Everybody tells me the Queen is German, but as a percentage, how German actually is she?

Question

Serious answers only please.

Answer 1

It really depends on how far back you want to go.  Her parents, grandparents, and 5 out of 8 great-grandparents were British-born.  Of the great-grandparents, the non-Brits included (going by place of birth) one Dane, one Croatian, and one German.

The generation before (great-great-grandparents) included four Germans, two Danes, and one Romanian.  If you're going from that point, you're looking at about 1/4 German blood.

Really, though, it's difficult to assign nationalities to any European royalty.  Because of centuries of intermarrying between the various national royal families, one can't really assign any historical nationality to anyone.  For example, Elizabeth's great-great-grandfather, Duke Alexander, was German by birth but claimed descent from Dutch and British monarchy and had a sister who was Empress of Russia.  Saying he was "German" doesn't mean a whole lot when you have first cousins on the thrones of multiple nations.

Answer 2

Probably 1/2 because her mother,  Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was Scottish.

Answer 3

The last addition of German blood was her grandmother, Mary of Teck.

Answer 4

What the h**l is it got to do with you youngman. Mind your manners!

Answer 5

Queen Victoria was daughter of Edward,the Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-coburg.In February 1840,Queen Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, this is the German connection.

Answer 6

let get real here,she was born in england so that makes her 100% british,it makes no difference where your family originally came from its where you were born,(the majority of brits have foriegn backgrounds but call themselves british because that where you were born)and to the k**b who said that prince phillip is a greek is sadly mistaken ,he is from anglo danish stock not one ounce of greek,

Answer 7

Her mother was from a Scottish aristocratic family.  Not much German there.

Her father was George VI.  His mother was originally Princess Mary of Teck - a German title although most of her ancestors were from the British Royal Family.

His father was George V.  His mother was Swedish.

His father was Edward VII.  Very much an Englishman even though both his parents were born in Germany.

There have been German's popping up in the royal family ever since George I, but he only qualified because he was descended from the Stuarts.

The Royal Families of Europe over the centuries have been a mixture of German and Norman.  They have tended to breed among themselves.  But if you want to go back far enough, the Angles and Saxons came from Germany.

Answer 8

The Queen Mother was born in London - how does this make Her anything than English? Queen Mary, George V Edward VII Queen Victoria all born in England. Queen Alexandra was Danish and Prince Albert German.

But as everyone tells you, "The Queen is German!"

Answer 9

Let's build this up one generation at a time.

Queen Victoria was as near 100% German ancestry as makes no difference, and she married a German cousin, so we can say Edward VII was 100% German. He married a Danish princess.

That makes George V 50% German, and 50% Danish, but he married another German.

That makes George VI 75% German and 25% Danish, and he married a pure-bred Scot.

That makes Elizabeth about 38% German, 12% Danish and 50% Scottish.

Answer 10

How many generation do you have to live in a country to be recognized as a "native"? Nationalism is a comparatively new concept that came with the French Revolution and has been poisoning international relations ever since.

Kings of the House of Hanover ascended the British throne in 1714, the last descended of the Hanoverian Kings was Queen Victoria who married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Nobody would deny that Queen Victoria was as British as you can get - an era was named after her. The British Empire was mainly created during her reign and reached its greatest extend under her grandson, King George V. Who would deny the services rendered to the British people by these Monarchs?

The British Royal Family - and especially Her Majesty - are considered as the living symbols of "Britishness" abroad, strangely enough this is put in doubt by some British nationalists who call them "German".

Under that concept every migrant since the early 18th century would never stand a chance to be called British, neither the Conservative politicians Michael Portillo or Michael Howard, who are second generation migrants, nor any migrant from the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbeans or Africa.

Monarchs have served their respective countries very well. The Russian Tsaress Catherine the Great was neither born in Russia nor was she a Romanov, yet she was a moderniser of the Russian Empre and her image has been experiencing a renaissance in recent years.

Answer 11

all members of the royalty of europe are members of the germanic wilheim family, of the three sons of william the conqueror. who was given charge of the northern armies by rome. thats what bitter family feuds are known for best. infighting.

Answer 12

her grandmother was german and on her fathers side ~

queen victoriawas married to her german cousin Albert~

so Id say a bit not much

their name was changed from hambrough to windsor

Answer 13

Very little, althought her Grandmother was technically German she was born and brought up in Britain and was a minor member of the BRITISH royal family. She rarely set foot in Germany, whether she was actually German is discussionable.

The last person to be definitively German was Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, he was the great-great Grandfather of the present queen which makes her at the most 1/16 German. If you count Queen Mary that still only makes her 1/4 German. She's more Scottish than that.

Answer 14

Her mother was Scottish of Norman descent.

Her father was George VI who had a totally German Mother ( Princess Mary of Teck) and his father George V was a product of Edward VII ( a product of Queen Victoria , totally german in descent, and Prince Albert, german born and bred.

Edward VII's wife was Queen Alexandra who was Danish.

When Prince William ascends the throne he will be the first monarch of the United Kingdom who has ever had a totally English parent , Diana Princess of Wales.

The Queens husband ,Prince Philip, is from the Battenberg family of Germany who changed their name to Mountbatten during WW1

Answer 15

the queen has German  relatives. Philip is Greek.

Answer 16

Well, she is 50 % Scots to begin with. Her great-grandmother Queen Alexandra was Danish. Her grandmother Queen Mary had a German title but was raised in England. I'm no math whiz, but I would guess about 15% German or less.

That would be pretty much in line with the rest of the country. The Brits are a combination of Anglo-Saxon (German), Danish, Celts, Norman French and a jumble of other nationalities.

Answer 17

Well Her Mum was a Scot -so its no more than 50% probably less, Her Granny on her Dad's side was from Teck ( in Germany?) Her Dad was born English so that drops it down to 25% German ( ish)