House of Windsor
The
House of Windsor is a branch of the
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha line of the House of
Wettin. It is the
Royal House of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and each of the other
Commonwealth Realms. In
1917, during
World War I, anti-German feeling among the people resulted in the Royal Family exchanging use of all of their German titles and house names for English-sounding versions.
The German name had come via Queen
Victoria's marriage to
Prince Albert, son of
Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in February 1840.
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, however, wasn't the Prince Consort's personal surname, but the territory ruled by his family; his house, and possibly even his surname, was Wettin.
Thus, the name Wettin was renamed Windsor, which also became the name of the Royal House through an
Order-in-Council of King
George V.
However, the Order only referred to all descendants of Queen Victoria in the
male line, but not necessarily by female descendants. In April 1952, two months after her accession,
Queen Elizabeth II ended confusion over the dynastic name when she declared to the Privy Council her "Will and Pleasure that I and My children shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that my descendants who marry and their descendants, shall bear the name of Windsor." This comes into conflict with Germanic house laws, which state that all of her children are of the house of
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg through their father,
Prince Philip, Duke of EdinburghLater, on
February 8,
1960, The Queen issued another Order-in-Council, confirming that she and her four children will be known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that her other male-line descendants (except those who are "HRH" and a Prince or Princess) will take the name
"Mountbatten-Windsor".
Any future monarch could change the dynasty name if he or she chose to do so. Another Order-in-Council would override those of George V and Elizabeth. For example, if the
Prince of Wales accedes to the throne, he could change the royal house to "Mountbatten" in honour of his father, and of his uncle
Louis Mountbatten.
|
"A Good Riddance". Cartoon from Punch, Vol. 152, June 27, 1917, commenting on the King's action in abolishing the German titles held by members of His Majesty's family. |
King George V's reign began in 1910 under the
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and ended in
1936. Though the
Irish Free State left the United Kingdom in 1922, the actual name of the kingdom was not changed until 1927, when he also became King of
Ireland. In the decades after 1927, the monarch also became the king or queen of many
Commonwealth Realms, including,
Australia,
Canada, the Irish Free State,
New Zealand,
Union of South Africa, etc. Previously they had been monarchs
in, not
of, those states, through a shared Crown of the British Empire. After 1927, it became a shared
monarch wearing multiple crowns. Until
1947, the king was also styled
Emperor of India.
*Upon hearing that his cousin George V had changed the name of the British royal house to Windsor, German Emperor
William II remarked that he planned to see
Shakespeare's play
"The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha", instead of
The Merry Wives of Windsor.
*Longford, Elizabeth Harman (Countess of Longford).
The Royal House of Windsor. Revised ed. Crown, 1984.
*Roberts, Andrew.
The House of Windsor. University of California Press, 2000.
*
British Royal Family*
Canadian Royal Family*
Windsor, Berkshire
