British royal family surnames and titles: Who has a surname in the royal family and what is it | House of Windsor, Wales, Sussex | Royal explainer

Much has been said this week about the Duchess of Sussex wanting to be known by her royal title of “Sussex” instead of “Markle”, leading many to ask what her actual surname is.

The issue of surnames within the British royal family is a confusing one and sometimes the answer isn’t always straightforward.

And to make matters even more complicated, surnames can change depending on marriage and royal titles.

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Here’s what we know about royals and their surnames.

Do members of the British royal family have surnames?

The best place to find an answer to this question is from the direct source: the royal family’s official website.

It says: “Members of the royal family can be known both by the name of the royal house, and by a surname, which are not always the same. And often they do not use a surname at all”.

Prior to 1917 members of the royal family had no surname, but only the name of the house or dynasty to which they belonged.

These often changed over time when the line of succession was taken over by a rival faction, such as Henry IV and the Lancastrians, Edward IV and the Yorkists, Henry VII and the Tudors.

Just as regular people (or commoners, so to speak) often give their children the surnames from their father, sovereigns normally take the name of their ‘House’ from their father.

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This was the reason why Queen Victoria’s eldest son Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as that was 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.

A radical change of name

Many of today’s rules stem from George V’s Letters Patent, issued in 1917, which also designed to limit the use of royal titles.

George V was also acting in response to world events that would result in a radical change for the British royal family.

It was George V who specifically adopted Windsor, not only as the name of the royal ‘House’ or dynasty, but also as the surname of his family.

The change came as a result of anti-German sentiment during the First World War, and the name Windsor was adopted after Windsor Castle, which was always considered suitably British.

At a meeting of the Privy Council on July 17 1917, George V declared “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”.

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When Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952, the royal family name of Windsor was confirmed.

But her husband Prince Philip was unhappy his children would not bear his name (it was the 1950s, after all).

In 1960, the Queen and Prince Philip decided 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 declared in the Privy Council that Elizabeth II’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.

The Mountbatten portion came from Prince Philip’s surname.

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The royal family’s website continues: “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 first time the surname Mountbatten-Windsor appeared on an official document was on November 14, 1973 was in the marriage register at Westminster Abbey for the marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.

So, what does that all mean for the main players of the British royal family now?

King Charles III was born into the royal house of Windsor, so Windsor is officially his surname.

As for Prince William and Prince Harry, and their wives and children, their surnames are taken from their royal titles.

Titles and surnames

Before delving into the surnames of the senior royals, it is best to have an understanding of titles and how they are correctly used.

The main royal titles used in the modern British royal family include prince, princess, duke, duchess, earl and countess.

That previously mentioned Letters Patent issued by King George V limited the use of royal titles to just the children of the sovereign, grandchildren of the sovereign in the male line and the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.

Queen Elizabeth II refined that with another Letters Patent in 2012, making all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, princesses and princes as well as Their Royal Highnesses.

That’s why the children of Prince William and Catherine were known as prince and princess at birth, and not the children of Prince Harry and Meghan.

In addition to this, only the blood-born princes and princesses are permitted to affix their Christian names to their titles – for example Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

An exception to this are the children of Princess Anne, Peter and Zara, who are not known as prince or princess as Anne chose not to pass on the titles to them.

When Prince William and Catherine had their three children, they automatically became Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis being the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (at the time, that was Prince Charles).

In comparison, Prince Harry and Meghan’s children Archie and Lilibet became prince and princess in 2023 only when Charles became King, and not at the time of their birth when Elizabeth II was on the throne (more on that shortly).

Titles, surnames and marriage

Marriage plays a role with the use of titles and surnames, particularly when it comes to commoners marrying into the royal family.

As royal commentator Victoria Arbiter previously explained to 9honey: “In commoner land, wives, more often than not, assume their husband’s surname upon marriage. A Miss becomes a Mrs, sometimes a Lady occasionally even a Baroness, and the same rules apply to members of the royal family, albeit with fancier titles”.

When Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, she became HRH The Princess of Wales.

Despite being known by the world’s media as “Princess Diana”, this was incorrect as she was not a blood-born princess.

Similarly, Kate is not “Princess Kate”, even though she is often referred by that incorrect title.

Kate was given the title Duchess of Cambridge when she married Prince William in 2011. William was given the title Duke of Cambridge.

Meghan was given the title Duchess of Sussex when she married Prince Harry in 2018. Harry was given the title Duke of Sussex.

By the nature of their marriages, both Kate and Meghan are officially princesses of the United Kingdom but they can’t affix princess to their Christian name because both are not blood-born princesses.

Arbiter continued: “Had the Queen [Elizabeth II] not conferred wedding day dukedoms on William and Harry, their wives would have been known as Princess William of Wales and Princess Henry of Wales in the same way Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz became Princess Michael of Kent upon her 1978 marriage to Prince Michael”.

When Charles married Camilla in 2005, she automatically became the Princess of Wales, taking on the female equivalent of her husband who was the Prince of Wales.

But out of respect to Diana, the previous Princess of Wales, Camilla used instead Charles’ secondary title of Duke of Cornwall, becoming known as Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie carried the title “of York” from birth, taken from their father Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. But when they married – Beatrice to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2020 and Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank in 2018 – they ceased using “of York”.

Their children don’t have royal titles as they are too far down the line of succession.

When the word “the” is very important

The correct use of the word “the” is also crucial when a royal’s title is mentioned.

Sometimes we see Catherine, Princess of Wales, or Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, which might seem correct, but a first name followed by a comma and a title is reserved for divorced royals.

The main two examples of this being Sarah, Duchess of York and Diana, Princess of Wales (which is how Diana was referred to after divorcing Charles in 1996). Both women were able to retain their titles but lost their HRH status.

The puzzling thing is Meghan must not understand this small, but vital piece of punctuation.

She often uses the title Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in her public sign-offs, including most recently when she is credited as executive producer of her new Netflix series With Love, Meghan.

Even her official Instagram name has her as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

But when she published her children’s book The Bench, in 2021, she was correctly credited as ‘Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’.

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So, what surnames do the royals actually use now?

Much like surnames often come from the father, so too do titles, which can be used in place of surnames.

When Charles was Prince of Wales, his sons Prince William and Prince Harry used “Wales” as their surnames when needed, such as at school or in the Armed Forces.

They were known as William Wales and Henry (or Harry) Wales.

When Prince George started school in 2017, he was known as George Cambridge. A photo from his time at Thomas’ Battersea revealed a label on his backpack reading “George Cambridge”.

The situation changed with Elizabeth II died in 2022 and Charles became King.

Prince William automatically became the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, his wife becoming the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. To simplify things, the higher-ranked title is used, which is why William and Kate don’t go by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all now have the Wales surname, replacing Cambridge.

The change of throne also brought on changes in Prince Harry and Meghan’s family.

Under the reign of Elizabeth II at the time of their birth, the children were known as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

But the accession of Charles – their grandfather – to monarch meant they automatically became prince and princess.

The children received the titles Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex, titles that were publicly confirmed at the time of the King’s Coronation in May 2023.

The children have been known as Archie Sussex and Lilibet Sussex ever since.

It follows the same pattern used by the family for both William and Harry when they were children with the use of Wales as their surname.

Now Archie and Lilibet use Sussex as their surname, it marks an end to the current use of Mountbatten-Windsor in the royal family.

But when William, the Prince of Wales becomes King, he will continue to be of the House of Windsor and his grandchildren will use the Mountbatten-Windsor surname.

Is Meghan correct to use Sussex as a surname?

Yes, she is. 

That’s because Sussex is a family name she received upon her marriage to Prince Harry.

Meghan recently spoke about the importance of the Sussex name in an interview with People magazine, saying Sussex “is part of our love story”.

”It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognised how meaningful that would be to me until we had children,” the duchess said.

“I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”

An in episode one of With Love, Meghan the duchess looked momentarily horrified when comedian-actress Mindy Kaling referred to her as “Meghan Markle”.

“It’s so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now,” Meghan said.

And there you have it.

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