EDWARD WHAT?

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 151, 26 June 1907, Page 2

EDWARD WHAT?

The. popular opinion is -that King Ed-, ward's surname is Guelph; but, as a matter of .act,' the King has no surname. Why? Because he has descended thfjough a long line of royalties who needed ho surname. To - explain a little, let us quote T. _. O'Connor: of course, there were no surnames. By and by, for the common people, they became i necessary, but the King needed no surname. William L was only William, Duke j of Normandy, and when the Norman dynasty ended, the male descent of the t sovereign was traced to Geoffrey, Count lof "Adjou—-generally known as Geoffrey Plantagenet, though 'Plantagenet'.is not a surname, but- the titJe of the dynasty. Both Tudor and Stuart were surnames, possessed and used before the families were ennobled. When the Tudors and the Stuarts became sovereigns, their surnames were not abolished, they were . simply not used. ,

'•When we come to the dynasty known indiff—entity as the Dynasty of Hstadver, or of Brunswidc, or of Guelph, we must trace the male ancestry in another line. Now it has been very generally supposed that the surname of that family was Gruelph. It was not. Tfcop family was ennobled, and, in a. small way, sovereign long before hereditary surnames existed. They never required or used a surname, and never had one. The description of Guelph is on a level with that of _~___ttagenet, except that the former never had any recognised use of any kind at any time. With the death of her late Majesty, Queen Victoria, the B_u__3rwid_ Dynasty ended, and with H-M. King Edwaurd "vTL the Dynasty of Saxe-CSrarg Gotha,' commenced. Here, again, a. new line of male ancestry must be traced, bat here, dace again) it is traced back to ennobled and sovereign ancestors living- ait a period before the introduction of fixed hereditary surnames. The result is, that the King has never inherited any surname, and has no male ancestor who ever had one" 'TJ?. ends with an anmsing anecdote. There had been a civic function, and Queen Victoria was asked to sign the- visitors' book. Her Majesty wrpte "Victoria K. and L M Princess Henry of Battenberg then -rote "Beatrice P." The tarn of the local Mayoress came next, and she signed "Elizabeth. 5 * The surname was hastfly written in the following, day, bnt too late to prevent the story gaining currency.