20/07/2022
House of Windsor 🇬🇧 vs House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 🇩🇪
17 July 1917 - A royal proclamation issued by George V declared: that The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was to be changed to House of Windsor.
Edward VII &, in turn, his son, George V, were members of the German ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by virtue of their descent from Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria.
◼ High anti-German sentiment amongst the people of the British Empire during World War I reached a peak in March 1917, when the Gotha G.IV, a heavy aircraft capable of crossing the English Channel, began bombing London directly & became a household name. In the same year, on 15 March, King George's first cousin, Nicholas II, the Emperor of Russia, was forced to abdicate, which raised the spectre of the eventual abolition of all the monarchies in Europe.
◼ The King & his family were finally convinced to abandon all titles held under the German Crown & to change German titles & house names to anglicised versions.
👑 On 17 July 1917, a royal proclamation issued by George V declared:
Now, therefore, We, out of Our Royal Will & Authority, do hereby declare & announce that as from the date of this Our Royal Proclamation Our House & Family shall be styled & known as the House & Family of Windsor, & that all the descendants in the male line of Our said Grandmother Queen Victoria who are subjects of these Realms, other than female descendants who may marry or may have married, shall bear the said Name of Windsor....
◼ The name had a long association with monarchy in Britain, through the town of Windsor, Berkshire, & Windsor Castle; the link is alluded to in the Round Tower of Windsor Castle being the basis of the badge of the House of Windsor.
◼ From 1917 to 1919, George V also stripped 15 of his German relations—most of whom belonged to the House of Hanover—of their British titles & styles of prince & princess.
