XeniaCasaraghi
Heir Apparent
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Is Kate's last name Wales like Williams?
XeniaCasaraghi said:Is Kate's last name Wales like Williams?
What if it is a girl and they have no sons?
Well of course, in England the oldest male child is the heir presumptive. Just like Charles inherited over Anne.
I think they'd use Cambridge now but it's been reported they call each other Mr and Mrs Wales- though technically don't they not have a last name or is it Mountbatten-Windsor?
Their surname is Mountbatten-Windsor in all cases a family name is needed. But in most cases of normal life for a prince/princess as well as a peer and the heir of a peer no surname is needed as the title has precedence. Before William was granted his dukedom, he was titled Prince William of Wales thus he was "William Wales" at the army. He decided to stick with that name in his normal live, thus his wife as "Princess William of Wales" is Catherine Wales. Of course they both could go by (the higher Royal ducal title in its shortended form) William and Catherine Cambridge as a peer and his wife.
It's a bit vice-versa of what the Wessexes did with their son James Viscount Severn - instead of calling him "Prince James of Wessex" or "James Wessex" they call him "James Severn" from his courtesy title as his father's heir.
Let's take the example of another ducal family, the premier duke of the UK is the Duke of Norfolk. The family name is Fitzalan-Howard. The secondary title of the duke is Earl of Arundel.
The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, The 18th Duke of Norfolk. As a short form he uses Edward Norfolk, his wife is Georgina Fitzalan-Howard - The Duchess of Norfolk. She uses Georgina Norfolk as the short form of her name/title.
Their eldest son and his father's heir is Henry Fitzalan-Howard, Earl of Arundel (No "The" here as his father is still "The Earl of Arundel" - just like William is Prince William of Wales while his father is still "The Prince of Wales"). Henry's short form of his name is Henry Arundel. His younger brother is Lord Thomas Fitzalan-Howard. Thomas's short form is Thomas Fitzalan-Howard. So title comes before family name if you have one.
"Mr. and Mrs Wales" of course is a joke, because if William had no title, they would be "Mr. and Mrs. Mountbatten-Windsor".
BTW it is not uncommon in the British aristocracy to continue using the now lower title if you got a higher title through inhertance or Royal grant. The politician Michael Kerr (family name) was born the heir to the Marquess of Lothian, thus getting the title of Earl of Ancram, as this is the secondary title of his father. On becoming a lawyer he dropped the Earl of and used only Michael Ancram as his name, in order not to irritate a jury on being called "My Lord" as well as the actual judge at court. He then became a Member of Parliament, still using just Michael Ancram. When his father died he became The Marquess of Lothian" but instead of switching to "Michael Lothian" he continued as Michael Ancram as long as he was a member of the Commons. Then Her Majesty in 2010 granted him the title of Baron Kerr of Monteviot as a life peer so he could take his seat at the House of Lords (which he couldn't do with his Marquessate after the reform of the Hosue of Lords). But now as a member of the House of Lords he is known as Michael Lothian in short.
real life fairytale.The Duchess of Cambridge has spoken of her incredible happiness at being married. Kate opened her heart at a charity party in London saying she “loved” every minute of her life with Prince William. One guest revealed: “She said she is blissfully happy. Her eyes lit up whenever Wills was mentioned. They are in love.”
A cute quote from Kate. She recently spoke about married life at a london charity
real life fairytale.
Such a cute one from William"I’m very, very lucky, he looks after me as much as possible."
- Kate speaking about William.
Found both of them here: william & catherine {a real life fairytale}“I am a huge royal fan,” Chandler Rabens, 21, who met the pair said. “I told William he was the luckiest guy in the world because Kate looked so beautiful, and he said, ‘I know!
If William and Catherine's first child is a girl, what's actually going to happen? The monarchy is supposed to be updating but this outdated tradition hasn't budged.
Lumutqueen said:Then the succession law with either be changed to equal primogenture so said Princess will become Queen - or William will wait to have a boy and his girls will be bumped down.
But which do you think will actually happen?