The Real Names Of The Royal Families

[Jenafran]

Originally Posted by Warren

The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, well after the death of Edward VII, who in 1901 became the first Monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha [British branch]. It's more likely that if 'Wettin' was raised at all by him, he was pondering the same question that his son George V asked: "if I had to have a surname, what would it be?"

At the time of Edward VII's accession to the throne the transition from House of Hanover to House of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha appears to have passed without comment and it only became an issue during the First World War. Prior to 1917 they didn't really have a name as such so the context is quite different - today the British Royal Family is commonly referred to as "the Windsors" whereas the Royal Family as a whole was never referred to as "the Hanovers" during Victoria's later reign nor "the Saxe-Coburgs" during that of Edward VII.

From today's viewpoint it may seem odd that prior to 1917 the Royal Family was "nameless" but it's no different to that of the current position of the Belgian Royal Family. They also dropped Saxe-Coburg for the same reasons as the British but rather than assuming a new name, they adopted 'de Belgique' or 'of Belgium'. So, while we can refer to the Windsors of Britain, the Grimaldis of Monaco, the Bernadottes of Sweden, the Bourbons of Spain or even the Glucksburgs of Denmark, the Belgian Royal House and the Belgian Royal Family are just..."of Belgium", in effect nameless.

A little embarrassed here I meant Edward VIII....I forgot the last I. Sorry.

[Princess Tina]

For the British Royal family, the "real" name should be Mountbatten since that is Prince Phillips last name.

[Meraude]

Originally Posted by Princess Tina

For the British Royal family, the "real" name should be Mountbatten since that is Prince Phillips last name.

As the British royal family is larger than the children and grandchildren of queen Elizabeth and prince Philip the name of the whole family is Windsor, and with one branch Mountbatten-Windsor, or do you mean that the Kent and Gloucester branches should "adopt" prince Philip's surname?

[CyrilVladisla]

Wikipedia mentioned that the family name of the Belgium Royal House was changed in 1920 from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Wikipedia shows the family tree of the Kings of the Belgians. However, the statement is made: To date all have belong to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Wikipedia mentioned that the family name of the Belgium Royal House was changed in 1920 from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Wikipedia shows the family tree of the Kings of the Belgians. However, the statement is made: To date all have belong to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

As i read it the name was changed to "of Belgium" because of WWI sentiments:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Belgium