Why the British Royal Family Became the House of Windsor (1917)

In July 1917, King George V changed the royal house name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor due to intense anti-German sentiment during World War I.

Context

• Royal family's German origins: Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; their son Edward VII passed the name
• WWI: Britain vs. Germany; German Gotha bombers attacked London (1917)
• Public anger: "Huns" bombing civilians; royal German name intolerable
• George V's cousin: Kaiser Wilhelm II — embodiment of enemy

The Change

• July 17, 1917: King-in-Council proclamation
• New name: House of Windsor — after Windsor Castle (ancient, distinctly English)
• Relinquished: All German titles, styles, dignities
• Battenberg relatives: Became Mountbatten (Louis Mountbatten, later Earl Mountbatten of Burma)

Impact

Brilliant PR move. Cemented monarchy's British identity. Survived WWII (when German relatives fought for Hitler) and 20th-century republicanism. Name remains; Mountbatten-Windsor used for non-royal descendants (1960 Order-in-Council).

Symbolic but profound: monarchy chose nation over dynasty.