Change of name to Windsor in 1917

[Naslednik Norvezhskiy]

acutally, the correct German pronounciation would have the accent on the second syllable, but the phonetic sound is "Ve Teen".

Yes, true. The funny question is whether an Anglophone would hear /ve'ti:n/ as Wet Teen. But Vet Teen would of course also be kind of funny.

[HerrKaiser]

I guess the pronunciation issue may have been real. But, I think the long term historical impact of the name change was a big mistake. The heritage was lost and the "new" house was a faux-house name, that in the context of why we have the royals in the first place, totally misses the multi century point. Which may, in part, be why they are taken less and less serious as time goes on.

[Naslednik Norvezhskiy]

But it is rather poignant that in 1920, just three years after the name change, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ceased to exist as a political entity. One might ask: What is the use of clinging to a past that is no more?

[HerrKaiser]

Well, "windsor" doesn't exist as a political entity.

however, Saxe Coburg Gotha's royal family does continue on today in spite of losses as political heads of state.

[Clemence]

May I ask if the family name is going to be just Mountbatten instead of Mountbatten - Windsor, in the future?

[Превед]

May I ask if the family name is going to be just Mountbatten instead of Mountbatten - Windsor, in the future?

Lol, if so they can just as well call themselves Romanov. After all Prince Philip's grandmother was a Romanov, just like his mother was a Battenberg. Or why not Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov, since Prince Philip is of the same Oldenburgian stock as the H-Gs.

[Kalafrana]

At the moment I would say that the family name will be plain Windsor for the foreseeable future. Mountbatten-Windsor doesn't really seem to have caught on, and the Earl of Wessex's daughter - the only one among the Queen's descendants who currently uses a surname day-to-day - is Lady Louise Windsor, not Mountbatten-Windsor.

Ann

[Clemence]

I found out more on this matter on this video:

The Queen's Coronation: Behind Palace Doors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz9FDAskVvI

(starting from 24:10 and on)

[grandduchessella]

At the moment I would say that the family name will be plain Windsor for the foreseeable future. Mountbatten-Windsor doesn't really seem to have caught on, and the Earl of Wessex's daughter - the only one among the Queen's descendants who currently uses a surname day-to-day - is Lady Louise Windsor, not Mountbatten-Windsor.

Ann

How I understood it, all the non-royal lines of Elizabeth and Phillip's descendants would bear it. Since Louise & James didn't have a royal title, I would think it would have started with them but perhaps the unusual circumstances there (since they should have been a Prince/Princess like Harry, Beatrice and Eugenie) prevented it? I don't know. I guess we'll have to wait until Harry has children to see what the surname is. Anne kind of threw some confusion into the issue when she signed her first marriage register Anne Mountbatten-Windsor as well. During the court case over the 2012 topless photos scandal, William was referred to as "Monsieur William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor" by the courts of the French Republic.

[Превед]

I zink zey should do a little German twist and call zemselves von Oldenburg zu Windsor genannt Montbatten!

[Kalafrana]

Ach so!!!

But, to be serious, the best and simplest solution would be to stick to Windsor, which we in Britain are all used to by now.

As a parallel, there are quite a number of Scottish peerages which can pass to a daughter if the holder has no sons. The earldom of Erroll is one example. The daughter's children in turn usually take their mother's surname, rather than their father's.

[Clemence]

It seems the new king of Spain is named ''of Spain AND Greece''!?

[Kalafrana]

Interesting! Of course, his uncle Constantine is still de jure King of Greece (has he ever abdicated?), and Felipe is not his heir, since Constantine has two sons (and, I think, at least one daughter).

Do Greek royalties still style themselves 'of Greece and Denmark'?

Ann

[grandduchessella]

I believe the Greek royals do. The children of Alfonso XIII and Ena were Bourbon y Battenberg, the children of Infante Alfonso and Princess Beatrice were Orleans y Coburg--I guess this is the way of reflecting his maternal Greek roots. Bourbon y Glucksborg?

[trentk80]

It seems the new king of Spain is named ''of Spain AND Greece''!?

Spanish people have two surnames: the father's surname (which always comes first) and the mother's surname. The new King of Spain is called Felipe de Borbón y Grecia. 'Borbón' is his first surname and 'Grecia' is his second surname. This has nothing to do with Felipe having rights to the Greek throne or having a Greek royal title - he doesn't. 'Grecia' is just his second surname, nothing else.

By the way, during an interview, Queen Sofia explained that her surname is not 'Glucksburg', but 'Greece'. According to what she said, when King George I ascended the Greek throne, he took the surname '[of] Greece' and that's the surname the Greek royal family has always had (although people wrongly call them Glucksburgs). The surname 'Greece' in Spanish translates as 'Grecia', and that's why Felipe has that second surname.