The British royal family celebrate a century under the banner of the House of Windsor on July 17. Through great historical turbulence and well-documented family intrigues, the Windsors have stuck together.
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100 years of the Windsors
The House of Windsor began in 1917 in the midst of war when the English royal family disavowed its German lineage. From the House of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha, the House of Windsor was born a century ago.
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A terribly nice family
The concept of the "royal family" originated in the middle of the 19th century with Prince Albert, Queen Victoria and their nine children. Since then, not only is a queen or a king responsible for the British Empire, but a whole extended family. The Windsors have modernized and perfected this concept. Today, the Queen even accepts Camilla, the second wife of son Charles, into the family circle.
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Monarchy in danger
George V (1865-1936, right) looked like his cousin Czar Nicholas II of Russia. But when the latter needed to abdicate after the 1917 Revolution, George V distanced himself and quickly withdrew the offer for political asylum for fear of unrest in his own kingdom. Nicholas II was assassinated shortly thereafter.
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Stability in the face of war
As World War I continued, the reign of George V stabilized after the change of name to Windsor. While elsewhere monarchies crumbled, George V led his kingdom through an economic crisis, and granted numerous colonies independence within the Commonwealth.
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The abdication
After George V's death in 1936, his son Edward VIII succeeded him on the throne. His reign lasted only 326 days - the shortest in British history. Edward's impending marriage to American Wallis Simpson caused both a scandal and a constitutional crisis. The conservative government eventually forced him to abdicate.
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The crisis continues
Edward's younger brother Albert stepped into the breach, and in 1937 was crowned King George VI. With his wife Elizabeth and his two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, George VI had a strong family behind him. He led the country through World War II, but was burdened with poor health. In 1952, the king died of arterial thrombosis.
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Retreating at Windsor Castle
During World War II, the royal family stayed in solidarity with the deprived general populace by living only on food rations, for example. George stayed in London despite the bomb attacks and the damage to Buckingham Palace. He spent the weekends with the family in Windsor.
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'We want the king!'
With their commitment to the war effort, the royal family became a symbol of British resistance to fascism. After Germany's capitulation on May 8, 1945, a jubilant crowd gathered before Buckingham Palace and screamed "We want the King!" The royals were at the height of their popularity.
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Royal wedding draws the masses
In 1947, people flocked to the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten. The king's daughter proved to be a godsend for the British crown. Since her coronation in 1952, she has stood for continuity. A largely scandal-free marriage and four children have ensured the continuation of the Windsors at a time when many other monarchies have dissolved.
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The unhappy heir to the throne
The somewhat doomed marriage between Prince William and Lady Diana ended in 1992 amid an unsightly media spectacle that harmed the prestige of the royal family. Their two sons had to cope not only with the divorce in 1996, but also the sudden death of their mother in 1997. It would be a long time before Prince Charles was again a respected royal family member.
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Queen Elizabeth celebrates
In 2016, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 90th birthday (pictured), and in 2012, her diamond jubilee was celebrated. She has held the throne longer than any British monarch before her. Currently, she is the longest serving head of state in the world. Despite increasing criticism of the royal family from the media, the support of the monarchy under Queen Elizabeth II seems unbroken.
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The dream royal couple
After his father's inglorious divorce and the tragic death of his mother, the private life of the queen's grandson William has drawn high media scrutiny. In Kate Middleton he has chosen a partner who can and wants to fulfill her role in the royal family - two young heirs included.
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Charlotte and George: the next generation
The latest Windsor offspring have become media phenomena at a very young age. The "Prince George effect" describes Prince George's influence on business and pop culture - meaning whatever George wears sells. At the tender age of two, the prince has made GQ Magazine's list of the 50 Best Dressed Men in Britain.
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Britain's House of Windsor was founded on anti-German sentiment.
Windsor Castle may look back on a thousand-year tradition, but the House of Windsor was only created in 1917 when King George V renamed the royal family on July 1. His given name, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was simply too German-sounding in times of war.
Europe's threatened monarchies
Millions of British, French and German soldiers were dying on the Western Front as World War I was dragging into its fourth year. In March 1917, London was attacked by German fighter planes, including a heavy bomber named the Gotha G IV. The British were vexed by the fact that their monarch shared the same name.
King George V (right) and his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, in Berlin in 1913Image: picture-alliance/Heritage Images
That same month, the rule of the Russian monarchy came to a sudden end when Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate in the wake of the February Revolution. Fearing a revolution in his own realm, his cousin King George V quickly withdrew a previous offer of political asylum. Russia's ruling Romanov family was shipped off to Siberia and murdered.
So King George V decided to burn his German bridges.
With Prime Minister David Lloyd George having reportedly referred to George V as "my little German friend," the king's private secretary Lord Stamfordham is said to have advised his boss to jettison his Teutonic heritage.
Soon enough, George and all his British relatives relinquished their German titles and assumed British surnames.
The British sovereign's German roots, in fact, went back to Queen Victoria, who sat on the throne from 1837 to 1901. She was a direct descendant of Georg I, ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Hanover, who brought the rule of the Guelphs to England when he became the king of Great Britain in 1714.
When Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, another German house was integrated into the British royal dynasty.
Queen Victoria, pictured in 1890, also had German rootsImage: picture alliance/dpa/Glasshouse Images
National figureheads
The name change may have helped, and George V managed to consolidate his rule as he survived the Great Depression. His silver jubilee was a grand celebration in 1935, both in Britain and the kingdom's overseas territories.
When George's son inherited the throne, however, stability wavered. Edward VIII had more playboy charm than royal aspirations. After less than a year on the throne, the young king abdicated so he could marry the love of his life, the American Wallis Simpson. It was a time of crisis for the Windsors.
Edward VIII abdicated the throne after less a year to wed American socialite Wallis SimpsonImage: picture-alliance/Photoshot
His younger brother was crowned king in his stead and navigated the country through World War II as George VI. He and his wife Queen Elizabeth (later known as "Queen Mum") epitomized the sense of royal duty, perseverance and selflessness.
With their two daughters, the couple also represented the very image of a royal family that stood together - a recipe for success the Windsors have perfected to this very day.
Elizabeth II succeeded the throne in 1952. For 65 years, she has stood for royal stability and steadfastness.
But her attempt to nurture family unity was shattered by the breakup of her son Charles and his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales in 1992.
Diana and Charles with their sons in 1989, three years before their marriage endedImage: picture-alliance/dpa
The same year, Prince Andrew left his wife Sarah Ferguson and her daughter Princess Anne got divorced. While the public learned the most intimate details about Charles and Diana's broken marriage, worse was to come.
William and Kate, the next generation
When Diana died tragically in a car accident in 1997, the public focus shifted to her two sons, the princes Harry and William - the latter is second in line to succeed the British throne after his father, Prince Charles.
The royal future: Princess Charlotte and Prince George Image: imago/i Images
An eligible royal bachelor, William met and fell in love with Kate Middleton at St. Andrews University. The media shadowed their relationship's every move, including a long-awaited royal wedding in 2011. An estimated two billion people across the globe watched the ceremony on TV or via live stream.
Kate, with her affinity for fashion, has brought a breath of modern elegance to the outdated institution of the British monarchy.
Fans of the royals are also thrilled about the next generation: Kate and William's children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
