[prince george school]Richard Pohle/WPA Pool/Getty Images The INSIDER Summary: Royals don't really need a last name, but it's technically Mountbatten-Windsor, a blend of the Queen and her husband's surnames. Some royals use their family's territorial designation (like Wales or York) as a last name. Because Prince George's parents are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, he'll be known in school as "George Cambridge." With four-year-old Prince George starting school this year, his official title of "His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge" is a bit of a mouthful for his lower school teachers and classmates. So what will they call him? "George" will do just fine as his first name, but the British royal family doesn't really use last names. They're so famous that they're easily identifiable without one. But when members of the royal family need to use a last name — when they're in school or in the military, for example — they actually have a few choices. BEFORE 1917, ROYALS DIDN'T USE LAST NAMES AT ALL. [royal family last name king george v]Wikimedia Commons In 1917, when King George V had been on the throne for seven years, he decided to change the house name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor after Windsor Castle, one of the royal family's properties. Today, the royal family is still known as the House of Windsor, and in a broad, general sense, Windsor is still the royal last name. WHEN QUEEN ELIZABETH II CAME TO POWER, SHE MADE A SLIGHT MODIFICATION. [queen elizabeth prince philip]AP In 1947, Princess Elizabeth (George V's granddaughter) married Philip Mountbatten, a former Greek and Danish prince who had joined the British Royal Navy. Just a few years later, the young couple were thrust to the very top of the monarchy: Elizabeth's father died, making her Queen Elizabeth II. Mountbatten became Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1960, Elizabeth and Philip decided that they wanted to differentiate their particular branch of the royal family tree from all the others. They decreed that their descendants would carry the hyphenated last name Mountbatten-Windsor. SOME MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL CLAN HAVE USED THEIR FAMILY'S TERRITORIAL DESIGNATION INSTEAD. [william harry wales]Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP For example: When Prince William and Prince Harry served in the military, they went by William Wales and Harry Wales— because their father is the Prince of Wales. Prince George could have gone by the royal family's official last name, Mountbatten-Windsor, but he's following in his father's footsteps and using his family's territorial designation. As the son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George will be known as "George Cambridge" in school. NOW WATCH: This London baking school will make you a master cake decorator
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