Andrew Mountbatten Windsor may soon undergo yet another name change, following a request reportedly tied to the wishes of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
This comes shortly after King Charles III’s decision to strip his younger brother of his remaining royal titles and his official residence. Andrew had previously agreed to relinquish his titles amid renewed scrutiny over his past ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
King Charles’ Official Statement and Title Removal
On October 30, Buckingham Palace issued a statement confirming that Andrew would now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. The notice also revealed that a formal order had been “served to surrender the lease” of his long-time home, the Royal Lodge, and that he would be relocated to “alternative private accommodation.”
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement read.
The King has now made this decision official by issuing a Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, which was later published in The Gazette, the United Kingdom’s official public record.
The entry, dated November 6, stated:
“THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 3 November 2025 to declare that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of ‘Royal Highness’ and the titular dignity of ‘Prince’.”
A Potential Name Correction
Following this announcement, reports suggest that Andrew’s name could be modified once again — this time to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, adding a hyphen between the two surnames.
This adjustment would align with the formal naming convention outlined by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960, which established Mountbatten-Windsor as the family surname for royal descendants who are not princes or princesses.
Despite this long-standing precedent, Andrew has recently been publicly referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, notably without the hyphen — something Buckingham Palace is now believed to be reviewing.
The Queen’s 1960 Declaration
Two weeks before Andrew’s birth, Queen Elizabeth II issued a declaration through the Privy Council stating:
“Now therefore I declare My Will and Pleasure that, while I and My children shall continue to be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, 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 decision was made to honor her marriage to Prince Philip, incorporating his surname into the royal family line to symbolically represent the union between the House of Windsor and the Mountbatten lineage.
Continuing the Mountbatten-Windsor Legacy
The use of the hyphen in Mountbatten-Windsor has appeared in several official royal documents over the years. For instance, Princess Anne’s marriage certificate to her first husband, Mark Phillips, includes the hyphen, underscoring the consistency of the Queen’s original decree.
As Buckingham Palace reviews the matter, it remains to be seen whether Andrew’s public identity will officially adopt the corrected form — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — in keeping with his late mother’s royal legacy.
