What is the KING’S SURNAME? Why are the royal family called Windsor? What is the royal surname?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- Why is the surname of the British royal family Windsor? Why is it no longer Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which was the surname of Queen’s Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert and their son, Edward VII, as well as his descendants up until 1917? Furthermore, why is it not Mountbatten-Windsor, after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II? The answer lies in the family’s Germanic roots and the problems they caused during World War 1, when the United Kingdom was at war with Germany and the family’s German surname became an embarrassment. As a result, George V took the unusual step of changing the entire dynasty’s name to something quintessentially British and chose to use Windsor Castle as his inspiration, as it is one of the oldest royal residences in Britain. This royal rebranding exercise took place in 1917 and the House of Windsor was born.
In this week’s royal family documentary from History Calling, I take you through the history of the family’s surnames and the decision to change it. I also explain the difference between Windsor and Mountbatten-Windsor, why the House is called one thing, while many of its members are called another (on the rare occasions that some of them need surnames at all) and when the surname was changed. This will include an explanation of why Prince Philip had the surname Mountbatten when he was a Prince of Greece and Denmark by birth and why he and Queen Elizabeth changed their family name in 1960.
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Do you think the House of Windsor should become the House of Mountbatten-Windsor? Let me know below and remember to check out my Patreon at www.patreon.com/historycalling and my Amazon storefront at www.amazon.com/shop/historycalling
The family name needs to remain Windsor, Should there be a female heir to the throne, her husband to be should revoke his surname entirely or we could end up with something unfortunate like "The House of Pratt, or Fuchs, Kuntz, Tickle, Jelley, Raper, or Payne &c
Windsor…. It’s a good dynastic name
Well, Queen Elizabeth changed in 1960 the family name to Mountbatten-Windsor but not the name of their house (still Windsor). Which is not straight forward and contradictory and makes understandable Prince Philip being upset - still.
No Windsor is straightforward, and offers a historical royal tie to Britain. Anyway Philip was born into the Danish House of Oldenburg, so there just isn't enough of an historic connection with Britain's royal family to justify it. Anyway I don't think Philip is likely to be bothered much about it anymore.
@@alexrafe2590 I do see enough justification as Prince Philip was a great great grandson of Queen Victoria as well as Queen Elizabeth II was! And the Royal ties to Britain seem never to have been a question as they through the history were mostly German or Spanish.
Why was the best/funniest part when you proclaimed: cos it’s my channel and I do as I want? I genuinely laughed out loud.
Btw the whole video was great, as always
Thank you. It was a little nudge at the people who complain at me sometimes (in a mean, not polite or constructive way) for saying something they don't like/agree with.
@@HistoryCallingwhat a way to throw shade lmao!
I liked that too!!😂
Honestly, Windsor is a pretty good surname. It sounds English but it’s straightforward and not fussy. I can see why George V chose it, he was a very practical man. If you keep adding bits on, you’d just end up with another saxe-coburg-gotha etc name.
Yes, I think it was a good solid choice too.
It was a ploy to fool British people which they still do .
Agreed it’s nice and elegant sounding and would go with almost any English name I can think of.
Why the British public still maintains official title or Royalty is alien to me as an American. Why bestow un unearned special privilege on someone simply because of birth lineage. The idea of Royalty is a antiquated and outdated concept. I suppose that it might be good for tourism. But it doesn't impress me.
@@rickelliott3683 There are a lot of people in the UK who want to get rid of the whole concept of royalty, they’re called republicans (not to be confused with the American political party of the same name). But the ultimate reason we still have royalty really, is that getting rid of it would be very difficult and complicated, and whatever we end up with instead wouldn’t necessarily be an improvement.
👏👏👏As often happens, you've taken a subject I wouldn't consider in any way interesting and infused it with your enthusiasm and passion for detail. " 'Cuz it's my channel and I can do that'." 😆😆You go, HC! I was engaged and immersed in this video from beginning to end.
Thanks Stephen. Yes, I get (rather mean) complaints sometimes from people when I don't just completely agree with them, so my little comment that it is my channel was a quiet little response to that.
@@HistoryCalling 👍
Fancy tieing themselves up in knots over a surname!!! (See what I did there?)
As was I (engaged and immersed in this video from beginning to end).
I'm from an Irish republican background but I enjoy Royal History so much. I'm a realist and totally understand why George VI denied his cousin and his immediate family. Revolution may have arrived on the shores of the UK xx.
I think the royals are fascinating to people from all sorts of backgrounds, perhaps because of the melodrama of it all. Look how interested Americans are in them for instance, despite the USA and the UK's colonial background.
That was the fear of HM Government.
It was George V who didn't rescue the tsar. That was in 1917=18. George VI was still just Prince Albert. I'm not sure when the Dukedom of York was given to him.
The family called him Bertie, but George was one of his baptismal names. My understanding is that he used George as his regnal name (he could have taken any name he wanted, even if not in his string of names) to emphasize his connection to his father and the continuity of the royal family. The aim was stability, as many royal families were being cast out. HC could make a definitive statement, I'm sure.
Having a Irish Republican background, you’d be well aware that revolution certainly did arrive on the shores of the UK - starting in Dublin on 25 April 1916. The Irish War of Independence continued for two and a half years after the end on the First World War. As a result, 26 Irish counties left the UK to become the Irish Free State, and eventually, the Republic of Ireland.
I guess you belong to those low humans who are nosy about others' business and live a pathetic life!!! They Would Never want to know Any of your household craps!! Ever thought why!!! Bcs they look down upon your type of people!!!😅😅😅😅
The black and white picture of President Kennedy with Jackie, Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth I gotta say caused a couple tears. They were so beautiful and young and healthy! It's sad watching this generation die off. My mother and her family lived in London for 2 years during the very beginning of the Queen's reign and I have every single picture they took while living there. ❤❤❤❤❤ I also definitely think this is why I love British history and the royal family so much 😊😊❤❤
I am a Canadian 🇨🇦 and I am a Proud follower of the Royal family and I say the family name of Windsor is very fitting and should be left alone…no need to change r add to it!
To resuscitate Camelot Joe Biden must name Gavin Newsom as his 2024 running mate. Newsom is even more handsome than JFK. He has great teeth and perfect hair. Newsom’s wife is as beautiful as a movie star. That would put Newsom in position if the elderly Biden doesn’t survive his term or for the 2028 election.
This is the best explanation I have seen for the name changes. The name "Windsor" was very carefully chosen by George V and Mary. There was a lot of angst about the name change, but necessary to allay many fears at the time. I believe a member of the King's staff came up with the name. As for the Mountbatten Windsor name, it is a bit of a mouthful but has huge history behind it, so needs to be preserved for the future. Mountbatten sounds better than Battenberg. Who wants to be named after a cake, no matter how good it tastes? (I do love a good slice of it though). Thanks HC. 😁
Thanks Elisabeth. Haha, yes. I like the cakes too, but also prefer the name Mountbatten.
Cause Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Schleswig-Hostein-Sonderburg-Gluecksburg is a bit of a mouthful?
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🏴🍀🏴🏴
Just my 2 cents worth, but I think the Mountbatten thing could probably be let die out, since it was a gesture to Prince Philip, and he’s no longer around to care. I mean, it’s not like the royals with their half dozen *given* names need a long hyphenated surname, too.
Good point! Why use anything other than Windsor when you belong to the Windsor dynasty? As you wrote, Philip will no longer rage about his lack of representation.
You don't get more British than Windsor. I think the vast majority of non British people get confused about why the British royal family have no real set surname. For most Brits its common sense.
Most European royal families never had what we now call surnames but names of their house or dynasty
@@pedanticradiator1491 True
Very true. Of course it's a mark of your superior rank to not need one. I imagine that's part of the attraction for celebs like Madonna and Rhianna to not use one. They're so famous, they don't even need a surname - just like a royal! :-)
Gosh almighty, after wading through this excellent video, it becomes readily apparent that we here in the states, made a superb decision to permanently rid ourselves of George III and his perplexingly named relatives and decendants.
Tony (ne Anthony) veteran, Sargent of the US Army but you can call me anything except late for dinner.
Haha, I'm sure with your military background you're never late for anything :-)
I didn’t realize how many people didn’t already know this. But then my dad’s a historian who will drop intense facts at the drop of a hat in such a way you just sit there soaking it up until he’s done or you remember an appointment half an hour ago.
Haha, I'm sure he and I would get along famously then :-)
Thank you for taking your time to explain the surname. I was confused on how they became the house of Windsor. Changing it to Windsor was the right thing. I loved it when you said it’s my channel and I do as I want. Way to stick it to the haters.
Haha, thank you. Yes, it was a little dig at people who moan that I'm not their little echo who just says (and does) exactly what they want, always agreeing with them.
Hello HC. I was watching the Tudor podcast last Friday; they were talking about Henry the eighth and I was thinking: why Didn’t they invite YOU on ? I was outraged.
That's ok. I wouldn't have gone anyway as I like my privacy.
Ahhh, you could be so great with her. They were talking about Johanna the mad.
History Calling and the Tudor podcast would be great together.
@@HistoryCallingwhat if you had the opportunity to remain anonymous? Would you consider appearing then? I think you'd be a great guest on The History of England. I can imagine you and David Crowther getting along so well.
Regarding 15:57 Beatrice and Eugenie appear to have ditched their York name, opting for Mapelli Mozzi and Brooksbank respectively. In the businesses they work in (Beatrice is a Vice President at a data company and Eugenie is CEO of a gallery in London) they are very occasionally referred to by their Princess titles and HRH, but for the most part they use their married names.
Yes that is the practice for Princesses who marry commoners they keep their HRH and Princess status but lose the territorial designation ie: the "of somewhere" bit, another example is the Duke of Kent's sister Princess Alexandra who is officially known as HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy. Her late husband was the Honourable Sir Angus Ogilvy, the Honourable bit meaning he was a younger son of an earl
makes total sense of why the king would have wanted to change it, couldn’t have been good for the counties morale at the time. very fascinating to see how it all plays out in modern day. excellent work Hc!! 📚
Thank you. Yes, it was a good PR strategy. He didn't want to go the way of his German and Russian cousins.
@@HistoryCalling can’t say i blame him at all! 😅
smartest brand change last century - Saxe Coburg Gotha - omg - anything British was better than that
Yes, it really wasn't a good look for them in the middle of WW1. Smart decision to change it.
So Edward VII and his son were actually genuine Goths! I wonder that someone hasn’t picked up on that for cosplay.
Good evening to history calling from Bea 🇬🇧
Hi Bea! :-)
Philip Mountbatten assumed this surname, he was born Schleswig Hosltein Sonderberg Gluckenheim......this should be the royal family surname.
I think it is Glucksberg, actually. I do think the Queen understood Prince Phillip's dismay and recognized it in the best and only way she could. I can imagine growing up effectively stateless as PP did would hugely influence his desire to give his name to his offspring.
That's not really a surname in the modern sense but a house or dynastic name and it is Glucksburg not Gluckenheim
He legally changed it though and so it wasn't his name at the time of his marriage or when he became a father, just as a married woman who has changed her name generally doesn't give her maiden name to the kids.
@HistoryCalling perhaps you could do a dive into why women changed their name on marriage and when that started, becayse it wasn't always the case. It certainly isn't the case worldwide and isn't a legal requirement in a lot of countries.
@@jillmortlock8439someone posed a question to Marilyn Vos Savant in her article, Ask Marilyn about this subject. She suggested that women give their name to their daughters and men give theirs to their sons. As a way of assuring that family names carry on. If that matters to anyone lol.
Even though I knew or thought I knew most of this, you explained it very well. Glad things are changing for the direct female members of a monarch, they should not be excluded from Dukedoms because they are female or don’t marry as such! If a woman can be a monarch well then!
Have learnt so much from your videos..have filled in many blanks..you never cease to teach me more...thank you HC
You're very welcome :-)
I miss Prince Philip. What a character.
Yeah, I miss him and QE2 as well :-(
Fascinating, as usual. Thank you. I saw a documentary on ties, and the creation of the "Windsor knot" (and half-Windsor). Now when I see period pieces set before 1930ish, I cringe when the men are wearing "modern typical" Windsor knots. I mean he had to get idea from somewhere, so it might be a bit earlier, but not pre-1900.
Funnily enough, I've never thought about the history of a Windsor knot. I sense a Google rabbit hole coming my way :-)
@@HistoryCalling Oh my. I'm sorry in advance. :)
There is a Guelph in Ontario nicknamed "The Royal City". It was founded during the reign of King George IV. The name came from "Guelfo", the Italian version of "Welf", i.e., the King's surname.
Another UBI (Useless Bit of Information) is that Guelph is the seat of Wellington County named for . . . you guessed it.
3rd UBI - Guelph is the birthplace of John McCrae, author of "In Flanders Fields", tying everything back to the First World War and the change of the Royal surname to Windsor.
I didn't know that, so thank you :-)
Very complicated stuff. Thanks for breaking it down. Love your videos.
Thank you :-)
I learn new facts no matter the subject, or how well-versed I think I am in it. Well done and thank you!
You're welcome and thank you for stopping by :-)
Well, you’ve done it again! Another great video. Did you have a migraine after your research?! Seriously, really great video HC. I think you’ve “cleared” up the Windsor, Mount Batton (sp.?) thing. WELL DONE!
Thank you. No migraine thank goodness! :-)
hello HC! hope you’re having a good start to the week 👏🏻
Hi there. Yes, fine thank you. I just spent the day working on a script. Sadly the nice weather we had here over the weekend has now gone though.
@@HistoryCalling oh no!!! it has started to get very hot very fast here, i wanted to enjoy having the windows open but i don’t think that’ll happen!😂
As aPR move through the modern lens it was genius to pick Windsor.
I remember being in Kent during Diana’s wedding (I mean after all, she was the star) and how everyone went down to the village pub and we were all just celebrating. (I was a working student at a riding stable/training facility).
My mom said Diana was more English than Charles.
Yes, I think she was. Charles is technically half Greek/Danish and a quarter Scottish after all and that's before we get to the Germanic ties. It's Diana and Catherine who have given the recent royals a good strong shot of English blood (unless Catherine has foreign ancestry that I'm unaware of).
Thank you for the video ❤❤
You're welcome 😊
Norwegian royals have no surnames, so Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who's currently serving in the Engineer Battalion, will have "Alexandra" on her name tag. I noticed hat when Prince Harry served, he used "Windsor".....
I think he used Wales for part of it. So did William.
@@samanthamaynard4447 Seems you're right. Checked some photos. My bad.....
@@Lassisvulgaris no need to apologize! Have a nice day.
I didn't realise they didn't even have titles as surnames (like Prince George of Wales for instance). That's quite interesting. I wonder what happens when they need to fill in an online form though, for a bank for example, where the computer requires a surname and won't let you proceed without one? Do they just use a middle name as you said above, or can they use Norway as a surname, being Princess of Ingrid of Norway?
@@HistoryCalling I tried to check it out. According to The Royal Castle's web page, The King descends from the house of Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Gluecksburg, so Gluecksburg might be the apropriate name. So what they use in official forms, I don't know....
As for King Harald's grandmother, she was the British Princess Maud, daughter of King Edward VII, bringing the Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha line into the family; while his mother was Princess Maertha of Sweden. King Olav V was her cousin, so she brought the Bernadotte line into the family.
As far as I know, the Danish royal family is the longest reigning line in the world. Could it be an idea for a future video...?
Call them anything except ‘Late for Dinner” as the saying goes. 👏👏😁😁
When Prince Edward was filming his history series Crown and Country he was credited as Edward Windsor. Thanks for explaining, makes so much more sense now!
I'm surprised actually that he didn't use Mountbatten-Windsor.
You read my mind. LOL I was just thinking of this last night. Thank you.
Great minds think alike :-)
Great video! Thank you!
Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching :-)
It must have been really hard Prince Philip Not being allowed to have his children have his last name. So I'm really glad the Queen changed it to Mountbatten Windsor.❤
Fun fact, when Victoria married Albert the houses of Welf and Wettin were united.
This was informative.
Highly entertaining, thank you!
Thank you :-)
I love your tutorials. History is my favorite thing, right after art.
I heard that when Kaiser Wilhelm heard of the name change he said Shakespeare needed to change his play to: The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
I suppose the royal family has at some times been more "English" than others, but it would be a mistake to think that the fact that the Hanoverians or the Saxe Coburg Gothas were unusual. Except on the rare occasion a monarch married a English commoner, the "nationality" of the royal family contained Scottish, Welsh, French, Italian, Polish, Danish, Spanish, Dutch/Belgian, Russian, German, and other strains.
With the marriages of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Lady Diana Spencer, and Catherine Middleton into the family, there is more "English" heritage in the present and future monarchs than there has been for many years.
Absolutely, yes. They've rarely been so English as the last couple of generations.
Elizabeth Bowes Lyon is Scottish Not English
I actually knew, this but enjoyed your telling of story.
Thanks Linda :-)
I have always wondered about this
George the V and Czar Nicholas were the best looking royals in my opinion. Beautiful eyes.
Very interesting.
I seem to recall when Willam and Catherine had sued a French magazine, they used Monsieur and Madame Mountbatten-Windsor in the case as the French court (being republican) did not recognise thier royal titles.
I learn something new from each of yoir video. Great conte 1:38 1:38 1:38 1:38 nt, and you give us lot of information and to think about them.Thank you
Knew this though love this..😂thanks❤ @Historycalling
Thanks Wendy :-)
I have a friend whose great grandfather was German. They changed their famly name to Smith. Her mother and grandmother's Christian names were Briggette...very German.
Ah Smith. Nothing as inoffensive as that :-)
there is a christian name "Brigitte" in Germany, but it stems from a french version of Brigid or Bridget resp. the German name Birgit- the spelling "Briggette" is very unusual. A brigg is a kind of ship, not sure which kind exactly.
@@reginapopihn9853 Perhaps they also changed the spelling of the Christian name when they changed their family name. I'll have to ask my friend.
That was quite interesting, for the royal family it doesn't sound like they really need a surname. Also liked how Queen Elizabeth 11 made one proclamation then changed it. Also the way George V made his because of WW1. To answer you question I think they should decide for themselves what surname they want to use if they need one. Thanks HC Looking forward to next weeks.
Thank you. Yes, it would be nice to just let them choose, but I suppose as so few of them even need a surname, it's probably not a high priority for them.
Hi, awesome live history video. I enjoyed it. How was your weekend? My weekend was great. My cat Benjamin is doing well also. In the next video in the future. Could you do King George, the third. He was King of England in the early 19th century. Have a great day. See you next video. We have warm weather in Ontario, Canada. How is the weather where you are? 😊
Hi Michelle. Glad you're both doing well. My weekend was very nice thank you. We had lovely weather so I went out and enjoyed it. G3 is on my list, but in the meantime my video on his wife, Charlotte, includes plenty of info. on him.
Windsor is as British as it gets. It should remain the surname.
Thank you.
You're welcome :-)
What? What? Why? How? Let's find out! Love how you intro videos. :)
Thank you :-)
Thank you ❤
You're welcome 😊
Based on what I've seen of other Royal families, Charles could also take the sir name of England or Wales if he wishes. It happened with many people with De, Von, Van, or Du such as Van Holland where the descendants of the Duke and Dutchess were simply called Holland.
Happy Monday! Hope you enjoyed your weekend 😊
I was wondering if you've ever done or would consider doing a look into William Wallace or the wars for Scottish independence at all? It's a part of Scottish history that's interested me, but we never really went too deeply into it at school, despite me going to school in Scotland.
I did thank you. We had 3 days straight of beautiful weather (so rare for Northern Ireland) and I went out and enjoyed it. I'm actually going to Scotland in the summer and will try to do some Scottish history. I won't give away what my ideas are though :-)
@@HistoryCallingWe've reverted to type weather wise, rain all day today 😂
I shall look forward to you sharing your ideas, hope the Scottish weather is kind to you
Me too. I'll probably get eaten alive by midges though :-(
@@HistoryCalling Oh gosh, yeah they are the worst 😂
So confusing yet so interesting.
I think it should just stay Windsor as it’s too complicated lol! I am going to have to rewatch this because I got kind of confused. Thank you for this video! I actually was always curious as to why the royal family was named after one their most notable castle/ residence! I don’t blame George V! Have a good week and thank you for all you do!
Thanks Sassanach4life (I'm going to Scotland in the summer and will definitely be thinking of Outlander while I'm there).
@@HistoryCalling Ahhhhh I’m so jelly!!!! I want to go there one day!
I heard about this before, but never so well explained.
Thank you very much.
I am German and I understand why the Name had to be changed. 😊
I think Windsor is appropriate and should remain so. A bit off the topic, but I've often wondered why we never see any of Princess Mary's descendants at Royal events. Yes we see the Kents and Gloucesters not any of the Lascelles. They appear to have vanished off the Royal spectrum. I wonder why....
Probably because they're descended from a woman, so wouldn't have had a royal title from her.
That wasn't a "statement" on the name change. It was a formal resolution using a formal resolution format. Resolutions can be wordy. lol
great video on a confusing subject. I wonder if williams kids were confused when they were Cambridge, then very shortly cornwall, then wales? when willaim becomes king....what name would louis use? providing he doesn't have a dukedom by then?
I know. I wondered too what it was like for them changing surnames like that. I don't know what Louis (and indeed Charlotte) would do. Princess Anne used Mountbatten-Windsor when she needed a surname, so perhaps they'd do that? If Charlotte married, she could then use her husband's name.
I’ve found it somewhat useful to think the House of Windsor as 2 seperate dynasties. Those which claim agnatic descent from King George V, and those who’s agnatic descent is from Queen Elizabeth II and the late Duke of Edinburgh, since the dynasties come from 2 different places in that respect (the former from the House of Wettin through the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the latter from the House of Oldenburg through the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg). There is also a fairly clear generational divide between the 2, and the “old” House of Windsor is barely clinging to life since it only contains 4 members of the royal family, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, Lady Ogilvy and Prince Michael of Kent. Both dukes and Prince Michael have sons but none of them are or will be princes.
There is also the technical issue of the fact that senior agnate of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is the Duke of Gloucester, the senior agnate of the German branch is Hubertus Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (who is also the heir and claimant to the dispossessed Dukedom of Albany) but the gentleman who actually claims the right of succession to the defunct duchy (and whose claim is otherwise acknowledged by the rest of the dynasty) is Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the most junior agnate in the entire dynasty
It is super confusing isn't it? Reminds me of when I have to explain the Wars of the Roses to people.
@@HistoryCalling Oh yeah, that nightmare. It is nice to know thought that Henry VIII and his siblings were by male-preference primogeniture the senior heirs of Edward III… at least after the deaths of Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury
Yes! Caught it on time for once!
Thank you for watching (on time or otherwise) :-)
Odd, someone asked me a couple of days ago about this very thing. I got most it correct but did not know about Windsor-Mountbattens.
One more thing before I go, Every Hapsburg, after Maria Teresa is not really a Hapsburg; From a different house that just Kept the surname and every Romanov after Elizabeth of Russia is really A Romanov.
Some day I promise I will do a little bit of Hapsburg history :-)
I still do not think I understand all this but I definitely understand it better than before I watched this video so thank you for that 😂
You're welcome. It is confusing, I agree.
Hello. This is A message for all of history calling subscribers; If you want her to talk about Katherine the great please like this comment.
I enjoyed seeing how baroque the naming structure has become. That was fun, HC, even if it didn’t involve as much of your usual meticulous sleuthing. I had high hopes that the future William V might be considered as a Stuart at last returning to the throne because of his mother’s ancestry, but I now understand that it can never be so. Ah well.
Thanks Ann. Yeah, I think William will stick firmly with Windsor :-)
You are correct on James. The only change to his title when his father dies is he will go from being known as James, Earl of Wessex, to becoming The Earl of Wessex to show that the title is his in his own right rather than a courtesy title. If he has a son, regardless of whether Edward is still alive, the child would be known as X, Viscount Severn. James will not inherit the title Duke of Edinburgh unless either King Charles or the future King William issues new letters patent making the title hereditary or if James himself is granted the title in his own right when his father dies. That would require whoever is king at the time to issue new letters patent re-creating the dukedom for James similar to the way the dukedom had to be recreated for Edward.
For those curious, when Philip died in 2021, his dukedom was inherited by Charles as the eldest son. Charles never used the title because he had three higher titles: prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, and Duke of Rothesay. But upon his accession to the throne, all of his titles merged with the crown. His dukedoms of Cornwall and Rothesay were immediately inherited by William, as those titles are automatically assumed by the heir to the throne so long as the heir is the eldest living son of the monarch. The prince of Wales and Duke of Edinburgh titles immediately went extinct. Charles recreated the prince of Wales title for William on his second day as king, and eventually recreated the Duke of Edinburgh title as a life peerage for Edward. Because it is a life peerage, it cannot be inherited.
Interestingly, if new letters patent were issued making the title hereditary, Edward would actually hold two separate dukedoms and would technically be known as the first and the first Duke of Edinburgh because the life dukedom and the hereditary dukedom would be separate grants. For an example, Claude Bowes-Lyon was the 14th and 1st Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He had inherited the title in the peerage of Scotland, but because of how the House of Lords worked, he was not guaranteed a seat in the chamber (Scottish peers were allowed to elect 16 of its members to the house). After his son in law became George VI, he was granted a second peerage (the exact same earldom). Because this peerage was in the peerage of the United Kingdom, it allowed the Earl to automatically sit in the House of Lords. However, the rules of inheritance are different. The current title is held by the 19th/6th Earl. Should something happen, and the title would descend to an individual descended from the 13th or previous Earl, the grant issued by George VI would go extinct and only the original earldom would remain.
As an Oldenburg i was not expecting to hear my name in this video
The Surname was changed by Elizabeth II's Grandfather George the Fifth, as he made the initial change during the first world war from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor as he wanted all Germanic ties cut and the surname to sound more "english"
On sticky ground as his wife was German, his father was German, his grandparents were German, as were most of his extended family.
Yes, that's it in a nutshell, though I included extra material in the video of course to make it a decent length.
@@HistoryCalling and as far as Elizabeth II didnt change her name to Mountbatten. there a few documentaries that reported on that topic. and they all said the same thing. She wanted to, but Winston Churchil told Elizabeth that it wasn't appropriate. so it's stayed as Windsor ever since.
Why does the Royal Proclamation regarding the name change repeat so often? There are minor (very) in each repetition, but surely that could've been less verbose?
Probably it could have been quicker, but I suppose for legal docs you have to dot every i and cross every t so to speak.
George V regretted not saving his Russian cousins. His private secretary was frantic there might be an uprising due to the anti Russian sentiment. Eventually the British government sent a ship to rescue the surviving Romanov Family in the Crimea. It is perhaps one of the most shameful misdeeds in history.
The 'Saxe-Coburg-Gotha' lineage is a cadet branch from its parent house of 'Wettin.'
I enjoyed this video so much. It oddly reminds me of my family's Mennonite ancestry. There is the same level of record-keeping and pride in being related to a certain lineage. My Mom calls it "the Mennonite Game" when we meet someone with a certain surname and try to figure out how we're related.
Thank you. That sounds like a good game for a genealogy nerd like me :-)
Anyone else have visions of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, as King Henry VIII, when the Tudors bit appeared?
But for the name change in 1917 would King Charles' Royal House be, the House of Gluecksburg
They are trying to hide their German connection. German has called WW1 and WW2. They also didn't want Russian Tzar who as also their first cousins.
I knew the reason for the change TO Windsor from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but was very interested in the Mountbatten-Windsor derivation AND the genealogical & titular information.
I really enjoy your videos.
Quick question: since Prince Harry & Meghan moved away from public life as a Royal (not sure if that's how to say it), is he still styled a Prince and HRH? Same question for Prince Archie & Princess Lilibet?
Officially Harry, his wife and their children are all Royal Highnesses and Prince/Princesses but they have chosen not to use the styles or titles. The king could remove them officially by letters patent if he wished but Harry's 3 peerages (Duke of Sussex. Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel) can only be removed by an act of Parliament
I second what @pedanticradiator1491 says. I also did a video recently on Harry and Meghan's titles and how they could theoretically be removed, which goes into far more detail.
For the question, what do you think of George I? Idk much about him, from what I know he doesn’t seem great, but you’ve studied him much more than I, so👀
Not his biggest fan. See my video on how he treated his wife, Sophia Dorothea, to better understand why.
Because George didn't want the original German name. The RF is German (and Scottish). Getting a bit close to war. Lets fool the ppl and pretend we're British.
I heard that Prince William, current Prince of Wales since Charles III styled him so as his Heir to the throne, Stated shortly after Prince George aka Georgie Mountbatten-Windsor, had been so named by Prince William upon his birth.
Before the Renaissance there was no Windsor in all of England nor Hannovers in the Deutschland. The Black Royals were sitting on the thrones of all Europe from Spain in west and as far as Russia in the East residing in full royal glamour and candour until 1453 , the birth of The Renaissance. One of Europe best kept secrets The Stewart's Family, King Charles and James Stewart father and son both kings of England, Scotland and Ireland. The present occupants are but a mystery to the rest of world.
Would be intrested to see one of your programs, as to why, George 5 started sending out the royal telegram (100 birthday etc)---Was it another PR move to endear himself, to the English and Commonwealth people, like the Royal name change was---Always enjoy your programs, Greetings from New Zealand
Good idea!
The King should have amended the title of the current Royal House to Mountbatten-Windsor upon his accession.
The only way a new Royal House will be established in the future is if Prince George of Wales has a female Heir and marries into another family, allowing her descendant to acede to the throne and forming a new Royal House.
That possibility is so very far down into the future.
They got the name from the Castle but where did the castle get Windsor?
Windsor is a Saxon or Old English name meaning "winch by the riverside"
Where does the word Saxon come from?
@@marianforbes-martin4946 from old Low German I'd imagine
That was interesting and confusing.
That could be the tagline for the history of the entire royal family! :-)
Lol.
the Hanovers' surname was Guelph, when William later WiIliam IV was a young naval midshipman ( as a teenage) he was known as William Guelph
Prince Albert's surname as Wettin ( w pronounced as v) and so it was, strictly speaking, until the next female monarch, Elizabeth II.
"Windsor" is a political construct, a change of brand.
I don't know what their surname would be if they simply followed the rules that apply to all of us.
i am not sure that Mountbatten, an anglicized form of Battenberg, would count, nor Oldenberg, when all of them are descended
I think Mountbatten would still count as it was what Philip legally changed his name to and we can change our names to whatever we want in the UK. I don't see it as much different to when a woman (as it usually is) changes her surname upon marriage, or an adopted child takes a new name. Their old name is no longer 'legal tender' as it were. It's not their real name, but rather their former name.
They called themselves Windsor because during WWI German sentiments were very high , and king George v didn't want to reveal that they were of German origins . So they adopted much more English sounding name Windsor
I think everyone knew of their Germanic ties (no hiding that at that stage), but yes, it was done to Anglify the name.
Prince Philip is from the house of Glucksberg aka "House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg". This is the house of King Charles. Both Mountbatten and Windsor are chosen names.
I am only at the 5:00 mark so will see if this comes up
It doesn't, but I didn't raise it because Philip had legally changed his name before marriage and fatherhood and so it didn't apply to this particular story.
Curious question history calling do you think had Lady Jane Grey never been executed and had lived she had children with Gilford Dudley during Elizabeth the 1 reign and during 1603 since Lady Jane Grey most likely would be dead her kid became king or queen would it still be the house of tudors and the tudor dynasty would still carry on or would it be called something else thanks
It would have been the house of Dudley, or if they had only a girl or girls and the heiress married, it might have been the surname of her husband.
Interesting. I wondered about the surnames used by the Royals. It is a bit confusing though.
Super confusing!
And my name has remained unchanged for 3400 years...
I doubt it
This is very interesting. As the family genealogists, the Royals have built in genealogy. Research.......done.
Thanks .. the family were not happy about the name change at the time , the king .
I suppose most of them weren't consulted. I'd likely be miffed too.
I have always been curious as to why the British Royal Family did not save the Russian Royal Family. If you did a video on that I would be thrilled. There must be some background on discussions the BRF had; and why has this been a topic that is just skimmed over even though it could provide fascinating insights? Cheers, HC. ❤✌️🌷
Maybe it would have been another PR nightmare to save the absolutistic Tsar and his family
GV was going to, but was talked out of it basically on the PR grounds mentioned below.
I wondered if it wouldn't have been possible to shelter them somewhere outside Britain. A sort of witness protection program for the tsar and family.
As much as I already knew a lot of what you said here, I still enjoyed your explanations. I do think changing the family name to a British one during WW1 was the right choice. Also I think it reflects the changing sentiments better: In earlier centuries, royal dynasties were more about how much land they could claim as their own and much less about where those lands actually were or what the folks living there thought their country was named. With the advent of nationalism and people's realizations that they should actually be able to influence their countries politics, the various royal houses needed to anchor themselves better to the country they were actually reigning over. This was even more pronounced when the British Empire fell apart after WWII.
Personally, I think the whole surname debate between Windsor and Mountbatten/Mountbatten-Windsor is rather an academic one, as most family members have no use of a surname or have other name conventions they should prefer anyway. That said, the family name should be decided between the people involved, i.e. the ones about to marry and decide on their married names. While this was more stringent in the past especially for women, it is far more relaxed nowadays and might get highly confusing anyways if any of the more senior Windsor family members ever decide on a same-sex marriage (in subsequent generations obviously since the current candidates seem to all be married).
Thank you. Yes, I like the idea of them tying themselves more to the land over which they rule. It would indeed be interesting if there was ever a same-sex marriage for a senior royal. I don't know that any children who weren't the royal's biological children would be granted any titles either and a spouse might not get a title. As it stands a duke can't marry and create another duke for instance, nor can a Princess marry a woman and create another Princess.
@@HistoryCalling Something else I just thought of: An important issue in the whole family name debate going back to Victoria is the personal union between Britain and Hanover until 1837 - the family did have strong ties to Germany because they actually ruled here and had been for much longer than in Britain. That only fell apart because of the different succession rules which meant Victoria never had an rights to the Hanoverian title. But with those strong ties it would take some time (and a mad man in form of Wilhelm II and his desire to upstage his British cousins) to actually get to the point where you'd willingly abolish all reminders of a long and well-documented family history.
M@@HistoryCalling16:30