Windsor family
Windsor, since 1917 the family name of the monarchs of Great Britain. The Windsors are descendants of the Hanoverian kings of England, the first of whom became king as George I in 1714.
When William IV died in 1837, Hanover was separated from England, and Victoria became queen of England. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a member of the Wettin family. She then changed the name of the British royal family from Hanover to Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
During World War I, King George V gave up his German titles and changed the royal family's name to Windsor. He took the new name from Windsor Castle, one of the chief royal residences since the 11th century. His cousins, the Battenbergs, anglicized their name to Mountbatten.
Windsor rulers of Great Britain have been George V (until 1936); Edward VIII (1936; later, Duke of Windsor); George VI (1936–52); and Elizabeth II (1952-). In 1960 Queen Elizabeth, who was married to a Mountbatten, announced that the surname of all her descendants except royal princes and princesses will be Mountbatten-Windsor.