King George V changed the British Royal Family’s family’s to Windsor on 17 July 1917 with a proclamation relinquishing use of all German titles.
The move came after almost three years of war against the German Empire ruled by the monarch’s cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II.
As a grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, George V belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha.
Anti-German sentiment had been mounting in Britain since the outbreak of the First World War.
In October 1914, Prince Louis of Battenberg was forced to resign as First Sea Lord (professional head of the Royal Navy) because of his German family ties.
Air raids on British cities, starting with Zeppelin attacks in 1915, provoked outrage, stoked further by Gotha bomber aircraft striking London for the first time in the summer of 1917.
The abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, also a cousin of King George V, during Russia’s February Revolution of 1917 raised additional concerns for the future of the British monarchy.
Reporting the change of name to Windsor, The Daily Telegraph newspaper described it as a ‘gratifying announcement, which will be received with satisfaction by everyone of His Majesty’s subjects, for it marks the complete and final severance of his family’s association with the German Empire.’
Source: Daily Telegraph archive/Wikipedia/various
Images: Centenary News
Posted by: CN Editorial Team