A Potential Name Correction

Following this announcement, reports suggest that Andrew’s name could be modified once again — this time to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, adding a hyphen between the two surnames.

This adjustment would align with the formal naming convention outlined by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960, which established Mountbatten-Windsor as the family surname for royal descendants who are not princes or princesses.

Despite this long-standing precedent, Andrew has recently been publicly referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, notably without the hyphen — something Buckingham Palace is now believed to be reviewing.

The Queen’s 1960 Declaration

Two weeks before Andrew’s birth, Queen Elizabeth II issued a declaration through the Privy Council stating:

“Now therefore I declare My Will and Pleasure that, while I and My children shall continue to be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, My descendants other than descendants enjoying the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness and the titular dignity of Prince or Princess and female descendants who marry and their descendants shall bear the name of Mountbatten-Windsor.”

The decision was made to honor her marriage to Prince Philip, incorporating his surname into the royal family line to symbolically represent the union between the House of Windsor and the Mountbatten lineage.

Continuing the Mountbatten-Windsor Legacy

The use of the hyphen in Mountbatten-Windsor has appeared in several official royal documents over the years. For instance, Princess Anne’s marriage certificate to her first husband, Mark Phillips, includes the hyphen, underscoring the consistency of the Queen’s original decree.

As Buckingham Palace reviews the matter, it remains to be seen whether Andrew’s public identity will officially adopt the corrected form — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — in keeping with his late mother’s royal legacy.