The former Prince Andrew has officially adopted a hyphen in his surname, now styled Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, reflecting the double-barreled family name chosen by Queen Elizabeth II for her descendants 65 years ago.
According to The Associated Press, previous palace communications had listed him as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, without the hyphen.
The adjustment aligns his name with the declaration made by the late queen on February 8, 1960, just days before Andrew’s birth.
At the time, Queen Elizabeth II had decided that “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 name merges the royal family surname Windsor, established by King George V in 1917, with Mountbatten, the surname of the queen’s husband, Prince Philip.
The decision originally came after Prince Philip complained that he was the only man in England unable to pass his surname to his children. Elizabeth eventually relented, establishing the double-barreled style that now applies to Andrew.
The update comes in the wake of Andrew’s public fall from grace. King Charles III announced on October 30 that he was stripping his brother of his royal titles and removing him from the Royal Lodge residence near Windsor Castle.
The move followed renewed scrutiny over Andrew’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and new attention on allegations made by Epstein’s victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose posthumous memoir was released last month.
The king cited “serious lapses of judgment” in revoking the title of prince that Andrew had held since birth, marking one of the most severe punishments ever imposed on a senior royal.
Mountbatten-Windsor, now 65, has consistently denied the allegations made by Giuffre. Despite losing his titles, residence, and reputation, the former prince now formally carries the hyphenated name that connects him to both his paternal and maternal royal lineage.
Palace officials confirmed that the hyphen was added after reviewing the 1960 declaration, ensuring that Andrew’s legal surname now conforms precisely with the naming style established by his grandmother decades ago.
