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Further Reading

House of Windsor

The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the name was adopted as the British Royal Family's official name by a proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It remains the family name of the current Royal Family. During the twentieth century, kings and queens of the United Kingdom fulfilled the varied duties of constitutional monarchy. One of their most important roles has been acting as national figureheads lifting public morale during the devastating wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45.

In England no monarch can abdicate without consent of Parliament. In Great Britain there had been no case of voluntary abdication. Edward' II. and James II. were forcibly driven from the throne. Of the foreign precedents there were just half a dozen. In 79 B.C. Sulla abdicated the dictatorship of Rome. In 305 A.D. Diocletian abdicated the imperial throne. In 1555 Charles V. of Spain abdicated. Then there are the abdications of Christina of Sweden in 1654, Philip V. of Spain in 1724, and Louis Bonaparte of Holland in 1810.

In 1930 Edward, the Prince of Wales, who had already had a number of affairs, met and fell in love with a married American woman, Mrs Wallis Simpson. Edward was never crowned; his reign lasted only 325 days. Edward realised he had to choose between the Crown and Mrs Simpson who, as a twice-divorced woman, would not have been acceptable as Queen. As King, and Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Edward could not marry a divorcee. On 10 December 1936, Edward VIII executed an Instrument of Abdication. America believed the king's decision was due to the duchess being a Nazi supporter and this was totally unacceptable to the prime minister at the time, Stanley Baldwin.

The period saw the modernisation of the monarchy in tandem with many social changes which have taken place over the past 90 years. One such modernisation has been the use of mass communication technologies to make the Royal Family accessible to a broader public all over the world. George V adopted the new relatively new medium of radio to broadcast across the Empire at Christmas; the Coronation ceremony was broadcast on television for the first time in 1953, at The Queen's insistence.

The Prince of Wales, eldest son of The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Buckingham Palace at 9.14pm on 14th November 1948. On 15th December 1948, Charles Philip Arthur George was christened at Buckingham Palace, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher. The Prince went to Cambridge University in 1967 to read archaeology and anthropology at Trinity College. He changed to history for the second part of his degree, and in 1970 was awarded a 2:2 degree.

He was invested as Prince of Wales by The Queen on 1st July 1969 in a colourful ceremony at Caernarfon Castle. Before the investiture The Prince had spent a term at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, learning to speak Welsh. On 8th March 1971 The Prince flew himself to Royal Air Force (RAF) Cranwell in Lincolnshire, to train as a jet pilot. At his own request, The Prince had received flying instruction from the RAF during his second year at Cambridge. In September 1971 after the passing out parade at Cranwell, The Prince embarked on a naval career, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and both his great-grandfathers. The six-week course at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, was followed by service on the guided missile destroyer HMS Norfolk and two frigates. The Prince qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974 before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, which operated from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes. On 9th February 1976, The Prince took command of the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington for his last nine months in the Navy.

Prince William is the elder son of The Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. He is second in line to the British Throne. As second in line to the British Throne, Prince William attends a number of important royal occasions such as Trooping the Colour and Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph. Prince William carried out his first solo engagements representing The Queen in July 2005. He attended ceremonies to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Second World War in New Zealand and met veterans in Wellington and Auckland.