Article updated on 17/06/2022

It was previously reported in 2017 that Kate Middleton and Prince William's children Prince George and Princess Charlotte won't be using their surnames at school.

This complied with royal titles 'His Royal Highness Prince' or 'Her Royal Highness Princess' negating the need for a last name.

Now, it's believed that the young royals, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's youngest son Prince Louis, four, who are known to the world as the Cambridges, are set to take on the surname of Wales.

The name change is due to follow on from when Prince Charles ascends the throne and becomes king, taking the reign from his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince William will inherit his father's Prince of Wales title, making his family's surname Wales, and so Middleton will take on the Princess of Wales title that previously belonged to Princess Diana.

As well as Middleton being expected to inherit the rare aforementioned title, which was last used by Princess Diana, Princess Charlotte is believed to be eventually become a Princess Royal.

The latter has only been used by seven royals.

Article originally published on 18/07/2017

Look, school is already bad enough what with early morning bus rides, cold toast in the dinner hall, endless homework, and boring P.S.H.E lessons.

The last thing you need is anyone teasing you about your surname in P.E. class or when the register gets called out before an exam.

Believe me, as someone with 'O'Malley' for a surname, barely a week went by without someone singing that song from Disney's 1970s classic The Aristocats.

*Shudders at memory*

But fortunately for Prince George and Princess Charlotte, they won't need to worry about classroom taunts or misspellings of their surname come school time, given the fact they won't be using their family name anyway, reports The Independent.

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The reason for this dates back to when the Queen – who Prince George calls his 'Gan Gan' – married Prince Philip in 1947. Now, as we all know, Queen Elizabeth was a Windsor, while Prince Philip was known as Philip Mountbatten (watch Netflix's The Crown for more context).

Due to the anti-German sentiment towards Philip's surname after WWII, the Queen was coronated and her name changed to Queen Elizabeth II, whilst Philip's became Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

However, by 1960 the couple decided to make a landmark decision for the Royal Family and introduce a double-barrelled surname of Mountbatten-Windsor.

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But the reason we rarely ever see that surname being used by the Monarchy is that any royal with the title 'His Royal Highness Prince' or 'Her Royal Highness Princess' doesn't actually need a last name at all.

The Royal Family have even gone as far as to explain the issue on its website:

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.

Just think of them as a modern-day Cher, Prince and Madonna.

Of course, the prince and princesses can use Mountbatten-Windsor if they want to, such as when staring school or the military, but they aren't required to do so.

To be fair, it's not like anyone is going to get them mixed up with anyone else's kid, is it?

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What's even more complicated when it comes to the Royals' surname is that some even use a geographical destination as their surname.

For example, when Prince Harry and Prince William joined the army, they went by the names of Harry Wales and William Wales respectively, because their father is the Prince of Wales.

So, when Prince George starts prep school Thomas' in Battersea, London in September, he might just go by the name 'Prince George' or even George Cambridge, given his parents are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Heck, he could pretty much go by anything: G-Dogg, G-Unit, P-Giddy, G, King G.

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Katie O'Malley
Site Director

Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.