In an unusual stroke of accuracy in heraldic matters, the London Telegraph has actually used the word "crest" accurately:
The image on the left is, of course, a coat of arms. But the image on the right is a bona fide three dimensional crest--that is, the kind of object a knight can plunk down on his helmet for the sake of increased battlefield identification and protection.
This is a notable exception to the rule that, when newspapers want to talk about "coats of arms," they invariably call them "crests." However it's worth noting for accuracy's sake that Prince William has had his arms and crest for fully eight years, having been granted them on his eighteenth birthday. His arms have not changed one whit--this is just the first time they have been modeled in the round for chivalric purposes.
The addition of an escallop was certainly a fine tribute to his maternal lineage, and also an excellent point of heraldic design. They approach would not have worked well if he was expecting to pass those arms down through his own descendants, but since he will in time inherit his fathers undifferenced arms, and eventually the full achievement of the United Kingdom, there is no need to worry about that.
Also, as a note to the newspaper editors, the small red item on the label is indeed a seashell, and not a "c shell".
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