Why Harriet Phillips wore a badge branded with her husband's name at Royal Ascot - but other royals did not

There is no question that Harriet Phillips is embracing tradition after marrying into the royal family. Ten days after her wedding to Peter Phillips, the Princess Royal's son, she was drinking champagne in the royal box at Royal Ascot with a name badge announcing her as Mrs Peter Phillips.

Wives being known by their husbands' names is a thorny issue in modern etiquette.

Harriet was not alone in styling herself that way. Carole Middleton and her daughter-in-law Alizee Thevenet wore badges bearing the names "Mrs Michael Middleton" and "Mrs James Middleton".

In contrast, Zara Tindall, who is known on the official British Royal Family website as Mrs Michael Tindall, chose to be known as Mrs Zara Tindall. Beyond the royal box, the Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner styled herself Mrs Geraldine Horner. Who is the poshest Spice now?

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So it is not Royal Ascot's insistence, but an individual's choice whether to maintain a tradition that arose centuries ago, when a married woman had a higher status than an unmarried one.

Debrett's noted in its first edition of Correct Form in 1970 that a married woman using her own Christian name or initials "implies that her marriage was dissolved" and that "this mistake is frequently made".

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By 1976, Correct Form added the grudging footnote that "ladies, especially those engaged in business or the professions, who prefer not to disclose their marital status, have recently taken to using the prefix 'Ms'" but urged readers not to use it "unless a lady has indicated this preference, because it offends many more than it pleases".

The royal family has faltered in its insistence on the tradition. Princess Michael of Kent is so commonly known as such that few people know that her Christian name is Marie-Christine, but it was the mark of an eccentric to insist that Diana, Princess of Wales should be known by her technically correct name of Princess Charles (until the couple divorced). Similarly, Kate is never referred to as Princess William.

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Debretts now refuses to damn either form of address. “Traditionally, it is considered incorrect for a married woman or a widow to be addressed by her own forename or initials, as this implies that her marriage has been dissolved," it says. "However, it is becoming increasingly customary for married women and widows to use their own forenames and initials."

However, there has been a shift at the next event in the British summer season: Wimbledon.

Until 2022, the championships insisted on describing women with the prefix Miss or Mrs while men lacked Mr. 

More extraordinarily, married women's names were recorded in gold lettering with their husband's names. Chris Evert was named Miss C M Evert for her victories in 1974 and 1976 but for her third in 1981 she was listed as Mrs J M Lloyd because she was married to John Lloyd from 1979 to 1987.

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The tradition irritated Chris, who remarked that she only ever used her maiden name in tennis. 

"As proud as I was to be married to John at the time, it was my name that deserved to be on the honor board!" she wrote in 2022. The board has been revised to reflect her views.