What is the surname of William and Kate's baby? ——Literacy stickers on British royal surnames and dynasties

Having attracted the attention of the world for so long, Princess Kate finally gave birth to a son. It was confirmed that it was a son. The biggest suspense was revealed, that is, after the death of the current queen, it is unlikely that the UK will have a queen in the next 50 years. . Next, the gamblers set their sights on more markets, such as what color the child's hair will be, what the child's name will be, etc. But for many Chinese little friends who are watching the fun, don’t worry about the name of the child. In fact, we don’t necessarily know what the child’s last name is! Although for many friends who are in the Chinese Empire/American Empire, compared to the most powerful American Empire on the planet and the most powerful Chinese Empire in the universe, whatever surname the leader of the small British and Yi country likes is of no consequence. In the eyes of these people, this article is just a pointless moan to support themselves. However, the author then thought about it and found that there are still many people like the author who are living in 16 countries with the British royal family as the head of state, such as the Island/Maple Leaf Country/Kangaroo Country/Kiwi Country. There is nothing inappropriate for innocent people who are just eating a living and have common sense about the surname of their country’s head of state. First of all, let me emphasize that this article is intended to improve literacy and is relatively simple. If you think you have a good understanding and interest in British history, especially the history of aristocracy, this article will probably not let you learn more than Wikipedia, so there is no need to scold you. However, the author is willing to communicate with you privately to discuss more profound issues and make progress together. 1. Let’s talk about the baby’s legal surname first. This is relatively simple. It is a basic custom in most countries (patrilineal societies) that sons inherit their father's surname. Then the baby will have the same surname as Prince William, and Prince William and Prince Charles will have the same surname. But at this point the question arises, what is Charles' surname? ? Normally, Charles should inherit his father's surname. His father, Prince Philip's legal surname in the UK is "Mountbatten", so presumably the baby should have the same surname as his great-grandfather, "Mountbatten"? Wrong, in fact, the surnames of Prince Charles/Prince William/baby were all decided by the current Queen Elizabeth II through the Privy Council Order in 1960 - "Mountbatten-Windsor". This is the combined surname of the Queen and Prince Philip, and is the legal surname of their descendants. 2. The blood surname of the baby is much more complicated. The so-called blood surname means strictly following the surname inherited from the father's line, without considering the behavior of changing the surname/adding the mother's surname. So what is the baby's blood surname? The answer is a bit long – Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, in German. Yes, this is Prince Philip’s real surname, and it is also the baby’s biological surname. This surname composed of four place names belongs to a large noble on the border of Germany and Denmark. Today monarchs with this surname also rule the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway. The British royal family seems to have a long tradition of having German nobles as kings. In fact, counting the numbers, this is already the third consecutive dynasty of German descent in British history (we will talk about the dynasty later). So everyone will have questions, why does Prince Philip not have his own surname, but his surname is "Mountbatten"? This starts with his life experience. Many people know that Prince Philip was originally a Greek prince, born on the Greek island of Corfu. His grandfather was King George I of Greece, and his great-grandfather was King Christian IX of Denmark (that is, the youngest son of the King of Denmark became the King of Greece. , at that time, the royal families of various Southeast European countries were mostly like this, they all found foreigners to be their kings). Although Prince Philip himself is not the eldest grandson of the eldest son, he still has the right to inherit the Greek throne (just ranked lower), which will lead to legal embarrassment when Prince Philip marries the then Princess Elizabeth. Because King George VI has no children, Princess Elizabeth is almost certain to inherit the British throne. If the top heirs of the Greek royal family die, Philip will inherit the Greek throne according to the law. This is equivalent to forcing the couple to separate and live in Europe. The northwest and southeast corners are really inappropriate. Therefore, he had to choose the side with higher probability, which was that Philip gave up his right to inherit the Greek throne, became a British citizen, and changed his surname to "Mountbatten".

Speaking of this "Mountbatten", many friends who like military history know that there was a Lord Mountbatten in Britain during World War II. He was the commander-in-chief of the European Joint Theater before the Normandy landing. He directly planned and commanded the landing battle in Sicily, and took the most unruly steps. The war-worthy Italian managed to free himself and drive a nail right in Hitler's anus. Yes, Lord Mountbatten is Prince Philip's uncle, and he and the Queen are also the great matchmakers of this uncle. As for the Mountbatten family, they were also very powerful in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century. Father and son served as marshals of the navy, and they made immortal contributions to the British Empire in World War I and World War II respectively. Closer to home, that is to say, Prince Philip is originally from the British mother's side, so it is natural for him to become a British national, change his British surname, and become a British son-in-law. In fact, to elaborate, Philip's great-great-grandmother was the famous Queen Victoria. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II were also related and were distant cousins. 3. The baby has a British dynasty name. If nothing goes wrong, this baby boy, who currently does not even have a name, will become the British monarch in the future. So what dynasty will it be? The answer is actually very simple. The Queen's Privy Council Order in 1960 has already stipulated that after her and Prince Philip's heirs ascend the throne, the name of the British dynasty will remain "House of Windsor". Then the Windsor dynasty starts from George V and continues until the baby succeeds to the throne, and there will be no changes. But there is one more thing to say here - when it comes to the name of a dynasty, we Chinese children are most likely to misunderstand it, because the concept of "dynasty" in Europe and the concept of "dynasty" in the history of the Chinese Dynasty are actually very different. The dynasty changes we are talking about are all complete changes, which are often accompanied by wars, bloodshed, and at worst, palace coups like Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's. The vast majority of dynasty changes are not related by blood (probably only the Sui and Tang dynasties were cousins, excluding the seizure of power by relatives such as Cao Wei, Sima Jin, and Yang Sui). As for European dynasties, especially the British royal family, the inheritance between monarchs must be related by blood. Since the Norman Conquest in England (and later the United Kingdom) in 1066, the monarchs have been in the same line for generations. The so-called dynasty change, All because of the change of the monarch's surname. It is precisely because of this that when a king has no heirs or only female heirs in history, the name of the dynasty will definitely change, and the search for heirs must be based on blood relations rather than nationality. In 1066, England was first captured by the French because William, Duke of Normandy, felt that he was more qualified to be the king of England than the native Anglo-Saxon Harold II; the Hundred Years War between England and France happened because the French who came to England to be the king had One day, he suddenly discovered that he was actually qualified to return to the European continent and become the king of France, so he had to fight back. As for George I, the first king of the Hanoverian dynasty, it was even more incredible. He was a German through and through, more than 50 years old. She is 3 years old and can’t speak English, just because Queen Anne, the last monarch of the Stuart dynasty of England, was extremely weak. She was either stillborn or died during her ten pregnancies. In the end, she didn’t leave a single heir, and she couldn’t be closer by blood. The Catholics succeeded to the throne (to prevent the achievements of the English Reformation from being in vain/to prevent Catholics from counterattacking and counterattacking). The Parliament searched around and had to find George, the German Elector of Hanover who believed in Protestantism... This is in the eyes of our people in Heaven. Come on, it’s really unbelievable. According to the rules of our celestial dynasty, assuming that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty died and there are many people named Li, we can choose anyone to be the leader. Even if all the people named Li are dead, we will feel that we would rather choose someone named Zhang to be the leader. , and it’s impossible to let the Japanese do it! Going too far again, let’s start with the Hanoverian Dynasty (starting in 1714). There have been three dynasties in Britain since then. The rule of the Hanoverian dynasty ended when Queen Victoria died. Because his son King Edward VII took the surname of his father, Prince Albert (also a German), the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty began. In fact, since then , the actual blood surname of the royal family has not changed to this day, but in 1917, the fierce battle of World War I was in full swing. King George V led the British military and civilians to fight fiercely on the European continent with his cousin, the German Emperor Wilhelm II (Czarina Ni on the Eastern Front) Gullah II was also their cousin), but the British royal family had a German surname. It was really unreasonable, so King George V changed his German surname "Vitting" to the famous summer palace of the British King. "Windsor" began the reign of the Windsor Dynasty to this day.

As mentioned before, the name of the dynasty that the baby will inherit will remain Windsor, but in terms of blood, just like the surname, since Prince Charles succeeds to the throne, Britain will actually start a new "Glücksburg Dynasty". It is the third consecutive dynasty of German origin after the "Hanover Dynasty" and the "Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Dynasty". 4. How does the baby usually call himself? First of all, I want to say that in fact, many of the terms we use to refer to the royal family (including the author’s usage in this article) are, strictly speaking, incorrect and inappropriate. They all have their own titles. In formal occasions, they must be addressed by their titles. First, take the British royal family as an example: Queen Elizabeth II - Her Majesty the Queen (this is the simplest, Your/Her Majesty the Queen) Prince Philip - His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh (This is the simplest, Your/Her Majesty the Queen) Your/His Royal Highness, Duke of Edinburgh) Prince Charles - His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (used in most of England, Wales and Northern Ireland), His Royal Highness the Duke of Rothesay (used in Scotland), His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall (used in England) of Cornwall) The late Princess Diana - Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales/Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Rosasi (before divorce), Diana, Princess of Wales (after divorce, separated from the royal family and therefore can no longer use the name Her Royal Highness, but because it is The mother of the two princes, therefore retaining the title of Princess) Lady Camilla - Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall (according to current law, she will not be able to obtain the title of Queen after Charles succeeds to the throne, and her title will be "His Majesty the King") "Princess Consort" (Princess Consort), but this does not rule out changes by the royal family through the Privy Council Order) Prince William/Princess Kate - HRH the Duke/Duchess of Cambridge (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), HRH the Earl/Countess of Strathearn (Scotland) Prince Harry - His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales (he has not yet been knighted, so he is called by his father's title). It can be seen that the names we usually use for these royal members, including the names used by most media, do not meet the etiquette requirements. In this regard, The Times/BBC will always be a model. They generally strictly use standard titles in articles and spoken reports. In fact, what many children care about most is not the long blood surnames of nobles. What do they usually call themselves? They also need to go to school, see a doctor, and have a driving license, etc... So what will this little baby call himself? The answer is this. Underage princes usually adopt their father's title and fief as their surname. The two princes, William and Harry, adopted the surname "Welsh" since they were young. When William handed in assignments in college, he used the name William Wales until he got married in 2011 and was named the Duke of Cambridge. By the same token, we can guess that his little prince should be called (Name) Cambridge. This surname will continue until his grandfather succeeds to the throne, at which time the current Duke of Cambridge, William, will be crowned Prince of Wales, and the baby will, like his father, change his surname to "Welsh" when he goes to school. I wrote a lot at the back (if it was longer, no one would read it), but it still couldn't cover the content in too much detail. I generally discussed the brief history and customs of the British royal family based on the name of this royal baby. In fact, aristocracy is a very profound subject, deeply penetrating into all aspects of European history and culture from aspects such as bloodline, titles, fiefdoms, family crests, private flags, etc. The author hopes that this impromptu article can provide friends with a window into the history of the British royal family and even the United Kingdom. This article is mainly written based on the author's memory based on the books he has read in the past, with almost no reference materials. If there are any mistakes in the article, friends are welcome to correct them. You are also welcome to share this article with interested friends. Please indicate the source for reprinting, thank you! ——Wolf on the Island