Why is the British Royal Family German?

Question

Why is the British Royal Family German?

Answer 1

Because when Queen Anne (1665-1714) died without any heirs, the throne was to pass to her cousin Sophia, Electress of Hanover (1630-1714) (German). Sophia died before Anne did, so the throne passed to her son who became George I (1660-1727). So all the monarchs of Britain since then have German ancestry.

Answer 2

They are British. Their royal house origins can be traced back to Germany especially through Queen Victoria's lineage.Although very English(She was born in Kensington Palace),Victoria was quite proud of the "German element" as she called it.She was a Hanoverian. Her family came into rule because they were Protestant;"The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set to undermine the stability of British society.

The first of their Kings, George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but the nearest Protestant according to the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of James II, the deposed Stuart king, threatened to take the throne, and were supported by a number of 'Jacobites' throughout the realm."All other successors were Catholic and could not inherit the throne,so the Hanoverians inherited the crown.

Victoria's husband was a German prince who was deemed quite suitable for her.They sought to make many alliances with Germany and the rest of Europe.Their children married royals from GErmany,Russia,Denmark.

Today's British Royal family shares roots with many European Royal families through the German side.But,they are also Danish(Queen Alexandra),Scottish(Queen Elizabeth,The Queen Mother),and English(Diana,Princess of Wales' children),and English-Irish(Sarah,Duchess of York's children).

Coincidentally,the names Windsor and Mountbatten were originally Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Shelssweig-Holstein-

Sonderburg-Glucksburg.

George VI decided to show that the family was entirely British during World War I,and make their name sound much more English.He wasn't very happy with "The German Element" because 24 GOTHA warplanes bombed London!

Answer 3

along with the first answer...they also changed their name because of the war with Germany

Answer 4

Queen Anne was the last English Queen to have ruled over Great Britain, since her passing in 1714. She died without any surviving legitimate offspring, although she did had a half-brother James II, who was sent in exile due to his Catholic faith. Her death not only marked the end of the Stuart rule, but also the English rule for the last 648 years starting with William the Conquer, and the beginning of the new era of the "British rule." Thus, to preclude a Roman Catholic from obtaining the Crown, Parliament enacted the Act of Settlement 1701, which provided that, failing the issue of Princess Anne and of William III by any future marriage, the Crown would go to Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and her descendants, who descended from James I of England through Elizabeth Stuart. Several genealogically senior claimants were disregarded due to their Catholicism.

Through the Act of Settlement 1701, an Act of the Westminster Parliament which sought to suspend the normal laws of inheritance to the English and Scots thrones, Sophia was declared the heiress presumptive to her first cousin once removed, Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland (later Queen of Great Britain and Ireland). She would have acceded to Anne's crown, had she not died a few weeks before Anne did. On Sophia's death, her son George Louis, Elector of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, became heir apparent. On Queen Anne's death, he became King George I. He was a German Prince, born and raised in Germany, and spoke very little English. His son and heir King George II, was the last British monarch to have been born in Germany, and it was not until the birth of his son, George III, who was a fully British born monarch and speak English as his first language.

Note: Queen Victoria herself was entirely of German descent, and she married her first cousin, Prince Albert, a German Prince. The current Queen's real surname was "Wettin", however, high anti-German feeling among the people during World War I prompted the Royal Family to abandon all titles held under the German crown and to change German-sounding titles and house names for English-sounding versions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Gre...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_st...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_wi...

Answer 5

The Royal Family is not German.Although they have German ancestors,they are British just because they were born in Britain.