House of Windsor

The House of Windsor is the current royal house of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms. The dynasty began on 22 January 1901 when Edward VII succeeded his mother Victoria and inherited the house style of his father, Prince Albert, as Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. On 17 July 1917, amid the anti-German sentiment of the First World War, George V issued a royal proclamation renaming the house Windsor after the principal royal residence at Windsor Castle in Berkshire. The line has produced five monarchs: George V (1910-1936), Edward VIII (1936), George VI (1936-1952), Elizabeth II (1952-2022), and Charles III (from 2022).

The Windsor monarchs have been the constitutional figureheads of Britain through the central transformations of the 20th and 21st centuries: two World Wars, the dissolution of the British Empire, the establishment of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the post-war reconstruction of British society. George V's broadcasts established the modern radio tradition of the royal Christmas message in 1932; George VI's reign carried the country through the Second World War and the immediate post-war recovery.

Elizabeth II reigned for seventy years and 214 days, the longest reign of any British monarch and the longest reign of any female head of state in recorded history. Her accession in 1952 and her death in September 2022 bracketed the entire post-war era. Through fifteen Prime Ministers from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss, Elizabeth II provided the constitutional continuity that anchored the modern British state through the largest social, economic and political transformations since the 17th century. Her state funeral in September 2022 was the most-watched single event in British history.

Charles III succeeded his mother on 8 September 2022 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023, the first coronation in Britain in seventy years. The dynasty continues through William, Prince of Wales, and the young Prince George of Wales, who will succeed in due course. The Royal Family today functions as constitutional head of state, with the political power of the crown wholly delegated to Parliament and the Cabinet; the monarchy's continuing role is ceremonial, diplomatic and symbolic across the Commonwealth.