Prince George’s royal dilemma: What surname to use at school

Prince George enjoys a bizarre assortment of powers and privileges other four-year-old’s could not even fathom. Not only did he spend his childhood roaming the 770-odd-room palace of the Queen but he is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assume the third in line to the throne has a life free of quandaries. The son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who recently turned four, is currently struggling to choose which surname to pick.

After all, it might be a little odd for all involved if the teacher says "Prince George" while reading the register.

The younger royal, who is due to start school in September, could either opt for “Wales”, “Cambridge” or the double barrelled mouthful that is “Mountbatten-Windsor”.

When Prince George was born in 2013 - to the sound of a 41-gun salute from soldiers on horses - the official announcement stated his name as “George Alexander Louis”.

While that includes a first name and two names there is, of course, no surname.

This whole dilemma stems from the fact the royal family do not really have a firm second name.

“Members of the Royal Family can be known both by the name of the Royal house, and by a surname, which are not always the same. And often they do not use a surname at all,” explains the Royal Family’s website.

Before 1917, the royals did not have a surname and only had the name of the house or dynasty to which they belonged.

Prince George will be starting Thomas’s Battersea, which is just a few miles from his family residence in Kensington Palace, in September. The private primary school costs £6,110 a term and it discourages children from having best friends - its first rule is to “be kind”.

A representative for Kensington Palace declined to comment on the matter.