NationStates Jolt Archive

So we finally were taught about British history a few weeks back (Yes I wondered about this for some time but never actually asked). And William of Normandy overthrew the English monarchy of the time and ruled. And his sons would suceed him and etcetera.

With the exception of the whole Lord Protector Cornwallis episode, it seems that the family hadn't been overthrown for the past 1000 years.

So would this make Queen Elizabeth II a French?

No, she's actually German. The House of Windsor was originally the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which were the names of German duchies.

So we finally were taught about British history a few weeks back (Yes I wondered about this for some time but never actually asked). And William of Normandy overthrew the English monarchy of the time and ruled. And his sons would suceed him and etcetera.

With the exception of the whole Lord Protector Cornwallis episode, it seems that the family hadn't been overthrown for the past 1000 years.

So would this make Queen Elizabeth II a French?

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page412.asp
Nope. I think if you are born in England, you're English.
Besides (correct me if I am wrong) is she not descended from German ancestry?

No they are Germans. The name Windsor is fake, they used to have the name Cothe-Saxburg, but changed to the name Windsor (after there castle) because of diplomatic issues during WW1.

Also in case Charles dies, William dies, and Harry dies, guess who gets the English Throne? Prinz Ernst August von Hannover, whose mother was the Queens sister. :p

The royal heads of Europe are all interelated. That's why there is so much of an uproar by royals these days when royals marry commoners.

Cybach']Also in case Charles dies, William dies, and Harry dies, guess who gets the English Throne? Prinz Ernst August von Hannover, whose mother was the Queens sister. :p

No, it would go to HRH The Duke of York, the prince Andrew - the Queen's second oldest son.

Don't worry to much about it, I live in the UK, and frankly, no one here could care less about the Royal family.

With the exception of the whole Lord Protector Cornwallis episode, it seems that the family hadn't been overthrown for the past 1000 years.
Actually, the Plantagenet dynasty (Who were distantly related to the Norman kings) came to a bloody end in 1485, at Bosworth.

Not necessarily, well it is complex. But they have roughly equal claim. But practically yes Andrew would come first, but it depends whether he accepts or denies.

The horror is that Ernst August is married to a Catholic, Princess Stephanie of Monaco. Things would get real hairy with a Catholic heir and British law :headbang:

In fact, HRH Prince Ernst August (the younger) of Hanover is on place 403 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_Succession_to_the_British_throne) in line of succession to the throne, skipping his father Ernst August V of Hanover who has been excluded from the list for marrying HSH Princess Caroline of Monaco - a Catholic, as you write, and according to the Act of Settlement of 1701 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Settlement_1701) that excludes him from succession.

And after Andrew, there are his two children. And after them, the Earl of Wessex and his children and so on. Prince Ernst August has no claim at all, and most certainly not one of such proximity as you claim.

actually shes not German Shes British under the Sophia Act all protesant offspring of Princess Sophia where are actually Britsh Subjects so underlaw She is British though Her Maternal Grand Parents where British

So we finally were taught about British history a few weeks back (Yes I wondered about this for some time but never actually asked). And William of Normandy overthrew the English monarchy of the time and ruled. And his sons would suceed him and etcetera.

With the exception of the whole Lord Protector Cornwallis episode, it seems that the family hadn't been overthrown for the past 1000 years.

So would this make Queen Elizabeth II a French?
No no no. The line of William I was broken after a couple of hundred years. In the past thousand years there have been five or six royal lines, often only tangientally related to each other. The current line is German.

11. Zara Phillips (b. 1981), The Princess Royal's daughter.

She has been linked to rugby player Caleb Ralph of New Zealand

She's that hot horse-riding chick isn't she? That would be cool if she was Queen.
And linked to a New Zealander? Awesome.

Britain's been ruled by many different people...
First people to settle Britain arrived here from Spain. Then the Celts came over. Then the Bretons (from what is now Brittany in France), who were subjugated by Italians (Romans). They buggered off, leaving the Britons to fend for themselves. Although they'd become English by then. The Saxons were invited over to stop the Irish (living in Scotland) and the Scots (living in Ireland) from raiding the edges of the kingdoms (there were 7 main ones in England at this point - Northumbria, Mercia, Essex, Wessex, Kent, Anglia, and the other one, which I forget. Possibly the Hwicce). The Saxons were bastards, did a fair bit of pillaging, but then settled down nicely. Only to be invaded a couple of centuries later by the Vikings (Norway, Sweden, Denmark). By the time we'd settled that lot (with a bit of cake-burning), we were ripe for invasion again. This time it was the bloody French, with M. William of Normandy. He and his dynasty (the Normans, and later the Plantagenets) ruled between 1066 and 1485 when Richard III came to a sticky end at the battle of Bosworth Field, defeated by Henry Tudor, who was Welsh. He was Henry VII. Now his dynasty was half Protestant and half Catholic, kinda. Mary (1553-1558) was the only Catholic Tudor monarch. When Elizabeth I died in 1603, the Stuarts took over (James I (or James VI of Scotland)). They were Scottish. Skip forward, past the civil war and the Protectorate (which was Cromwell Sr. and Jr., not Cornwallis), and the Stuarts die off in the early 18th century (I think, I'm a bit hazy here). Anyway, then the Dutch decided they wanted in, and we had William and Mary of Orange for a bit, before they died and we had our first George. Who was German. Great. Georges I, II, and III came and went, before William IV died, and Victoria came to the throne. Still German. She married a German (Prince Albert...we all know what one of them is). The surname was Saxe-Coburg Gotha. Good English name, then. This was changed at the outbreak of WWI to the infinitely more English 'Windsor' and has been ever since.
So in answer to your question, no, Elizabeth II is German, not French.

She's that hot horse-riding chick isn't she? That would be cool if she was Queen.
And linked to a New Zealander? Awesome.

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

With the exception of the whole Lord Protector Cornwallis episode, it seems that the family hadn't been overthrown for the past 1000 years.

Cornwallis was the British general who surrendered to the Americans at Yorktown in 1781, thus effectively ending the Revolutionary War. The Lord Protector was Oliver Cromwell, who took over in the 1640's and died in 1658. He was succeeded by his son Richard before the monarchy wasa restored in 1660.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cromwell_oliver.shtml

Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was Queen Victoria's husband, but remained a prince. The title of "King" is reserved for reigning male monarch, while the Queen may be either a queen regnant (ruling, as in the case of Victoria, Elizabeth I, and Elizabeth II) or queen consort (wife of the king, as in the case of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, married to King George VI and known as the Queen Mother after her daughter Elizabeth claimed the throne upon George's death).

The Mountbattens (such as the late Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was a key naval figure during World War II and later a mentor to Prince Charles) are close relatives of the royal family. Their last name is an Anglicization of the German "Battenberg".

A list of the first 52 heirs in the line of succession to the British throne can be found at http://www.etoile.co.uk/Rsucc.html

Point 1: The Normans who invaded in 1066 were not French, they were in fact Normans. At this period in history, there was a discernible difference between the Normans and the French. The Normans were descended from Scandinavian raiders who attacked the Paris basin. The Kings of France (at the time, little more than Counts of Paris) gave these raiders a large segment of northern France, into which the raiders settled. They expanded in size and power until the King granted them their ruler the title of Duke of Normandy. They founded Norman colonies in England (obviously), Sicily and Antioch (during the Crusades). Thus, it is possible to call the Kings of England from William I to Stephen Norman rather than French. However, Henry II (who followed Stephen and began the Plantagent dynasty) was French. The Norman 'race' eventually merged with the French people and thus it disappeared. I advise you read RHC Davies 'The Normans and their Myth' which is the unchallenged academic stand point on the Normans in the Medieval period.

Point 2: The Plantagent dynasty was removed at the Battle of Bosworth by Henry Tudor, whose claim on the throne can hardly be described as legitimate (his mother's first husband was someone of royal descent). Henry Tudor himself was Welsh, although he spent much of his life in France during exile.

Point 3: The current Queen is a direct descendent of the Hanoverian monarchs, as well as belonging to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (the house of Prince Albert). However, I should point out that for much of Britain's long history, we have been allied with the Germanic states far more often than we have fought against them. Afterall, the Anglo-Saxon people were a Germanic tribe and modern day English still contains traces of Old German. The Germans were mostly Protestant as was Britain (although different types of Protestants) from the Reformation onwards. The British and the Prussians were almost always allies in wars - indeed, the British army had several Germanic regiments serving in it throughout the 18th century.

I advise you read RHC Davies 'The Normans and their Myth' which is the unchallenged academic stand point on the Normans in the Medieval period.
Oh dear...I read that title as 'The Normans and their Myrth'. Been spending too long on NS I think.

On a related subject, Charles is thinking of being King George because the previous King Charles was known for adultry. Ain't that ironic.

On a related subject, Charles is thinking of being King George because the previous King Charles was known for adultry. Ain't that ironic.

Umm, no, Charles is thinking of being George because the first King Charles helped to create the circumstances that led up to the only occasion in over 1000 years of British history where there has not been a monarchy. Some might call that an ill omen.

I am not sure why the media are reporting this as news actually as I am pretty sure this was reported on a few years ago.

hasn't anyone told you the truth the royal family are in fact lizard people!

hasn't anyone told you the truth the royal family are in fact lizard people!

I actually read a Christian fundamentalist website that claimed that Charles is the Anti-Christ and then I read another saying that the Queen is the Anti-Christ.

The royal heads of Europe are all interelated. That's why there is so much of an uproar by royals these days when royals marry commoners.
Seeing as they're all interrelated, uproar should be the furthest thing from their minds. Relief ought to be a bit more like it.

Seeing as they're all interrelated, uproar should be the furthest thing from their minds. Relief ought to be a bit more like it.
Here's a list. It's a fair few families, so I don't think it would have reached the levels where it would get worrying genetically yet.

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

Here's a list. It's a fair few families, so I don't think it would have reached the levels where it would get worrying genetically yet.

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

It actually amazes me that the Bourbons are still around (according to that article, in Spain). 250 years ago, that family was the most powerful on the European continent.

It actually amazes me that the Bourbons are still around (according to that article, in Spain). 250 years ago, that family was the most powerful on the European continent.
They have a tendency to stay around...

The German house of Wilhelm I. is still around too, they just don't hold an office. I think the current heir to the German Imperial Throne would be Georg Friedrich Ferdinand of Prussia (also the 146th in line to the British throne by the way).

He lacks class...
http://www.preussen.de/Bilder/Familie/Personen_1900-heute/GF.jpg