Mountbatten-Windsor is thesurname available to descendants ofQueen Elizabeth II andPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and can be used by them whenever a surname is required. Generally, those that are entitled to, and use, the royal styleHRH Prince orPrincess have no need of a surname. An example of when a surname is needed is when they get married.Mountbatten-Windsor combines the British royal family'sHouse name ofWindsor and Prince Philip's adopted surname ofMountbatten. Its use was authorised by a 1960Privy Council declaration.
Mountbatten-Windsor was created by combining the royal family'sHouse name ofWindsor andPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh's adopted surname ofMountbatten.[1] A few years after the death of Lord Mountbatten the Windsor name became the official royal family name and the Battenbergs changed their name to Mountbatten.[2] In 1960 thePrivy Council declared:[3]
My Lords
Whereas on the 9th day of April 1952, I did declare in Council My Will and Pleasure that I and My children shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that My descendants, other than female descendants who marry and their descendants, shall bear the name of Windsor:And whereas I have given further consideration to the position of those of My descendants who will enjoy neither the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness, nor the titluar dignity of Prince and for whom therefore a surname will be necessary:And whereas I have concluded that the Declaration made by Me on the 9th day of April 1952, should be varied in its application to such persons:
Now therefore I declare My Will and Pleasure that, while I and My Children shall continue to be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, My descendants other than descendants enjoying the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness and the titular dignity of Prince or Princess and female descendants who marry and their descendants shall bear the name of Mountbatten-Windsor.
The Privy Council declaration made it so that Elizabeth's descendants with princely titles and male-line descendants who bear princely titles keep the name Windsor, pursuant to a declaration she made in a previous Privy Council meeting at the beginning of her reign; female descendants who marry, their descendants, and any other descendants who do not hold princely titles use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. While many of her descendants hold princely titles and styles, they usually use Mountbatten-Windsor instead of Windsor.
The British monarchy asserts that the nameMountbatten-Windsor is used by members of the royal family who do not have a surname, when a surname is required.[4] For example,Anne, Princess Royal, andPrince Andrew, Duke of York, children of Queen Elizabeth II, used the surnameMountbatten-Windsor in official marriage registry entries in 1973 and 1986 respectively.[5] Likewise,William, Prince of Wales, used the name when filing a French lawsuit related to the topless pictures ofhis wife published by the French magazineCloser.[6]
At the time of the 1960 declaration, palace officials claimed in private communications that it created a hidden surname that would emerge several generations later when some of Queen Elizabeth II's descendants were further removed from the throne.[7] On thewedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, the Queen decided, with their agreement, that any of their future children should not be styled His or HerRoyal Highness.[8] Consequently, the birth of their daughter in 2003 marked the first emergence of the Mountbatten-Windsor surname. Their daughter was named Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor, and she goes by the title ofLady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, her father being theDuke of Edinburgh.[9]
Mountbatten-Windsor differs from the official name of theBritish royal family, which remains theHouse of Windsor.[4] In accordance with law and custom in the English-speaking world, the surnameMountbatten-Windsor belongs to all male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and is used by them if and when a surname is needed. In contrast, male-line descendants ofKing George V, the first monarch of the House of Windsor, useWindsor as their surname if and when a surname is needed, as for exampleLady Davina Windsor andLady Marina Windsor, respectively descended from George V's sonsPrince Henry, Duke of Gloucester andPrince George, Duke of Kent. (George V's other sons have no male-line descendants:King George VI had only daughters whileKing Edward VIII had no issue andPrince John was unmarried.) After the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was renamed Windsor, other descendants ofQueen Victoria andPrince Albert could also use the name Windsor, as for example,Alastair Arthur Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, grandson of their sonPrince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. None do so today, however, because the only male line (apart from the descendants of King George V) is throughCharles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, whose descendants use the surname Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (English) or von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (German).
The family tree is based on the currentline of succession to the British throne (addition of last heir)
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Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) ⚭
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021) – m. 1947_Sodacan_style.svg)
King Charles III (b. 1948)
William, Prince of Wales (b. 1982)
Prince George of Wales (b. 2013)Princess Charlotte of Wales (b. 2015)Prince Louis of Wales (b. 2018)Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b. 1984)
Prince Archie of Sussex (b. 2019)Princess Lilibet of Sussex (b. 2021)Prince Andrew, Duke of York (b. 1960)Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (b. 1988)Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank (b. 1990)Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1964)James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (b. 2007)Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2003)Anne, Princess Royal (b. 1950)
Mountbatten-Windsor family | ||
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Generations are numbered by their descent fromPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh andElizabeth II | ||
| 1st generation | | |
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
