Why Harry/Henry??

[Jacknch]

Any legal document, such as a Will or Marriage Certificate, would use Harry's full name and title - His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales - and he would sign it "Harry" as usual.

[Winnie]

I believe times and customs have changed, Many, many years ago while purchasing a home, my husband signed his name inserting "Sr." after it as he always used this since his son was born. Son's birth certificate, baptism certificate and his own marriage license all read Jr. which is how son wrote his name. Attorney made my husband redo all deed documents disregarding the sr as that was not considered legal as sr was not on his proper recorded birth, confirmation and marriage papers. I mean, lets face it, at that time who knew he would have a son named after him on the day he was born, so of course it was not on legal documents then!


When purchasing our last home in 2006, he asked attorney about this Sr. designation after his name and was told that it doesn't make any difference anymore so he signed sr after his name. BTW his grandson is 'the third" which is on his birth certificate but he certainly doesn't use that while signing anything. I personally would never recommend all this same name tradition. We have over the years been sent bills, etc., of both son and grandson which caused quite a bit of nonsense in the family to get straight.

[CyrilVladisla]

Originally Posted by Jacknch

Any legal document, such as a Will or Marriage Certificate, would use Harry's full name and title - His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales - and he would sign it "Harry" as usual.

Jacknch, you expressed a legal document would use Henry's full name and title. Would not the document require the Prince sign HENRY if his name is made out as HENRY on the document?

Would it not be interesting that when Prince Henry of Wales' wedding is broadcasted and some reporters refer to him as Prince Henry and some reporters refer to him as Prince Harry, some people actually assume there are two gentlemen: Henry and Harry?

And where is Henry from? England? Scotland? Wales? Canada? Australia? New Zealand? The United States?

When Prince Henry first attended school, did his parents not register him as Henry?

[wbenson]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Jacknch, you expressed a legal document would use Henry's full name and title. Would not the document require the Prince sign HENRY if his name is made out as HENRY on the document?

I don't think it would be required. As far as I know, signatures are not regulated that strictly, and signing one's name as opposed to another mark is just a custom. Any reasonably unique and consistent mark can be a signature.

[Countessmeout]

Your signature doesn't even have to be legible. As long as it looks the same every time you sign it. My mother's is so illegible it might as well say Satan.

[Lee-Z]

It's (still) quite surprising to me that this subject is thread-worthy my birthname and "calling name" have been different since the day i was born (Elisabeth on my birthcertificate, Liset on the birthnotice that was sent to family and friends), on legal docs i use E as initial on everyday docs L, and my signature is practically illegible but contains an L (it's completely common in my family, my dad uses as first initial F or G or S, depending on where it's used)
At least Harry can always use an "H"

[Skippyboo]

The birth registry for George and Charlotte list William's full name William Arthur Philip Louis but he only signed them as William. George VI signed Elizabeth's wedding registry as George R and we all know that Albert is first name.

So Harry signing as Harry isn't a problem. Google US Presidents signatures half you can't even make out. Check out George W Bush

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geor..._Signature.svg

It doesn't even look like English.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community

[Jacknch]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Jacknch, you expressed a legal document would use Henry's full name and title. Would not the document require the Prince sign HENRY if his name is made out as HENRY on the document?

The key thing for a legal document to be properly and legally binding (i.e. properly executed or, to put it in an old fashioned way, "signed, sealed and delivered") is that the correct person has signed it and that it can be proved at a future date. This is why most legal documents are witnessed and the witnesses sign too. They can verify that Harry was there and signed the documents or at least can be held accountable if there is doubt as to authentication.

One other point - Harry's signature these days is a large "H", a wavy line and a loop representing the "Y" then it's all underlined. The wavy line could represent anything!

[Countessmeout]

Well technically Harry was the witness (he signed as a witness to William's signature) but unofficially I guess it goes both ways.

[MaiaMia_53]

Originally Posted by Countessmeout

Your signature doesn't even have to be legible. As long as it looks the same every time you sign it. My mother's is so illegible it might as well say Satan.

Hopefully, you are not doing any wishful thinking there. No disrespect intended. I just found that reference funny and mayhap revealing.

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by MaiaMia_53

Hopefully, you are not doing any wishful thinking there. No disrespect intended. I just found that reference funny and mayhap revealing.

My mother would be very horrified at the suggestion.

She has more in common with Martha Stewart, actually we jokingly called her the Martha stewart of canada. The double ll in her name tends to come out like a t in her chicken scratch and she forgets tha tail on her y.

[Osipi]

Maybe we're cousins! Your mom has Canada and my mom had the US with the moniker Sister Mary Vacuum Cleaner.

I kind of like that out and about among people, its Harry and in formal situations its Prince Henry of Wales. It does kind of suit Harry as when he's with the public, he's a very reachable guy and congenial. In formal situations, he's every inch the royal he's been brought up to be.

[Curryong]

I saw an informal note from Harry to a member of the public years ago on Twitter that was clearly signed Hary (dislexia?)
Perhaps he did that a few times, it was pointed out to him and he became a bit self conscious about his signature and thus made it illegible on purpose. (I believe something similar happened to King Carl Gustav of Sweden.)

[Lisele]

Have rules changed so much then? I grew up in Canada (educated in the US) and lived there for 45 years before moving to the United States. I HAD to sign my full legal name on all official documents and cheques, otherwise I got questioned as to why I was signing it by my "nickname". Same when I moved to the US - all official documents and cheques had to be signed using my full legal name - not my nickname.

[Dee Anna]

Originally Posted by Skippyboo

The birth registry for George and Charlotte list William's full name William Arthur Philip Louis but he only signed them as William. George VI signed Elizabeth's wedding registry as George R and we all know that Albert is first name.

Of course.

He signed as George R because he was King George, the name he took (from his names given at birth) when taking the throne. I don't think anyone ever referred to him as King Albert or King Bertie.

[Denville]

Royals don't use a surname..

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Would it not be interesting that when Prince Henry of Wales' wedding is broadcasted and some reporters refer to him as Prince Henry and some reporters refer to him as Prince Harry, some people actually assume there are two gentlemen: Henry and Harry?

And the tabloids come up with stories that Meghan Markle is having a secret lover on the side ("who's Meghan's mystery-Henry")

[wyevale]

At the 2012 Olympics the crowd was clearly baffled when 'Prince Henry' was announced.. There was a palpable mystified silence, until 'the penny dropped'...

[Blog Real]

But he actually his name is Henry. Why does everyone call you Harry? Is it that you like?

[Somebody]

His parents announced that he would be known as Harry. So he has used that name his whole life (in a somewhat comparable way, Meghan has always been Meghan). I hope he likes it