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Can the regnal name change?
In UK the Monarch chooses his/her regnal name at the time of the accession, which can be his/her current name, one of the middle names or a completely new one. If the monarch is underage a Regent is appointed till his/her maturity. I guess that if the Monarch is very young (e.g. an infant) his/her first name becomes the regnal name or the Regent decides.
What happens if the monarch decides to rule with a different name once maturation? Will the name change retrospectively?
Example: Tragedy strikes, the Queen, Charles and William are dead, baby George is now King George VII and Prince Harry becomes The Prince Regent Henry. Then, in 2030 George decides he was to rule under the name 'Alexander IV'. Can he do that? What would be the numeral of the next UK King with George as his name?
2 Answers
- CloLv 77 years agoFavorite Answer
Coronation doesn't take place until the heir is of age, so, the heir could change her/his name then, during the formal blessing service.
- ?Lv 77 years ago
This is another of those unanswerable questions as it's never happened! I think it would be unlikely that the name would change part-way through a reign as it would confuse everything. But if a monarch decided to do so, there's nothing to stop them.
In fact there have only ever been three British monarchs who didn't use their actual first name. Alexandrina Victoria reigned as Queen Victoria because that was the name she had always been known by. Her son Prince Albert reigned as Edward VII so as not to use his father's name. He said it was out of respect and Albert should be reserved for Victoria's husband but I suspect it was partly out of spite for his domineering mother. A later Prince Albert reigned as George VI mostly to emphasise continuity with his much-loved father, George V, after the abdication crisis of 1936.
