It’s perhaps the least serious question Andrew Mountbatten
Windsor has faced in years. Does his newly adopted surname contain
a hyphen?
When Buckingham Palace announced that The King’s brother would
lose his title of Duke of York as well as his HRH and Prince, the
statement said he would be known as ‘Andrew Mountbatten
Windsor’.
However, now it’s being reported that the new name of the former
prince should contain a hyphen and read Andrew
Mountbatten-Windsor.
Historians are citing precedent as the reason for the apparent
need for change.
The surname was adopted in 1960, the year of Andrew’s birth, for
all male line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
who didn’t have a royal title.
In the official Declaration, which brought the name into being,
it is given as Mountbatten-Windsor. And several male line
descendants without royal titles have used that version including
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s daughter who is known as Lady
Louise Mountbatten-Windsor.
When the son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was born in May
2019, he was known as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. After the
accession of King Charles III, he was entitled to be known as HRH
Prince Archie, a decision his parents made for him in March
2023.
However, despite these two recent uses of Mountbatten-Windsor,
there is no hard and fast rule on how the name is used. In reality,
it remains a personal choice. The name is no less legal if there is
no hyphen.
However, some historians are claiming that precedent means it
should be hyphenated.
In day to day business, one of the main reasons for clarity is
for identification purposes. However, it is highly unlikely that
anyone would fail to identify Andrew Mountbatten Windsor because of
a missing hyphen.
It’s understood that the decision not to use a hyphen came from
the former prince himself. Whether a change happens remains to be
seen.
Interestingly, if Andrew Mountbatten Windsor were to marry
again, his marriage certificate would have to include his former
name meaning that although he is no longer allowed to use it, when
it comes to registration, it will have to be included
nonetheless.
The titles of Andrew’s two daughters remain unaffected. Under
1917 Letters Patent, issued by King George V, the grandchildren in
the male line of a Monarch are HRH and Prince or Princess. So
Beatrice and Eugenie remain princesses because of those rules.
However, Andrew’s former wife gave up her courtesy title and is
now known by her maiden name of Sarah Ferguson.
The use of a hyphen does seem a trifling matter in what has
proved a torrid and controversial time for the Royal Family. Andrew
Mountbatten Windsor lost his titles after fresh a
