Why did the British Royal Family change its name to Windsor? (Short Animated Documentary)

In 1917 the British Royal Family changed its name from the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha to Windsor. So why did it do that and why did it change its name to Windsor and not something else? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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[@houssamassila6274]

Wait until you discover that James Bissonette is in fact one James of Rheinland-Pfalz and Magdeburg. He of course managed to keep it under wraps for centuries.

[@GamesNosh]

What about Kelly Moneymaker?

[@houssamassila6274]

@@GamesNosh and SpinningThreePlates

[@shinsenshogun900]

Spencer Lightfoot

[@hammer3721]

Kelly Klausenberg, Speer Drei Berlin, Spencer von Habsburg. Their German ancestry has been EXPOSED.

[@condor237]

@@GamesNosh Kelly Moneymaker’s Argentinian abuelo is named Heinrich and really hates their Jewish neighbors

[@Shisuixd]

2:00 "It was also a title of Edward the third, who did the most British thing of all: he invaded France." I just love your humor! Never change!

[@kellymoneymaker3922]

I laughed out loud at that one! Almost blew my mimosa out of my nose.😂😂

[@everburn]

@@kellymoneymaker3922 Kelly Moneymaker herself 🙌

[@kellymoneymaker3922]

@@everburn 👋🤗

[@ProfTricky3168]

2:18 which

[@robertdragoff6909]

@@kellymoneymaker3922 Sounds painful Mimosas are rather large! LOL!

[@josgibbons6777]

It's crazy people would be anti-monarch just because of the Royal family's German ancestry; it's even crazier they'd not feel that way just because the very well-known ancestry was glossed over with a name change.

[@seanwieland9763]

The entire project of egalitarianism going back to the French Reign of Terror, Napoleonic Wars, and the 1848 Revolutions, is that the people are crazy and can’t be trusted to be in charge. The Soviets in Russia and the National Socialists in Germany only reinforce this point.

[@KekusMagnus]

curious thing, the mind of a normie

[@sihollett]

The US went through a similar anti-German reaction during WW1, with German-Americans changing the language they spoke (German was the second-most spoken in the US before the war, but barely heard after it), their surnames, etc.

[@CptFoupoudav]

No, whats really crasy is to still have royals around in our modern society. A french.

[@balabanasireti]

@@CptFoupoudav The "mentioning that you're French" part wasn't necessary

[@stevenc.6502]

I believe that some noble families resident in the U.K. changed their German names at the same time; the Battenbergs becoming the Mountbattens. Also the city of Berlin, Ontario, Canada renamed itself after Lord Kitchener.

[@sovietunion7643]

my ancestors were part of the germans living in the united states when the war kicked off. the last name was 'Zwinger' which was just Englishy enough to pass as not Germanic to most americans so they manged to keep the family name. others though completely changed family names that had existed for centuries across continents. its funny to consider this because america was barely in the war for 18 months and hardly any americans actually died in the war, yet many people completly changed cultures, names and lives simpyl due to the anti-german sentiment.

[@SirZeu]

so did a lot of people in the US

[@carterbentonjr399]

There were some cities thst kept their German name but Americans of German descent changed their surnames to avoid getting beat up and their businesses vandalized. We all of course know what happened to Americans of Japanese descent but what is not well known is that Americans of German and Italian descent were spied upon, letters were opened without any warrant and some were even put in concentration camps if there were any hint of sympathies with their countries of origin.

[@jonathanwebster7091]

Yes: not only the Battenburg/Mountbattens, but also the Tecks,.who adopted their mother's name of 'Cambridge', and the Schleswig-Holsteins, who simply dropped their house name altogether (although the younger son,.Albert, readopted it after the war). All three families dropped any titles they had relating to Germany or any of its states at the same time. Weirdly, there was a fourth family, the Gleichens, who continued to bear their very German sounding name.

[@TTaiiLs]

Windsor is still a Germanic name...

[@3ffinawesome459]

Can we all just admire the entire scene made for a single word? It was fantastic. 2:17

[@miriamvesela8461]

Yes absolutely brilliant!

[@ByWayOfDeception]

witch burning is one of the most English things ever afterall

[@mikearmstrong8483]

How many times did I have to replay and pause that before I had the slightest clue what you meant?

[@joermnyc]

Edward of Windsor skipping happily through the flowers to go invade France is indeed the most wholesomely British thing.

[@slewone4905]

My Great Grandmother is French and I resent that image. He should be skipping across field of Lavender if he's skipping along France that or Mustard. .

[@xenotypos]

He shame he was french himself (even if France was quite diverse at the time). English became the native language of the monarchy only from Henry V's reign on.

[@naincompetent4438]

Invade France then end up loosing all English territories in France 😂😂😂

[@purplespeckledappleeater8738]

The rivalry between France and England is pretty much England's fault. Anti-French sentiment is still common in North America to this day. We were dealing with anti-Catholic hate crimes and political slander over COVID in both Canada and the USA. People were burning down and stealing from churches. The eradication of the French language in Canada and the USA only stopped as political policy around the 1980's.

[@joermnyc]

@@xenotypos the English kings after William the conqueror spoke Norman French, which is dead language , but was distinct from the old French that evolved into modern French. Norman French did have a huge impact on the English language though. (As is old Germanic from the Vikings and Danes)

[@SilverAssassin210]

Sometimes I imagine History Matters giggling to himself as he writes these little jokes. They're gold! 🥇

[@maras3naraz]

The one with Partiotism got me🤣

[@SpiffATC]

Loved "He didn't want to get himself Tsared"

[@CoralCopperHead]

Jokes?

[@Zraknul]

"THAT"S GOLD JERRY GOLD!"

[@david.panart]

I love the name option “Bonaparte”. That’s some real sense of humor 😂

[@JobiWan144]

Drunkndisorderly was another good one

[@PaperclipClips]

I also liked the “McRoyalface” option! 👍

[@ElSchmiddie]

British name ideas: von Habsburg, nailed it

[@Quin_Ram]

So technically, the House of Windsor is still the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Just with a different name.

[@legalduidriving]

It's called succesful rebranding.

[@misterhansen3799]

No, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha still exists and is currently headed by Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony. The British Royal family just renamed their Branch/Line, which didn't effect the rest of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Family.

[@lavistar]

Not with the death of Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles III technically part of the House of Glücksburg

[@ognjengaric2687]

Not quite, that house technically ended with Elizabeth II. The current house is derived from her husband, Prince Philip Mountbatten.

[@SchwertKruemel]

well technically with the death of the Queen, it should either be the house Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg or at least House Mountbatten as a child (king charles) would always join the house of its father and never its mother

[@funnySIMON99]

King of the Belgians, Albert of Saxe Cobourg Gotha, also changed the royal family name for "De Belgique/Van België/Von Belgien" depending the language because of the Kaiser and the war. The king wasn't afraid to be Tsar'd because he and his german wife actively fought the war alongside the Belgian people so they were pretty popular (still the biggest Chad of the Belgian Royal Family)

[@flybeep1661]

Ah yes, isn't he the War-king who also fought in WW1 and died climbing?

[@feikotemme8736]

They ' fought ' 😂

[@funnySIMON99]

@@flybeep1661 Exactly his wife was also a medic during WW1. The King and the Queen stayed on the front when the government escaped to the UK

[@TheRealKingLeopoldII]

@@feikotemme8736 King Albert I did actually fight in the war close to the trenches instead of fleeing to Britain like other heads of state.

[@funnySIMON99]

@@feikotemme8736 The King stayed as a general on the front, keeping in touch with the soldiers near the No Man's Land and the Queen was a medic. While the cowardly Kaiser ordered gas attacks from his seat in Berlin

[@danesorensen1775]

And upon hearing the news, the Kaiser said in that case, he was changing the name of Shakespeare's play to, "The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha".

[@aaronmarks9366]

That would have been amazing

[@NicolaW72]

Annotation of Shakespeare.😀

[@CidVeldoril]

@@aaronmarks9366 Would? Wilhelm actually did make that joke.

[@rajkaranvirk7525]

@@aaronmarks9366He actually did say that. 😂

[@aaronmarks9366]

@@rajkaranvirk7525 @CidVeldoril Lmao, that's actually hilarious. Kaiser Komedy Hour.

[@amutatedgiraffe77]

The witch pun was one of the funniest things I've ever seen 2:17

[@XDrang93]

And just in time for Halloween, too.

[@yomer355]

Didn't even notice it the first time, nice

[@bluesbest1]

It's somehow even better than the "well" puns.

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

@@XDrang93 How approp

[@Elitist20]

@@bluesbest1 Have they done 'but(t)' yet?

[@maskthem0ney295]

"Didn't want to get himself Tsar'd." Okay, that one really broke me.

[@ricardokowalski1579]

This.

[@chrisp679]

So dryly droll he is.

[@kellymoneymaker3922]

🤣🤣🤣

[@kingace6186]

That should be a saying from now on. Like, the reason Putin doesn't want to give up on his failing war, he doesn't "want to get himself Tsar'd".

[@dwaynecunningham2164]

Dude I'm still pissing myself over him turning Tsar into a verb

[@nickmacarius3012]

"When Czar Nicholas II was made ... err... 'unemployed'," This is putting things rather mildly 😂😂😂

[@robertjarman3703]

The Bolsheviks executed him later.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

He was Czared! 😁

[@txorimorea3869]

The algorithm doesn't like anything bad against the left.

[@danielbishop1863]

No, it's accurate: More than a year passed after Nicholas abdicated but before he was shot dead, and the British royal family adopted the name "Windsor" during this time period.

[@Zraknul]

@@txorimorea3869 In the context of the abdication of Nicholas II, left is anyone who doesn't want Absolute Orthodox Monarchy. The leftist horrors unleashed rapidly after the abdication: "Universal adult suffrage was introduced, freedoms of press and speech were granted, capital punishment abolished, and all legal restrictions of religion, class and race were removed."

[@FWDDGS]

I’m just really impressed by the effort you put into writing the newspaper for a, what, one second, blink and you miss it, sight gag! You could have just Lorem Ipsum’d it but you actually wrote jokes I had to pause and squint to read! Well done!

[@JobiWan144]

Not only that, but he made a punny image just for the word "which."

[@edwinhuang9244]

2:13 Oktoberfest? It's September!

[@panda-peanut]

One of my favorite things to do is pause the videos and read all of them. An awesome sense of humor.

[@edwardblair4096]

He NEVER lorem ipsum's text. It is always worth pausing the video to read all of the text in newspapers, proclamations, and suggested alternate names for the Royal House.

[@jonathanlapham2374]

That one made me laugh out loud. So very clever 😂

[@jonathanwebster7091]

Fun fact: the 1917 Order-in-Council that changed the name of the British Royal Family only extended (and I quote) "to those descended in the male line from our grandmother, Queen Victoria in the male line who are domiciled in these dominions (ie, the United Kingdom and the British Empire)." So at the time (1917), it only extended to George V, his children (and any male-line descendents in the future), the King's uncle, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (Queen Victoria's sole surviving son), and Arthur's children and grandson, who altogether constituted the male-line descendents of Queen Victoria who were living in Britain at the time (women who had married were excluded according to the Order in Council). One person who *was* descended in the male line from Queen Victoria, and who was *not* covered by the terms of the Order in Council, was Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, (aka Karl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), the posthumously born son of Queen Victoria's youngest son, Prince Leopold, who found himself inheriting the family patrimony of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his children and male-line descendents, who did and continue to use the name of 'Saxe-Coburg and Gotha', despite (or rather, because) having the same male-line descent from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as the late Queen Elizabeth II and her father and grandfather.

[@ragzaugustus]

Less fun fact: Prince Charles Edward was also a Nazi, knew about deathcamps and allegations were raised after his death, concerning sexual abuse on his younger daughter, backed by one of his sons. So not fun at all.

[@jonathanwebster7091]

@@ragzaugustus yep. He certainly was one of the worst supporters of Nazism, I absolutely agree. I always thought he (Charles Edward) was a bit "compensating for something" in regards to the level he supported Germany (in both world wars), he was always at pains to stress how "German" and 'patriotic' he was, despite being born in Britain, to a British father, with a British grandmother, going to school at Eton, and not even setting foot in Germany until he succeeded to the throne of S-C and Gotha. In great contrast to him, his sister, Princess Alice, who married one of the Teck/Cambridge brothers of Queen Mary, was a pretty beloved member of the British Royal Family.

[@feikotemme8736]

😅LOL

[@TheCimbrianBull]

That sounds a bit confusing.

[@diegoxavier9107]

@@TheCimbrianBull It's more than a little bit

[@deBebbler]

"to appease your short term anger at people who hold Oktoberfest in September" That's just lovely.

[@thomasbravado]

I changed my name from Woodrow "Jewish last name" to Thomas Woods because I care about my career and a lot of Americans seem to have something against people who grew up celebrating Hanukah instead of Christmas. The first name Woodrow is a different issue that I won't address here.

[@Sceptonic]

@@thomasbravado Wilson

[@Guitcad1]

I actually paused there so I could take time to have a proper laugh at that. 😄

[@nickmacarius3012]

I always love the short snippets that are put in the videos. i have to watch the videos first, then go back, pause, and read them all, otherwise you're missing out on some good humor. 😂👍

[@deBebbler]

​@@thomasbravado Americans only hate Jews when they spell Hanukkah incorrectly.

[@stulog]

As someone named "Stuart," I have always wondered why there are two spellings for it. You inadvertantly answered an actual question I've had for literally decades. Thanks! 👍

[@aramisortsbottcher8201]

I did not get it, what is the explanation?

[@kincaidwolf5184]

Stewart were a family from the Anglo-Norman noble name who arrived into Scotland following the Norman conquest of England. The Stewart family eventually became hereditary high stewards of Scotland and eventually Kings and Queens. The Scottish Royal family was heavily influenced by Anglo French so they adopted the French spelling of Stuart.

[@aramisortsbottcher8201]

@@kincaidwolf5184 Thank you :)

[@Funnybriton]

It’s after Mary Queen of Scots left to France to escape Henry VIII rough wooing

[@Theblueshark27]

In fairness, I think if your family has been living in Britain since the early 1700s, you're not German anymore

[@DKH-ev2lr]

Love how the dialog cuts to “witch” for “which”. It is a fantastic bit.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I like it too!

[@acediadekay3793]

The German Kaiser Wilhelm II made a joke about it when he was heading towards a theater. He said: "I am of to see The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha"

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Do you happen to know if that is anecdotal or historically accurate? Either way, it's a funny story!

[@acediadekay3793]

@@TheCimbrianBull Heard about it from the WWI historian Indy Neidell on The Great War Channel. He has to simplify a lot of stuff do to the nature of the show. But I don't think he would bring it up if the accuracy was dubious.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

@@acediadekay3793 ah, I remember that episode. I think I watched every single episode of that series.

[@letsgoraiding]

George V is one of our most underrated kings. A quote attributed to him: I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm alien. (Allegedly said in response to H. G. Wells's criticism of his "alien [i.e. German-descended] and uninspiring court")

[@barbarak2836]

🤣🤣

[@doggosplosion]

I remember there was a documentary where there was a German "Gotha" bomber with the same name as some of the British Royal family. That was one of the turning points. the Royal name had to change. Because you could not have the royal name dropping ordinance on the populace.

[@indiansfaninpa]

*ordnance

[@johnculver2519]

@@indiansfaninpa yes, but ordinance makes for some interesting merntal imagery.

[@andrewryan4417]

A sad detail was that, the Gotha Bomber ACCIDENTALLY hit an elementary school, and killed a few schoolchildren. The source of this information, did imply that this was the last straw for KGV to change the name from Gotha to Windsor.

[@jesusfreakpl]

"witch / which" throw-in is pure gold. 2:17

[@kingace6186]

Yup. I had to comment that as well in case anybody missed that nugget of gold.

[@daveoaktowers]

Properly laughed at the cheeky 'witch' quick cutaway gag

[@jesseberg3271]

There's that wonderful line from Blackadder, where the Crown Prince says, "We British, aren't we?" and Blackadder (played by the incomparable Rowan Atkinson) replies, "You're not, you're German."

[@mississaugaicedogs]

having been reminded of that I am laughing out loud.

[@kingace6186]

LMAO

[@RankinMsP]

Must find that clip. Thanks

[@Rynewulf]

Its a great quip, but really by that standard England is German and Danish, Scotland is Irish and Wales is Italian. We really have a weird thing about our royalty seeming foreign despite we ourselves always having either got around or got in with people turning up

[@jvmgarcia]

I’m dying over the fact that “Bonaparte” and “von Habsburg” are listed in British name ideas.

[@kingace6186]

LMFAO. Just goes to show that the only truly native Brits were the Britons.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

But no Ottershaw, or at least Otterthwaite?

[@kingt0295]

@@kingace6186 the German tribes that immigrated and the Vikings all merged/married into the britons so pretty much everyone is still native

[@goranpersson7726]

@@kingace6186 i mean at what point do people start being considered native to a region? the german tribes that became the english migrated there quite a few hundred years ago and have been born and raised in the area in Britain for quite some time aswell

[@flaggy185]

just imagine the problems that the king of Great Britain would face if his name was Bonaparte lol

[@dinodavid5315]

The "Which/witch part made my laugh

[@Mr_M_History]

History Matters asking the questions I didn't know I had!

[@jackmiller1561]

Love your history videos! Keep it up man

[@balabanasireti]

Write something original next time!

[@JenniferinIllinois]

OMG, the British royal family should be the House of McRoyalface. 🤣🤣🤣 I still lose it every time I see one of HM's characters frolicking through the flowers. Never ever stop!!!!

[@rodrigodepierola]

He does it in almoste every video and it ALWAYS WORKS!!!

[@RankinMsP]

For those not in the know, McRoyalface is a nod to a recent poll to name a research vessel. The overwhelming winner was Boaty McBoatface which was sadly ignored for something more humdrum. Genius by History Matters

[@ecmorgan69]

That one blew right by me. I had to go back and watch it at half speed to see it. 🤣

[@brenx923]

and to complicate things further, now that Charles III is King it should technically be the House of Mountbatten, which was changed in WW1 from Battenberg, but that was actually his Great Uncles house, his father Phillip was born a Prince of Greece and Denmark from the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

[@kingace6186]

You are incorrect about the first sentence. Ever since the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal British House has been known as the House of Windsor-Mountbatten. Doing anything now would not just tarnish the legitimacy of Charles's claim (which is already being tested by anti-monarchists), but also be redundant.

[@allenjenkins7947]

Actually, you should note that some of Charles' descendants are using the hyphenated form of Mountbatten-Windsor. Especially those without Royal titles.

[@Rynewulf]

His father was only Consort, not King. Charles inherited from his mother directly and Elizabeth took precedent in everything over Philip because she was the reigning monarch and he wasnt a monarch at all

[@kingace6186]

@@Rynewulf True. & the Queen and her court already changed her famly name to "Windsor-Mountbatten".

[@SamAronow]

Tell that to the Houses of Habsburg-Lorraine or Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp.

[@utku1441]

I love the fact that when there is a list of british names at 1:00 2 of them are "von Habsburg" and "Drunkndisorderly"

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I just noticed it, and I found it quite funny! I think "von Habsburg" has been taken, but "Drunkndisorderly" is still available! Thanks for the comment!

[@jonathanwebster7091]

There were other name changes amongst the extended royal family: the Battenburgs, of which there were two branches, descended from Queen Victoria's daughters Alice and Beatrice (and which paternally were themselves a morganatic branch of the ruling family of the German state of Hesse) anglicised their name famously to Mountbatten, the Tecks, the family of George V's wife, Queen Mary (also a morganatic branch, this time of the Royal family of the German state of Württemberg) took the name of their mother's family; that of Cambridge, the Schleswig-Holsteins (descended from another of Queen Victoria's daughters, Helena) simply didn't change their name to anything, simply dropping the name 'zu Schleswig Holstein' (although the youngest son, Prince Albert, did resume use of the House name when he became Head of the whole wider House of Oldenburg a few years later). Oddly, the Gleichens (descended from Queen Victoria's maternal half-brother from her mother's first marriage) somewhat inexplicably kept their rather German-sounding surname.

[@joedellinger9437]

“Gleichen” means “the same” or “equals” in German, a very unthreatening and democratic name to have, maybe that is why?

[@pedanticradiator1491]

Beatrice married Prince Henry of Battenberg and Helena married Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein Sonderburg Augustenburg. Helenas son lived in Germany during World War 1 which is why he kept his titles

[@jonathanwebster7091]

@@pedanticradiator1491 thank you for the corrections. I had a feeling I had the two daughters mixed up there!

[@jonathanwebster7091]

@@joedellinger9437 no idea. Edward, one of the two Gleichen siblings, was absolutely British in terms of outlook at upbringing (he was a career general officer in the British Army), so the non-anglicising of his name is a bit odd.

[@farhanatashiga3721]

@@jonathanwebster7091 perhaps being further away from both the royal line and public limelight equals to less pressure on these two houses to anglicize

[@galatheumbreon6862]

“To not get himself Tsar’ed” that is the most cruelest, funniest joke I heard in a while

[@fuzzylon]

I love your style, sense of humour and impeccable timing frame by frame through the video. Bravo!

[@antwonefernandez7554]

Amazing work, light hearted, factual and just the right amount of time. THANKS

[@marksvenningsen1662]

I absolutely enjoy all your videos and patiently await each one. Great job!

[@mrquirky3626]

This is definitely one of those videos where you have to pause it to enjoy the list of name choices and the royal decree joke.

[@makarabaduk1754]

Long live Charlie McRoyalface!

[@GMoneyGonz]

The name of that Welsh town with the absurdly long name!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Also, Drunkndisorderly! Just gold!!!

[@nitosanz3940]

I literally wondered about this today. Good video!

[@ShaniAce]

2:12 Love these little notes you sometimes add, I always stop the video to read because they're usually funny. 😂

[@shahedamere6976]

2:18 God I love this channel

[@wanderingrandomer]

As a Brit, I've know the why of this for a while, but I didn't realise that there were other options on the table of royal houses past.

[@Balandai98]

That "which" transition had me dying

[@mikeralff8238]

I so love the sense of humor on this channel.

[@gregkramarz8871]

Hahahaha 😆 😂 I've been a subscriber for YEARS and always look forward to these shorts. Had to pause this one like 4 times to get all the jokes. BRILLIANT 👏 👏 👏 The puns all hit def sharing with everyone that has a sense of humor 👍 favorite short in a long time

[@pearmage]

One big negative connotation they didn't think about was Windsor's unfortunate proximity to Slough.

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

What's wrong with Slough

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Now that's a big oof!

[@Brian-rx9sp]

@@user-op8fg3ny3j As a lifelong resident of the town: far far too much.

[@brad5426]

I realised this the other day, I was absolutely shocked to find out

[@metalswifty23]

@@user-op8fg3ny3j It's _Slough_

[@loenk2651]

I love the decree at 2:12 BY ROYAL DECREE You all keep making us feel bad because of our German heritage. We won't tolerate shaming people for things beyond their control. That said we can control this so we've just opted to change our names and erase our family heritage to appease your short term anger at people who hold Oktoberfest in September. As such we're no longer the house of Saxe-Coburg Gotha and now we're the house of Windsor. We're sure purely symbolic change will work and you'll forget about all this. Signed: King George V

[@MrParksy92]

Really liked this one keep them coming

[@adamdickinson2894]

I love how all of the British family names going back to 1066 have fatally negative connotations 😂😂😂

[@JafuetTheSame]

thats actually the last time england had an english monarch... who could have thought that when they invented monarchies they didnt anticipated nationalism

[@allenjenkins7947]

Harold II Godwinson could be claimed to be the last English King of England. Since then, we've had Normandy, Blois, Plantagenet/Angevin, and Plantagenet (Norman French), Tudor (Welsh), Stuart (Franco-Scots), Orange-Nassau (Dutch), Hanover/Brunswick-Luneburg (German) and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha/Windsor (German).

[@Rynewulf]

@@allenjenkins7947 Henry the VII was as Welsh as new king Charles is Greek. He only went to Wales once in his life when he first landed his army. Apart from some coat of arms artwork neither he, Henry VIII, Edward, Mary or Elizabeth ever bothered with Wales. If the Plantagenets and Angevins arent at all English despite some of them being born, raised and living here then the Tudors arent Welsh. And the idea that any British monarchs since George II were German is just so so silly. We really are a hateful isle, by that standard we should be hating ourselves for being north German and Danish

[@pozzyvibes6997]

@@JafuetTheSame I mean its kinda silly to say someone isn't English based on their name or ancestry. Being English just means you were born here. As our current King was born in Buckingham palace id say we have an English King right now. We had an English queen until not long ago and have had many English monarchs prior.

[@JafuetTheSame]

@@pozzyvibes6997 kinda the same thing as being american, right? if you feel it that way, who cares about facts. taky it easy because i'm certainly not judging anyone, certainly not because of someone's ancestry

[@borkerman]

1:20 funnily enough the Wittelsbach's, particularly the Queen consort of Bavaria, Queen Maria Theresa, was the Jacobite claimant at the time though she never claimed the British throne. Actually that would good idea for a video, please do a video on what happened to the Stuarts after the Glorious Revolution.

[@DemonetisedZone]

Another great video. Congratulations Gustav Swan, you've done it again!👍

[@duncanohio]

This episode was really quite funny! Good job!

[@danielhale1]

I kinda get it, though. They had to make a choice between their German heritage and their people, and they chose to appease the people. As trivial as that sounds, it clearly meant something to the people and to the British family that they chose to symbolically stand with their people and say "No we get it, and we're with you and we'll change our name to show it". It's like telling your significant other "I love you" on occasion. Yea they know, but it helps to hear you say it. Some stuff that seems superficially trivial can matter a lot in practice.

[@kincaidwolf5184]

To be honest, they were not German but a mix of every European nationality. You kinda get three stages with the House of Hannover / Windor. You get George the 1st. Who was German and spoke no English. Though he was one of the few Protestant grandson of King James of England and Scotland. After this George 2nd, 3rd, 4 and William V actually were British in every sense. Yes they married German royals because Catholics were a big no no following the previous two hundred years of Civil war. It was only with Victoria and her Husband Albert did the German heritage become important. The 20th century was the age of German nationalism and Victoria played a big part in creating a united Germany. Though Victoria pushed hard for her family to adopt German customs they never did. House of Hannover was a fine house. Though Victoria through her marriage brought the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha which was way too German irrespecitve of the war. George had little regret in abandoning the German ties considering almost 1 million Brits were killed in the war. What is the weight of 200 years of German heritage? Against your ancestors ruling England for the past 1300 years. Stretching back to the Stuarts of Scotland, to the Tudors, to Robert the Bruce to Edward the III, to William the Conquerer and Alfred the Great. They have a unique heritage unlike no other and a unbroken link going back thousands of years.

[@sebe2255]

@@kincaidwolf5184 But a lot of people, especially people who like history, have a boner for Germany. So saying that all royal houses are German in origin cool

[@kincaidwolf5184]

@@sebe2255 Have a boner for Germans not the modern state of Germany. There totally different things. The German state was created in the 1870s.

[@sebe2255]

@@kincaidwolf5184 Same thing, also the German state under Prussia was formed in 1871, German states existed before and have been created after (DDR and BRD)

[@cpj93070]

@@sebe2255 Yeah i know the amount of people that drool over anything German especially WW1 and 2 era Germany is mad.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I knew _why_ it is changed to "Windsor", but now, I also know more about the renaming process! Thanks for the video! Also, nice which/witch pun at 2:17!

[@leornendeealdenglisc]

Thank you for making this.

[@WayOutGaming]

British Public in 1914: "I'm glad we have a proper Englishman on the throne of Britannia!" King George: "Ja, ich bin sehr englisch"

[@Longshanks1690]

The Kings of Britain had been fluent English speakers since George III said _”Born and raised in this realm, I glory in the name of Briton,”_ 😂

[@foltgameeing]

@@Longshanks1690 Before the Germans they were French, well Norman. So more German than French but they still spoke french. And before that they were Anglo-Saxon, so German. And then they peddled the crown with the Norse invaders, so Germanic. It's almost as if the entire English populace, culture and language originated in Germania.

[@balabanasireti]

@@foltgameeing Meh

[@pocketmarcy6990]

@@foltgameeing it’s almost as if English is a Germanic language

[@foundationofBritain]

@@foltgameeing Anglo-Saxons were not German... they were not an import, rather a development wholly within What is Now The Realm of England... English populace, culture and language originated NOT in Germania, rather in Sub-Roman Britain... even in DNA the English are overwhelmingly Celtic NOT Germanic... as you might well believe. Also from your line of logic... the entire English populace, culture and language originated Africa... because humans originated in Africa... That's just how stupid what your saying is. The entire English populace, culture is Anglo-Celtic... as for language... its nowhere nearer Wholly Germanic. The English are NOT Germanic...and as an Englishman myself... to believe that they some how are, is an incorrect & disgusting concept.

[@BOABModels]

Imagine if they had called themselves the House of Legoland! I know... Too Danish.

[@MasterSanders]

Otherwise pretty based.

[@Ghreinos]

But why Legoland?

[@sihollett]

I doubt it would be too Danish for the current monarch, who's father was Prince Philip of Denmark and Greece before he renounced those foreign titles and took the surname of the British branch of his mother's family (Mountbatten, which was Battenburg before a WW1 anti-German rebranding), just before his engagement to the Princess Elizabeth was announced. Even back then, the Brits weren't fussed about 'Phil the Greek' being foreign (arguably the person marrying the heir was expected to be foreign royalty, even then), nor his lineage wrt the Danish and Greek thrones (some way down the order of succession in both cases) - his ditching of his family name was more about rejecting his Nazi brothers-in-law (though his behaviour in 30s Germany, and war record, ought to have been more than enough on that front!)

[@t.wcharles2171]

@@Ghreinos there's a legoland in Windsor

[@MasterSanders]

@@Ghreinos Legoland Windsor

[@KeppyKep]

The visual gags and puns were off the charts in this one!

[@usleless2456]

Great video!

[@irytal3429]

I have a strange feeling James Bizonet was behind this one.

[@nero9419]

And behind the spanish inquisition!

[@irytal3429]

@@nero9419 Was probably hitlers advisor

[@kellymoneymaker3922]

2:18 🤣🤣 Thanks for being such an excellent and entertaining teacher. 🍻

[@youtubej2757]

bro this channel is the shit! idk why i even watch these videos but they really good

[@brandon8214]

That 1 frame insert when you said “which” was hilarious

[@NovikNikolovic]

"Bontogether" lmao

[@harald7663]

The best animated historian creator!

[@prakashghumaliya2002]

Thank you for video sir

[@jeremytaylor5196]

I love the detail in the newspaper. Worth pausing the video to get more of that humour

[@Rilo888]

How have you not done a video on James Bissonette. That guy been popping up throughout history and is referenced everywhere

[@Roach18]

He hasn't done a video on Francis DiStefano either!

[@laurencewinch-furness9450]

apparently when Kaiser Wilhelm found out he said "if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see the merry wives of Saxe Coburg and Gotha"

[@feikotemme8736]

😊👌

[@duchevet]

The Bonapart / together joke was the highlight of my week-end

[@TimboSlice69420]

I would like to have heard Spinning Three Plates mentioned a bit higher up in the end list tbh

[@Raphie009]

Shakespeare: But what's in a name? King George V: Everything...

[@The-Brute-Squad]

The quick cutaway on the word "which" was pure gold.

[@ZechsMerquise73]

Great Halloween episode. Thank you for this episode which

[@caligjl]

When Kaiser Wilhelm heard the news, he thought it was hilarious. He quipped to the German press that he was looking forward to seeing a performance of "The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha"

[@jacobtrowbridge1811]

Video idea: How did the Netherlands react to the Boer Wars?

[@alparslankorkmaz2964]

Nice video

[@bernadmanny]

Those list of alternate names are gold to pick one 'Wallopscod' is an absolute classic

[@kingace6186]

Plus it helps that Windsor was also the name of The Treaty of Windsor and Windsor was where the treaty was signed, all the way back on 9 May 1386. Plus the Royal House of Windsor just sounds cooler than the other British/English royal names.

[@barbiquearea]

Reminds me of how Henry IV after overthrowing Richard II and claiming the English throne for himself started corresponding in English instead of French as all past English monarchs since William the Conqueror had done. This was also during the Hundred Years War where the French weren't particularly popular in England at the time.

[@bernier42]

Just an astonishing about of detail at 2:20 that is only seen for half a second. I tip my hat.

[@questionablefred6010]

Always coming up with great ideas for videos

[@sakshamsharma5429]

The fact that the House of Bissonette wasn't put forward as a suggestion is a travesty in itself.

[@guzoulou]

The name Moneymaker is way more accurate

[@TheNorthie]

I’m as British as Queen Victoria!! So your father’s German, you’re half German, and you married a German!

[@jonmel]

Captain darling you under arrest 😂

[@pukingpanda1803]

All 8 of Victoria's great-grandparents were Germans, those 8 great-grandparents also all had 8 German great-grandparents with 2 exceptions making Queen Victoria roughly 98% German.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

I seem to remember having read somewhere that Queen Victoria spoke German as a child.

[@feikotemme8736]

There are videos of both Prince Philip and Prince Charles speaking flawless German here on YT

[@jonathanwebster7091]

British citizenship, and before 1948; subject/naturalization laws, have never taken much notice of "blood" though, and never have. You're considered "British" if you were born here, or were raised here, or emigrated here and applied for citizenship. "Blood quantum", like you get in some 'jus sanguinis ' juridical (ie, you gain citizenship because your ancestors came from said country)counts for nothing, at least legally speaking, because we are a 'jus soli' jurisdiction (that is, you gain citizenship because you're born here). As well, "hyphenated" citizens, like you get in the US (African-American, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, etc) isn't a thing here at all: most immigrants become assimilated to the British culture within a generation or two (even if they retain some cultural traditions), Black British people, for example aren't "African-British" , they're just "British" ( or a subset thereof, ie, English/Scottish/Welsh/Northern Irish).

[@bobg5362]

LMFAO over that "official" decree. Your videos are so informative and yet entertaining. I wish a school system or two would experiment with using them for a semester to teach history to children. Maybe show a video and then a few minutes of Q&A from the students. I would be interested to see the test scores of those children versus a control group taught with traditional methods.

[@TheManadeath]

I knew the general reason they changed the name, but not all the nice tid bits that goes with it. TYVM for this video and some the context that goes with this story :)

[@jamesbissonette8002]

Wonderful upload!

[@theultimotomoto2621]

Wow its the man in the blood

[@revinhatol]

The Windsors weren't the only royals to break its German ties. Leopold, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ascended the newly-founded throne as the first King of Belgium upon the country's independen in 1830. Thus, giving birth to the Belgian House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha which will eventually became the House of Belgium during World War I.

[@McRocket]

I had no idea of...almost, ALL of this. Thank you. ☮

[@HarvestStore]

Great video.

[@Nikki-tx6kh]

And that day the Kaiser, at read the news about the name change, made a joke saying he couldn't wait to see the new production of the Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Coming from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor).

[@Longshanks1690]

Wilhelm II would have been a great comedian in another life. My favourite quip of his is that when it was brought to his attention that the British might enter the war, he replied “Fear not general, dreadnoughts have no wheels.”

[@user-yy5di3qg5u]

Wilhelm II: In response of a descision of Germano-British dynasty named Saxe-Coburg... Windsor royal family. It's impossible naming style and apparently this is mandatory. Up yours, Entente moralists, we'll see who cancels who.

[@iordanvassilev8091]

@@Longshanks1690 the kaiser is the source of some of my favourtie anecdotes like the aledged one that when visiting the Austrians, he remarked to the arcduke Franz Ferdinand(or his father, I am not sure) that he really loves austria and can't wait for their empire to fall apart so they can unite with Germany.

[@angusyang5917]

This anglicisation of names wasn't just restricted to the British royal family in WWI. Because of anti-Central Power sentiment, a lot of families of German and Austro-Hungarian origin changed their last names to be more British. The Teck family, for example, a morganatic branch of the House of Württemberg, to which King George V's wife Mary of Teck belonged to, changed their name to Cambridge. The Battenberg family, another morganatic branch, this time of the House of Hesse, to which the video-mentioned Prince Louis of Battenberg belonged to, changed their name to Mountbatten, one of whose members was the former prince consort Prince Philip. Even at the commoner levels of society, former prime minister Boris Johnson's grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal, the son of a Turkish father and British mother, changed his name to Wilfred Johnson, after his maternal grandmother's family, to sound more British and less Turkish. Also, to compound this de-Germanization, the Titles Deprivation Act was passed in 1917 and enacted in 1919, which stripped any British peerages and honors of any noble who had taken up arms against the British Army. Three British princes, Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland, his son Ernst August, duke of Brunswick, Carl Eduard of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the male-line descendants of George III and Queen Victoria, and an Austro-Irish noble, the Viscount Taaffe, lost all of their titles as a consequence.

[@vladpuscasu7713]

The Romanian king also changed from Hohenzollern Sigmaringen to the house of Romania, it was widespread trough europe

[@feikotemme8736]

Yes .... all of them HYPOCRITES😅

[@ak5659]

Aren't there Tecks in the Royal family today, 20+ in line for the throne?

[@CocoHutzpah]

Which, well, but. These 2 frame jokes get me every time

[@nathanbuuck7694]

That note is incredible!

[@llamingo696]

"Made unemployed", absolutely brilliant

[@martin-uz1py]

Love the newspaper stories and what is written on the proclamation. Yes I am sad enough to pause the video to read them.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Me too! I also pause the videos to enjoy the Easter eggs.

[@_Super_Hans_]

Interesting video thanks

[@robbabcock_]

Good stuff!

[@Dantinus]

0:45 On a side note, Louis of Battenberg also followed the Royal Family's lead and changed his family name to that of Mountbatten. His son Louis Mountbatten (yup, the Mountbatten that the IRA killed) never gotten over his father being stripped of the role of Britain's First Sea Lord and made it his life goal of regaining the role, which he did in 1955. Louis Mountbatten went onto becoming an influential mentor of Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and gave him advices such as enjoy Bachelor's life (which he certainly did) and find a young and inexperienced woman as wife (which he also did in the form of Diana, Princess of Wale).

[@croma2068]

"Find a young and inexperienced woman as wife"? Well, that doesn't scream "pedo" at all.

[@paulqueripel3493]

pre ww1 maps show a Battenberg road near me, post ww1, it's Windsor road.

[@Fearsome_Gonad]

@@Iason29 Not a slag.

[@littlebitofhope1489]

He sounds like a Royal Jerk.

[@Iason29]

@@Fearsome_Gonad Not sure exactly what you mean for sure, but I found Diana as one of the greatest and most experienced women that ever lived. inexperience with her was never something that came to mind

[@Patrick_3751]

Fun Fact: In response to the name change Kaiser Wilhelm II jokingly remarked that he wanted to see a performance of Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha."

[@geoffpoole483]

He was George V's cousin.

[@Guitcad1]

As an American, I'm confronted from time to time with people making comparisons between D****d T***p and Wilhelm II. As a student of "Western" history, I see where they're going, but I don't think it's a fair comparison. When asked whose rule I'd rather live under, I invariably and unhesitatingly choose Wilhelm. If nothing else, for all his faults, at least the guy was well read and witty.

[@sihollett]

@@geoffpoole483Other than those crazy nations without monarchs, which European rulers weren't? I guess some might still have been an uncle or aunt - his grannies were prolific, and his parents were at the older end - but their umpteen children were either married to kings or made kings of new kingdoms and so pretty much all of Europe was ruled by the kid/grandkid of one (and in some cases, both) of George's grannies.