The British Royal Family has no surname in the traditional sense. Oh, they
may have had assorted names tacked on, but none really lasting. Some were
nicknames such as William "the Conqueror" (an identifier that sounded better
than "William the Bastard") or William "Rufus" (so named because of his
florid complexion). More frequent, the "surname" referred to other
territory held by or descended to the king (William "of Orange").
The current family residing at Buckingham Palace has had different names on
the mailbox. "Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" referred to the principalities in Germany
from whence the family hailed. During World War I against Cousin Willy
(Kaiser Wilhelm II), also a grandson of Queen Victoria, it was prudent for
the family to abandon its Germanic origins in favor of "Windsor". Before
she married, the Queen signed her name "Elizabeth Windsor"
Following in the tradition of using family-held territory, both Wills and
Harry adopted the "surname" of "Wales" to denote that Dad's full title and
territory is "Prince of Wales".
The next time you see either Wills or Andrew in military flight suits or
fatigues, notice their name tags. When serving in the military, Wills' name
badge is either "Wales", "W. Wales" or "William Wales", and he is referred
to as "Flight Lieutenant Wales" (RAF) or " Lieutenant Wales" (Royal Navy).
(This may change to "Cambridge" now that he has territory of his own.)
Buster
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