The reason why the royal family don't use a surname

The royal family is one of the most popular families on earth, but unlike most, they don't seem to possess a surname.

Well technically they do, kind of.

The royal family's official surname is Mountbatten-Windsor - one that was established 100 years ago by King George V.

And prior to this renaming, it was one of German descent - Saxe-Coburg.

King George decided that a name change was due because of the anti-German events occurring in the midst of World War 1.

It then was changed again when Elizabeth Windsor, now Queen Elizabeth II, married a young Phillip Mountbatten and the surname was hyphenated to be Windsor-Mountbatten.

And with a mouthful like that, it's no surprise that most of them choose to use their formal titles most of the time.

They even use their geographical titles as surnames instead of the real thing on official forms like licenses etc.

But the official statement released on the royal family's website clears things up completely;

"A proclamation on the Royal Family name by the reigning monarch is not statutory; unlike an Act of Parliament, it does not pass into the law of the land.

Such a proclamation is not binding on succeeding reigning sovereigns, nor does it set a precedent which must be followed by reigning sovereigns who come after.

Unless The Prince of Wales chooses to alter the present decisions when he becomes king, he will continue to be of the House of Windsor and his grandchildren will use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor."