Quote:
Originally Posted by tynesideirish
Being pedantic is fine. Yes The Royal Family are known as the House Of Windsor, but changing your German family name to appear more English in a time of war, doesn't alter the fact that the real family name is something entirely different. Call themselves what they may, there is still no connection to the Plantagenet line.
The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the name was adopted as the British Royal Family's official name by a proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It remains the family name of the current Royal Family.
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I'm not exactly sure of where but I believe there is a blood connection between Elizabeth II and the Plantaganets. It's my understanding it comes through Victoria as a member of the Hanoverian dynasty. A lot of European royals are linked through the intermarriage of cousins which went on for hundreds of years until somebody realised inbreeding wasn't good for any dynasty.
I, like most people, know of the change of name in 1917 when the paternal name of Saxe-Coburg Gotha was dropped in favour of Windsor. In reality that should have changed again when Elizabeth II came to the throne. She and her children should have had the name Mountbatten in keeping with the tradition of a wife taking a husband's name, much as Victoria had done when she dropped her maiden name (Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld) in favour of Albert's Saxe-Coburg Gotha. Elizabeth took advice from Winston Churchill and as a result of this she issued a proclamation which stated that she and her children would retain the name Windsor whereas the agnatic members of the anticipated extended family would have the name Mountbatten-Windsor. For example, Princess Eugenie or Lady Louise Windsor, although there is no consistent formula for this naming convention and it is often seen being used by senior members of the royal family, even up to Prince Charles.