but come on, who doesn't have a last name in modern Western societies?

Well, as I found out after some brief investigation, the British royal family didn't until 1917 (that's still less than a century ago, folks!). They were known by they name (first and middle(s)) and the name of their dynasty. I guess in a way that makes sense, since last names came into being to distinguish between all the Johns and Rachels out there, to make things more convenient than "John, the son of George."
- Is that George, the son of Henry?
- I'm actually not sure about his father's name. He's from London.
- Well, half the Georges I know have lived in London.
- Hmm, is he Mary's brother?
- John doesn't have a sister.
- No, I'm talking about George! Does George have a sister named Mary?
- Oh! I see, no, you're thinking of that other George, the blacksmith, right?
- Yea, I was. So he's not John's father?
- No, no, no. He has a nephew called Johan! And he only spent, like two years in London. He's originally from Exeter.
- So were you talking about George, the carpenter?
- Of course!
- That's right, I did meet his son John once!
- Cute kid, right?
- Certainly... Now, what about him?
- ... I don't remember.

You see, that's too complicated, so instead last names were instituted so that you can just say "John Smythe," and everyone's on the same page. But that's not necessary for the royals, 'cause titles were dead giveaways. For example if you say "the Duke of Edinburgh" or "Prince Harry" everyone knows who you're talking about, even if his name is actually Henry (true!). So the monarchy did not see it necessary to adorn their Christian names such.

But then the world caught up to them. And with the anti-German sentiments rising during the Great War, it grew uncouth for the King of the Britons to be of the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. So George V picked the name of Windsor (after the castle) to be from then on his family's name. Much more British, you know?

Yet Windsor is not the current last name of Buckingham Palace's inhabitants. The story goes on, because, as we all remember, in 1952 it was a daughter who inherited the throne. And she was married to Philip Mountbatten, aka His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark -- it gets complicated if you dig too deeply). The young couple decided in 1960 to hyphenate their names to keep the Windsor royal name while still distinguishing themselves from all the other relatives.

All this to explain that the new Duchess of Cambridge gave up the name Middleton to now be Catherine Elizabeth Mountbatten-Windsor.

Interestingly enough, the "Mountbatten" name also appeared in 1917 so that the Battenberg family could also distance itself from its German roots.

More details for those still following and interested available on the family's website and Wikipedia.