27 NOVEMBER 2003
Speculation over what title would be given to the Earl and Countess of Wessex's new baby has been cleared up. The infant will be known as Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, after the royal couple decided not to style their daughter "Her Royal Highness".

It is believed that Edward and Sophie want their child to have as normal a life as possible, and so decided to follow in the footsteps of Princess Anne, whose children Peter and Zara have no royal titles.

They had to get permission from the Queen to drop the HRH prefix. But it is reported that the choice of Mountbatten-Windsor as surname was warmly-received by Prince Philip, as Mountbatten is the family name he adopted in 1947.