They have a family lineage that can be traced back centuries and have shaped the course of modern history, but have you ever wondered how the British Royal Family actually started? To answer all your royal questions, we’re travelling back to the year of 1066, when the royal line started.
William the Conqueror, the first Norman Monarch of England.
(Credit: Getty)The Precursor to the British Royal Line
When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he kicked Harold Godwinson off the throne, destroying the House of Wessex, and making room for the House of Hanover, which we know today as the House of Windsor.
This came about when William’s descendants passed the crown to James VI, the last Scottish King and thus, the first King to rule over both England and Wales in 1603.
He then changed his name to James I and established the Stuart House, which he passed to Queen Victoria’s family, the Hanover’s, who started the royal bloodline we know today.
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Queen Victoria in 1887
(Credit: Getty)The Origins of the Royal House of Windsor
But, where does the House of Windsor fit in to this? At the time of World War I, Queen Victoria’s descendants took on the Saxe Coburg-Gotha family name from her husband, Prince Albert.
However, after German Gotha planes bombed England from 1917, killing 836 people, King George V ordered the Royal Family to take up the last name Windsor, to show solidarity for their soldiers fighting on the front line.
King George V, the Duke of York.
(Credit: Getty)The British Royal Family in the Present
The British Royal Family to this day are direct descendants of William the Conqueror and, until the Royal Family changes hands or ends, their lineage will link back to 1066. Even Prince William is continuing on his ancestors name.
