Kingdom of great britain royal family and its history. Royal family tree and succession. Royal Family: Line of Succession

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Despite the fact that the Queen of Great Britain and her family are public people, their surname is not known to everyone. Some believe that it does not exist at all.

website found out that the royal family still has a surname, although it is not used or used extremely rarely, and for a reason.

© The Library of Congress / flickr.com © Tsar Nicholas II (left) and King George V (right) were cousins ​​and were remarkably similar, as were their mothers, sisters Dagmar and Alexandra.

The fact is that Georg belonged to the family Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. This surname had German roots, which at the height of the First World War caused unpleasant associations.

The king decided to change the unpopular name of his dynasty to something more acceptable and chose the surname Windsor- by the name of one of the castles he owns The Royal Family. But George V didn't just change the name of the dynasty, he also made the surname Windsor official for the entire British royal family.

In 1947, then-Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, a Greek and Danish prince who served in the British Navy. Thus, the current surname of the royal family is Mountbatten-Windsor, but it is not at all necessary for family members to use it.

Interesting fact: at british queen no passport, which does not prevent her from moving freely around the world. It turns out that the reigning monarch simply cannot have this document, since it is impossible to issue a passport to himself, because in Great Britain it is issued on behalf of Her Majesty. A To cross the border, the queen will only need to present any banknote with her portrait printed on it.

And probably many of you have already heard that The Queen doesn't need a driver's license. Nevertheless, she has them and received them back in 1945.

As already mentioned, members of the royal family are not required to use a surname, although in some cases (for example, while attending school) they have to do so. But they have a choice here too, and quite a wide one.

For example, Princes William and Harry served in the army under the surname Wales, since their father Charles is the Prince of Wales. The Queen's other grandchildren (Princess Anne's children) took their father's surname - Phillips. And another granddaughter of Elizabeth (daughter of Prince Edward) uses the surname Windsor without the Mountbatten prefix.

It doesn’t take long to get confused in all this variety of names and titles, so it is not surprising that today, like 100 years ago, the royal family prefers to do without a surname as much as possible.

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Despite the fact that the Queen of Great Britain is Elizabeth II, the most talked about person in the royal family is Kate Middleton. Who else do we know from the royal couple? On everyone's lips is Prince William, his father Prince Charles, and sometimes we notice the Queen's husband, Prince Philip. However, this is not the entire list of the royal family; there are many more of them, although not all of them are captured by journalists, and you may even learn about some of them for the first time.

Who is considered a member of the British royal family?

There is no clear formal or even legal definition of who belongs to the royal family. However, behind the scenes, the royal family includes the monarch and his spouse, the dowager spouse of the monarch, the children and grandchildren of the monarch. male line(i.e., Princess Anne's children are not included in the royal family), spouses and widowed spouses of the monarch's sons and grandchildren.
Succession to the throne in Great Britain is traditionally strict - only a Protestant can take the throne. A representative of the Windsor family may even be deprived of the right to inherit if she marries a Catholic.

Why do modern British monarchs have the surname Windsor?

The surname among the royals of Great Britain is not such a long-standing acquisition. At first, the royal family was not burdened with a surname at all; everyone only knew the name of the dynasty until 1917. The dynasty was called Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. With the outbreak of World War I, the then reigning monarch, George V, decided to change the name of the dynasty because he considered it too German. Not wanting to be associated with Germany, with whom Great Britain was at war, George V renamed his family and his descendants the House of Windsor, considering this name to be more English.
Then, in the mid-twentieth century, another change occurred. Until this point, succession to the throne had only taken into account genealogy through the male line, so the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty had to end with Queen Elizabeth II. Since her father George VI had no sons, the Duke of Gloucester would theoretically be the heir. However, in 1952, Elizabeth II issued a proclamation according to which her son and subsequent descendants would belong to the Windsor family. Accordingly, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was denied the right to pass on his surname to his children.

Genealogy of the British Royal Family

The Queen and her husband

Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain
The current reigning Queen Elizabeth II is the daughter of King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, whom we all know as Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The British Queen had a sister, Princess Margaret, but she died of a stroke in 2002.
As a child, little Lilibet (as Elizabeth was called at home) did not even think about the throne, since the throne was to be taken by her uncle Edward. However, he gave up his title in order to marry a twice-divorced woman. Then Elizabeth II's father, George VI, became king, but died 16 years later. As a result, a 25-year-old girl ascended the throne. Today, Elizabeth II is the longest reigning monarch in British history - 2017 marked the 65th anniversary of her coronation.

Prince Philip, the Queen's husband
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is a descendant of the Greek king. At the time of his acquaintance with Elizabeth, he was the Prince of Greece and Denmark. After the murder of his grandfather and the overthrow of his uncle from the throne, Philip and his parents fled from Greece and subsequently arrived in London to visit relatives. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II are fourth cousins ​​and descendants of Queen Victoria. The future spouses met at one of the social events, actively corresponded during the war, and then the stubborn Lilibet was able to persuade the family to approve the marriage with her beloved.

The Queen's Brothers and Sisters

Queen Elizabeth II's cousins ​​are also included in the royal family:

• Cousin Prince Edward, Duke of Kent along with his wife Catherine, Duchess of Kent.
• Cousin Prince Michael of Kent with his wife Marie Christina von Reibnitz, Princess of Kent.
• Cousin Princess Alexandra, The Honorable Lady Ogilvy.
• Cousin Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester along with his wife Birgitta, Duchess of Gloucester.

Prince Charles and his family

Prince Charles, son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
Charles, Prince of Wales is the first-born son of the Queen and Prince Philip. He is currently first in line to the throne. His first wife is Lady Diana Spencer (the wedding took place in 1981). The marriage was unhappy, although it produced two children. In 1996, at the insistence of the Queen, a divorce was filed, although the couple separated back in 1992. In 1997, Lady Di was killed in a car accident. In 2005, when the children were already grown, Prince Charles married his longtime mistress Camilla Parker Bowles.

Camilla, wife of Prince Charles
Prince Charles met Camilla Parker Bowles back in the 70s of the last century. A romance broke out between the young people, but Queen Elizabeth II was against their wedding; she decided to find a wife for her first-born herself. The reason for her mother's disapproval was Camilla's flighty character. She, in turn, married Andrew Parker-Bowles, but her feelings for the heir to the throne did not cool down, and after 10 years they resumed their relationship. After Prince Charles's divorce from Diana and her tragic death, Camilla agreed to get married only in 2005, but out of respect for ex-wife The wife refused the title of Princess of Wales, so she bears the title of Duchess of Cornwall. Charles and Camilla do not have common children, however, she still has children from her first marriage - Tom and Laura, they are not members of the royal family.

Prince William, son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge is the firstborn son of Prince Charles and Lady Di. He loved his mother very much and was extremely attached to her. He took the divorce of his parents and her death so hard that he even had to hire a psychotherapist specifically for the boy. Prince William graduated from Eton College and the University of St. Andrews, where he met his future wife Kate Middleton. They got married in 2011 and now have two children.

Catherine Middleton, wife of Prince William
Catherine (popularly Kate), or the Duchess of Cambridge, became the wife of Prince William in 2011, before which they dated for about 10 years. The girl's parents are middle class people who made a fortune thanks to their company "Party Pieces", which made them millionaires. Kate also has a sister, Philippa, and a brother, James. Catherine and William have a son and daughter growing up, however, their family is soon expecting a new addition - another baby is due in 2018.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte, children of Prince William and Catherine
Prince George of Cambridge was born in 2013, and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge in 2015. Despite their young age, the children of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge have already taken positions in ratings of the most influential people in Great Britain several times. Both children are included in the list of succession to the throne - George is in third place, and Charlotte is in fourth place.

Prince Harry, son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Prince Henry of Wales, or simply Prince Harry, is the younger brother of Prince William, the second son of Lady Di and Prince Charles. Born in 1984, he devoted his adult life to serving in the army, in 2011 he was awarded the rank of captain in the Army Air Corps. Prince Harry has a rich list of girls with whom he had romantic relationships, however, in 2016 he began seriously courting American actress Meghan Markle, and in the fall of 2017 they announced their engagement.

Princess Anne

Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
The Queen of Great Britain and Prince Philip have only one daughter - Princess Anne, who has the title of Princess Royal. Just like her mother, Princess Anne has had a great love for equestrian sports since childhood. She participated in many competitions, including Olympic Games in 1976.
Princess Anne's first marriage was to Mark Phillips, a captain in the Royal Army, however they divorced in 1992. During their marriage, they had two children - Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips. As already mentioned above, it is not customary to classify them as members of the British royal family.
Princess Anne's second husband was Timothy Lawrence, a British Navy employee who is also not a member of the royal family.

Prince Andrew and his family

Prince Andrew, son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
Prince Andrew, or Duke of York, is the third child of the reigning Queen and Prince Philip, and he is also sixth in line to the throne. Andrew married Sarah Ferguson in 1986. They divorced in 1996, so Sarah could no longer be considered a member of the royal family. During their marriage, they had two children - Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Princess Beatrice, daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah
Beatrice, Princess of York is the first child of Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah. A girl was born on a very beautiful date, 08/08/1988 at 8 pm 18 minutes. She is seventh in line to the British throne. At the age of 19, like all members of the royal family, she was required to gain work experience and was hired as a consultant for VIP clients at the Selfridges department store. The girl also has acting experience.

Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah
Eugenie, Princess of York is the second daughter of Prince Andrew and ex-wife Sarah. A girl with an attractive appearance is an enviable bride in Great Britain. She tries to lead an ordinary life, works at the Hauser & Wirth art gallery in London, where she organizes various events and special projects.

Prince Edward and his family

Prince Edward, son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex is the youngest son of the reigning Queen and Prince Philip. He created the television company Ardent Productions and for a long time worked there. In this company he met his future wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, the wedding took place in 1999. The couple has two children - Louise and James.

Sophie, wife of Prince Edward
Sophie, Countess of Wessex has been the wife of Prince Edward since 1999. She began her career in public relations and currently supports her husband in royal affairs.

Lady Louise and Viscount Severn James, children of Prince Edward and Sophie
Lady Louise Windsor, born in 2003, and James Windsor, Viscount Severn, born in 2007, do not have the titles of princess and prince, as their parents wished so. By agreement of the queen, they are titled as the children of an earl, not a prince.

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The British royal family is considered one of the most famous in the world. She has countless fans who are well versed in the names and faces of all members and know their order of succession to the throne. But do fans know about the scope of their employment? Just the thought that representatives of the royal family work shocks many.

So what do the Queen and her family do on a daily basis?

Queen Elizabeth II

The calendar of the crowned person is scheduled by day. There are certain dates on which she must perform her public duties. Responsibilities are a broad concept that includes a wide range of various actions. These include numerous meetings at top level with heads of other states, parties in palaces, diplomatic receptions and writing a business report.

The English newspaper The Telegraph published statistics showing that Elizabeth II fulfilled 341 obligations in 2015 at the age of 89. In total, her actions amounted to a greater figure than everything that Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton did together.

The Queen's duties also include approving laws passed by the English Parliament. It should be noted that no English monarch has taken part in this matter for a long time since 1707 and the duty is purely formal.

The official royal website also notes that the Queen has the honorary power to award people. She is the official representative of organizations such as OBEs, MBEs and CBEs, as well as many others.

Oh, we forgot to mention that Elizabeth II is the Honorary Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. This title implies her presence at all military ceremonies. The Queen also rules the English Church. Her responsibilities include the appointment of new bishops, archbishops and deans.

You can't call this lady unemployed!

The Queen's faithful assistant in many endeavors is her husband Prince Philip, the patron of about 800 organizations. He is primarily known as the originator of the Duke of Edinburgh Honors scheme, which was founded in 1956.

The official website shows that His Royal Highness takes an active part in many charitable programs and organizations that relate to such areas as culture, sports, and the creation of innovative developments in the field of weapons.

Duke of Cambridge

Prince William was employed part-time and was officially listed as a pilot in the English Air Ambulance. In a March 2015 interview with the BBC, it was hinted that he was likely to leave his 60-hour-a-week job as his contract with the organization expired and he should focus on his royal duties and become actively involved in raising heirs.

According to the prince, he must concentrate on his role as a father and fulfill his responsibilities to the family to the fullest. Its main goal at the moment is to educate worthy successors to the royal family, who should be instilled with a sense of dignity and duty to the fatherland and other people, which is very important.

The prince believes that work in the field of air ambulance was extremely important for him, as it involved serving his homeland and its citizens. He worked with true professionals in the field of medicine, but combining his profession with royal duties became difficult. After Elizabeth II announced that she was going to relinquish some of her government functions, Prince William became the first person to take them over from her.

The Duchess of Cambridge is an exemplary mother who devotes herself to raising her children. Her son George is 3 years old and her daughter Charlotte is 1 year old. Kate Middleton attends all official events with Prince William. Behind last years the spouses made many trips together different countries peace. In 2016, a young couple visited Canada.

The role of the royal family (this includes all royal children, grandchildren and their spouses) is to perform 2,000 duties, which involve entertaining 70,000 people and giving 100,000 written replies a year.

Also a large number of Kate Middleton devotes her time to working in various charitable institutions. For example, she is an active supporter of an organization whose activities are aimed at helping children with mental and mental health problems. emotional sphere, as well as a participant in the fight against bad habits in children living in orphanages in East Anglia. The Duchess of Cambridge is a patron of eight organizations.

Prince Harry (Prince William's brother) served in the British Armed Forces for ten years. He was listed as a trainee in two military operations that were carried out in Afghanistan. The prince retired in 2015 and, as the official royal website notes, devoted himself entirely to new job. He is also an active supporter of many charities and a royal official. The prince lives in Kensington Palace.

Prince Harry's charitable activities include organizing the Invictus Games competition. They represent complex sports competitions of Paralympic athletes of international level. Tournaments are held every two years.

He also became the official co-founder of a charity program that aims to help the orphans of Lesotho in South Africa. For months he has been working on projects that involve various social programs as well as the conservation of the flora and fauna of the area.

Prince Harry supports the wheelchair community. He advocates for increasing the level of accessibility and improving the quality of sport in the UK, and is a supporter of mentoring schemes. The prince is also an active participant in a program to support youth who have experienced violence.

Prince of Wales

Prince Charles carries out many royal functions. He actively supports his mother's civic and charitable endeavors, which contributes to positive results in the social and environmental sphere, makes a huge contribution to the preservation and development of national traditions.

Prince Charles takes part in many foreign trips, the purpose of which is to protect the diplomatic interests of Great Britain.

Prince Charles' wife Camilla Parker-Bowles

As for his wife Camilla, the royal website mentions her in general outline and notes that she has become patron and president of many charitable organizations and regularly attends all events associated with them. She also became an active ally of her husband in all his endeavors.

What do independent sources indicate?

Independent sources indicate that many members of the royal family have been formally employed over the years. The youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, Edward, was an employee of Lloyd Webber's theater company, and his wife was the head of her own PR agency.

The Queen's other son Andrew served as the UK government's special representative for international trade and investment. Queen Anne's only daughter became a professional sports rider and joined the British equestrian team.

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie

Fashionable women's magazine Harper's Bazaar writes that Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, granddaughters of Elizabeth II, also have an official place of work. Beatrice is the deputy director of an art gallery, while the princess's official website writes that her main area of ​​activity is business.

Prince Michael of Kent and his wife

The Queen's cousin Prince Michael of Kent is the owner of a consultancy business, and his wife Marie Christina von Reibnitz, Princess of Kent, is an interior designer.

Well, do you now have a clear idea of ​​what the Krolev family does?

Many people know that Great Britain is a kingdom. But not everyone is aware of who is part of the royal family and how many members it consists of. There is also confusion with titles. Why is the husband of the Queen of Great Britain called a Duke? How much money does the UK state spend annually on the royal house? Does the royal family have any privileges and responsibilities? Read about all this in this article. We will try to explore the Windsor family tree, highlight some Interesting Facts that have happened in this family for centuries. We will also talk about the order of succession to the British throne. Who will rule the monarchy after Elizabeth II?

History of the British Royal Family

The tradition of monarchical rule dates back to Alfred the Great. He ascended the throne back in 871. And although many years have passed since then and many dynasties have changed, perhaps this is why the citizens of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are in no hurry to abandon the monarchy and move to a republican form of government. After all, for such a rich country as Great Britain, the royal family is to a certain extent a brand. Moreover, it is estimated at a tidy sum of 44.5 billion pounds sterling (69.8 billion US dollars). After all, the reign of different families, branches and representatives of the royal family spans about one thousand two hundred years. Thirty-seven generations have passed since the time of Alfred the Great! The most prominent rulers of the British monarchy are Elizabeth I and Henry VIII. During the reign of the first, England experienced the era of the so-called Golden Age, and the second created the Anglican Church and gained fame as Bluebeard, since he beheaded two of his six wives.

Why do modern monarchs have the surname Windsor?

But let's move on to the royal family that rules today. It has its own characteristics. At first, in a country like Great Britain, the royal family did not have any surname. Everyone knew only the name of the dynasty - Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. This continued until 1917. When the First World War broke out in 1914 World War, the reigning monarch, George V, who did not want to be associated with Germany (with which he was then at war), decided to change the too German name of the dynasty to a more patriotic, English one. He renamed himself and his descendants the House of Windsor. In the mid-twentieth century, the royal family experienced another fundamental change in ancient traditions. Previously, only the male line was taken into account in genealogy (and, accordingly, succession to the throne). According to this rule, the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty had to end with Elizabeth. King George VI had no sons, and theoretically the Duke of Gloucester should have inherited the throne. But Elizabeth II, who still reigns today, issued a proclamation in 1952, according to which her son and descendants continue to belong to the Windsor family. Thus, Elizabeth's husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was denied the right to pass on his surname to his children.

Who is part of the British royal family

Despite his high social status, a member of the royal family is difficult to describe in clear legal terms. Traditionally it is believed that this is the queen and her husband, their children, grandchildren in the male line, spouses and widows of children and grandchildren. In this case, a strict rule applies: only a Protestant can have plans for the throne. Even marriage to a Catholic can deprive a member of the Windsor family of inheritance rights. Thus, there are only about fifty people in the British royal family. Photos of monarchs that constantly appear in magazines show Elizabeth II and her husband, Crown Prince Charles with his second wife Camilla and sons William and Harry. As you know, the Queen's eldest grandson married Catherine, who received the title of Duchess of Cambridge, and this couple had Prince George. The family also includes Elizabeth’s sons, Andrew and Edward, with their spouses, children and grandchildren.

Who will inherit the throne

To understand this sensitive issue, it is not enough to study the family tree of the British royal family. The Bill of Rights (1689) and the Act of Succession (1701) state that those claiming the throne must be descendants of James I's granddaughter Sophia of Hanover. This lady unexpectedly found herself second in line to the British throne. The Anti-Catholic Act helped her in this, according to which only Protestants were allowed to rule the monarchy. According to the law of 1772, the marriage of representatives of the royal family must only take place with the permission of the monarch. Otherwise, children from such a union will be considered illegitimate. And finally, most recently, in 2012, the law on succession to the throne was changed. Now the eldest child, regardless of his gender, inherits the throne. So, the first contender for the throne is Prince Charles, followed by William, his eldest son. The next contender is the baby George of Cambridge, the queen's great-grandson. If something happens, Prince Harry, William's younger brother, also has a chance.

Yard maintenance costs

This amount is included in the state budget. It is approved annually by the UK Parliament. The royal family gets on own needs about thirteen and a half million pounds. In addition, twice the amount is allocated for the maintenance and repair of palaces and residences, for the safety of family members, as well as for covering expenses associated with foreign official trips. However, the Windsors are trying to alleviate the financial burden of their people. The Royal Family brand brings in around a billion pounds into the monarchy's budget every year.

British Royal Family: Interesting Facts

The ban on marrying Catholic women also applies in our progressive age. The Earl of St. Andrews, son of the Duke of Kent Edward and grandson of the current Queen Elizabeth, was deprived of the right to the throne because of this.

Victoria remained on the throne for the longest time - from 1837 to 1901. An entire era is named after her.

An interesting fact is also that the current queen and her husband are distant relatives. And Camilla, the second wife of Prince Charles, is a descendant of the mistress of his great-grandfather Edward VII.

Elizabeth II served in the army in her youth. And her only daughter Anna took part in the Olympic Games (equestrian sport) in 1976.