35 Royal Baby Traditions You Had No Idea Existed

26. Not Truly Given A Surname

A surname is a family’s lineage. It helps tell you where you came from, who married into which family, and more. Recently, many people came to the attention that the royal family didn’t have a last name. Instead, they followed the name of the dynasty or house they belonged to. In fact, to this day, they will only sign their first names, at least in the United Kingdom. 

However, this doesn’t mean that having a surname is a hot topic in the royal family. In fact, this is a tradition that started to slowly change with Queen Elizabeth II, who wanted to separate her family’s lineage from that of her parents. Therefore, she dubbed the descendants of her family Mountbatten Windsor, Prince Philip’s surname. This tradition continued with Prince William and Kate’s children, who go by the last name of Cambridge.