Signatures of Royals


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Its hard to make out but did the king sign 'R' after his name?



Yes I think he did. I gather he signs R outside his realms and just Willem-Alexander inside the Netherlands. You can just about make the R out in the photo but it's not very clear.
 
It indeed is Willem-Alexander in the kingdom and Willem-Alexander R outside. His mother did the same: only Beatrix R when outside the kingdom.
 
Here is the signature of His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld.

Bernhard_of_Lippe-Biesterfeld_Signature.jpg



The Signature of His Royal Highness Prince Claus of the Netherlands.

Claus_von_Amsberg_Signature.svg
 
The Difference between hereditary peers and prince/ss signing their name.

HRH Prince George of Cambridge signs his name as 'George'. His godfather, The Most High, Potent and Noble Prince. His Grace The Duke of Westminster signs his name as 'Westminster'
 
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Makes sense to me. "George" has a lot less letters to remember than "Westminster" or "Cambridge" does for a little guy. :D
 
The Difference between hereditary peers and prince/ss signing their name.

HRH Prince George of Cambridge signs his name as 'George'. His godfather, The Most High, Potent and Noble Prince. His Grace The Duke of Westminster signs his name as 'Westminster'



How do you know how George signs his name? Or even that he knows how to write his name yet? Given, you know, as he's 3...

I'd even question how you know how Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, signs his name...
 
All HRH sign with their given name, it is the prerogative of a prince/ss and peers sign with their last name.


The Duke Of Marlborough signs as 'Marlborough' - You can very easily check the Roll of the Peerage if you need more confirmation.
 
All HRH sign with their given name, it is the prerogative of a prince/ss and peers sign with their last name.





The Duke Of Marlborough signs as 'Marlborough' - You can very easily check the Roll of the Peerage if you need more confirmation.



This is technically correct but not always how things happen.

I had a letter from the Duke of Devonshire once and he signed 'Stoker Devonshire'.

A prince can also sign 'Charles P' 'Edward P' etc for princeps.
 
All HRH sign with their given name, it is the prerogative of a prince/ss and peers sign with their last name.





The Duke Of Marlborough signs as 'Marlborough' - You can very easily check the Roll of the Peerage if you need more confirmation.



The point is though that you don't actually know how George or the Duke of Westminster sign their name. It is very likely that the Duke of Westminster signs "Westminster" as that is how a peer typically signs, but unless you have any supporting evidence to say that's how he does it you're guessing. It is also likely that George will one day sign "George", but as he's only 3 it's just as likely that he doesn't sign his name at all, doesn't know how to write his name fully at all, and is only just learning his letters - or he could be writing his name fully, but the likelihood of him having a signature at this point...

I would add to that regardless of royal status, a 3 year old who can write their name likely isn't writing anything more than their first name.
 
I've never seen Wallis Simpson's signature before. Wonder what handwriting experts would say about it? Rather an odd S I think. Looks more like an L to me.
 
The point is though that you don't actually know how George or the Duke of Westminster sign their name. It is very likely that the Duke of Westminster signs "Westminster" as that is how a peer typically signs, but unless you have any supporting evidence to say that's how he does it you're guessing. It is also likely that George will one day sign "George", but as he's only 3 it's just as likely that he doesn't sign his name at all, doesn't know how to write his name fully at all, and is only just learning his letters - or he could be writing his name fully, but the likelihood of him having a signature at this point...

I would add to that regardless of royal status, a 3 year old who can write their name likely isn't writing anything more than their first name.

Peers sign with the designation of their title, rather than their name. For example, the Earl of Aberdeen would sign simply as Aberdeen.

Royals , on the other hand, sign using only their first given name e.g. , George. A king or reigning queen adds R after the name in some countries.

There is plenty of factual evidence to that, e.g. correspondence to and from previous monarchs that is now publicly available.
 
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All HRH sign with their given name, it is the prerogative of a prince/ss and peers sign with their last name.
It is definitely not their "perogative". Who forbades you from signing like whatever you want?

The fact that Royals sign using their given names is as simply as that they usually do not have surnames. And even when they have (like the Bernadottes) they do not usually use it.

However, they may adopt some names associated with them as their last names and use it sometimes, such as Harry Wales. But Wales was not his surname nor Sussex is today. In official papers, I think, he would always sign just as Henry or Harry.

Peers using only the territorial designation of their most senior peerage, such as Marlborough for the Duke of Marlborough, is the most common version, I think. The said duke is THE Duke of Marlborough as there is no one else holding this peerage. When he signs Marlborough, it identifies him, the Duke at the time of signing.
It is just a matter of custom.
 
The royal sign manual of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia . You can also see the signatures of their two daughters below.


Besides Felipe VI and Letizia, Elizabeth II, and Margrethe II, does any other European king/queen or queen consort still use R in their signatures?
 
Does Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden not use 'R' in his signature?

Queen Sofia if Spain

Queen_Sof%C3%ADa_of_Spain_Signature.svg
 
Does Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden not use 'R' in hi


s signature?


Apparently he does not, nor does Queen Silvia (or, at least, I cannot see it in the samples below).


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_XVI_Gustaf#/media/File:Carl_XVI_Gustaf_of_Sweden_Signature.svg


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen.../File:Signature_of_Queen_Silvia_of_Sweden.png

Princess Madeleine & Prince Carl Philip Of Sweden's Children's Royal Status Has Been Removed By The King - Royal Wives




Apparently King Philippe and Queen Mathilde don't use it either . I don't think King Harald and Queen Sonja use 'R' either, but I am not sure.


So far the only signatures with an 'R' that I have been able to find of living European kings/queens are Felipe's and Letizia's (and JC's and Sofia's prior to JC's abdication), Margrethe's and, of course, Elizabeth's.



It is actually rather ironic that someone like Letizia who was alledgedly a republican now signs her name as "Letizia R." although that is probably what she is instructed to do by the Royal Household.


EDIT: I just found a signature by King Willem-Alexander that appears to include an 'R' at the end, but Queen Maxima didn't use it. A different sample , however, shows his signature without the 'R', which is confusing.


EDIT 2: After reading some of previous pages, I found an explanation by other posters saying that Willem-Alexander uses 'R' outside the Netherlands only. Why is that?
 
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Does the "R" in the signatures of some monarchs mean what?
 
Looking at the respective royal websites and social media accounts it seems that Queen Margrethe uses R to sign official documents both domestically and abroad (her grandfather famously signed Christian Rex and caused a diplomatic incident with Hitler because of it), King Carl Gustav uses R to sign official documents aimed at abroad and King Harald at least uses R to sign official documents aimed at abroad (I haven't seen a document signed by him aimed at domestically).
 
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