Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis use a different surname at school as reason for change revealed
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis may have some of the most recognisable names in the country, but things are kept rather less formal when they’re at school.
It turns out that the Prince and Princess of Wales’s three children don’t use their full royal titles in the classroom.
After all, it might be a bit weird for their classmates to have to call them by their titles, and create an us-versus-them divide.
The decision to use a different surname is a practical arrangement which follows a long-standing royal tradition, and also explains why the children previously went by a completely different surname.
Advert
George, Charlotte and Louis once used the last name ‘Cambridge’ at school, reflecting the Prince William and Kate Middleton’s titles at the time, of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
That changed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 and the accession of King Charles III.
Prince William subsequently became the Prince of Wales, while his wife Catherine became the Princess of Wales.
Their children also became Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales.
As a result, the informal surname they could use at school changed from Cambridge to Wales.
It meant that George, Charlotte and Louis started at Lambrook School as the Cambridge children before becoming the Wales children following the major change in the Royal Family.
The change means that when a surname is required now, they are known as George Wales, Charlotte Wales and Louis Wales.
The custom might sound unusual outside Royal circles, but it has plenty of precedent within William’s own family.
William and his younger brother Prince Harry were known as William Wales and Harry Wales at school because their father, the now King Charles, was Prince of Wales at the time.
The brothers continued using Wales in other areas of their lives.
During their military careers, for example, William and Harry were known by the surname Wales rather than using their full royal titles.
In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip declared that their descendants who required a surname would use Mountbatten-Windsor, combining the Royal Family’s Windsor name with Philip’s Mountbatten family name.
However, royals who possess titles do not necessarily need to use a conventional surname in the same way as most people.
The practice has been followed elsewhere in the family. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, for example, have previously used York, reflecting their father Prince Andrew’s Duke of York title.
George, Charlotte and Louis’s school lives are now beginning to take different paths.
George, who turned 13 in July, started at Eton College in September 2026, following in his father’s footsteps.
William attended the Berkshire boarding school between 1995 and 2000.
Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight, remain at Lambrook, the Berkshire preparatory school the three siblings began attending together in 2022.
While classmates may share lessons with George Wales, Charlotte Wales and Louis Wales, outside the school gates they remain three of the most prominent young members of the Royal Family and have the titles to match.
Topics: Royal Family, Prince George, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte
Jen Thomas