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Prince George Can Choose Between Two Surnames At School

Prince George Can Choose Between Two Surnames At School
Prince William and Prince George of Cambridge arrive at Warsaw airport in July 2017. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Samir Hussein via Getty Images
Prince William and Prince George of Cambridge arrive at Warsaw airport in July 2017. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Royal names and titles are a complicated thing, which is why many are wondering what surname Prince George will use when he enters full-time school this year.

Traditionally, members of the royal family are known solely by their first names and do not use surnames. Thus, the four-year-old is simply known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

However, Metro U.K. reports that the little prince will need to decide on a surname before his first day at Thomas's Battersea School in London on Sept. 7 because the registration requires a full name.

So what are his options? According to Hello! magazine, there are two family name traditions he can follow.

The first option is Mountbatten-Windsor. This surname dates back to 1960 when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip decided that all their descendants would use this combination of their last names.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Ascot Racecourse on June 20, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Chris Jackson via Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Ascot Racecourse on June 20, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

"For the most part, members of the Royal Family who are entitled to the style and dignity of HRH Prince or Princess do not need a surname, but if at any time any of them do need a surname (such as upon marriage), that surname is Mountbatten-Windsor," the Royal Family website explains.

The second option is Cambridge, which is a name taken based on George's family's territorial designation. The surname comes from the four-year-old's father, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.

Both Prince William and Harry went this route when they entered school. At that time, they followed in their own father's footsteps and adopted the surname Wales after Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

William maintained this surname throughout his military career and was known as Lieutenant Wales, Hello! magazine reports. However, after marrying Kate Middleton in 2011, he became known as the Duke of Cambridge.

While we won't know which surname Prince George will choose until he starts school (if ever), we do know that his parents will be accompanying him on his first day of school.

"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, accompanying Prince George, will be met on arrival at the school by the Head of Lower School, Helen Haslem, who will then escort Their Royal Highnesses to Prince George's reception classroom," Kensington Palace said in a statement, according to People magazine.

Princess Diana with her sons Prince William and Prince Harry at Wetherby School on September 12, 1989 in London, England. It is Prince Harry's first day at school. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage)
Anwar Hussein via Getty Images
Princess Diana with her sons Prince William and Prince Harry at Wetherby School on September 12, 1989 in London, England. It is Prince Harry's first day at school. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage)

The late Princess Diana also escorted her sons to school on their first day. In January 1987, she brought William to Wetherby, a prep school in Notting Hill, on her own, because her then-husband Charles was, unfortunately, stuck in a snowstorm. However, Charles did previously attend William's first day of nursery school at Chepstow Villas.

In 1989, both Diana and Charles also accompanied Harry on his first day at Wetherby.

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