Is the British Royal Family German? (world, accuracy, blood, pure)
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You hear people say that the British royal family is German all the time. Most people who study geneology think it is a vague claim at best, but it became a huge public relations issue in WWI.
The ancestry of Queen Elizabeth II is known fairly well to 11 generations (2^11=2048 ancestors) so it is possible to say with some degree of accuracy what ethnicity she is back to those 11 generations.
The analysis assumes that we can call the 11th generation a pure ethnicity. We know that she has a Chinese Emperor in her ancestry over 30 generations ago, but for this analysis those trace amounts vanish so that the 11th generation is "pure".
The other assumption is that there is an ethnicity called "European Royal". It has existed for 1200 years since the time of Charlemagne. It is as large as other ethnicities like "Yiddish" and is characterized by marriages within the ethnicity. It includes Romanovs, Hellenic rulers, rulers of Denmark, Germany, Britain, Nordic countries, BENELUS, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, etc.
Given those assumptions, here is the breakdown of the ethnicity of QEII to a factor of 2^11=2048, The European Royal is as large as the English group (mostly from her mother), and the Transylvanian group is prominent as QEII is descended from Dracula by multiple bloodlines.
794 European Royal
59 German
794 English
128 Anglo-Irish
128 Transylvania
32 Irish
9 Scottish
77 French
9 Dutch
6 Danish
5 Belgian
5 Swedish
2 Bohemian
2048 Total
Prince Phillip is much more Royal and German
1587 European Royal
273 German
64 Transylvania
59 French
14 Danish
12 Swiss
8 Bohemian
8 Lithuanian
8 Russian
7 Swedish
6 Belgian
2 Dutch
2048 Total
Any thoughts? Does this analysis make you think of her as less German?
Essentially, yes, the current royal family adopted the name Windsor because their residence west of London is in the Berkshire town of Windsor. If they hadn't changed their name, because the UK kept getting into scrapes with Germany, their last name would be Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which comes from Prince Albert's family. He was married to Queen Victoria, but was German.
The thing about Royalty and high nobility is they were highly restricted on who they married and it was normal for it to be politically arrainged. Thus all of the Royals in Britan and Europe are related in some fairly close way. And Queen Victoria had a number of daughters married off to the sons of those in power who virtually linked them on an even closer tie. I don't think of Royals as a nationality so much as Royals. Just because William got to marry the descendent of a coal miner doesn't mean that past generations had that luxury so in genetic terms they were a world of their own.
Victoria was lucky that she and Albert were very much in love and had a truely personal relationship which some have not. He was very much a intellectual bookish man as well. Not what we tend to think of as German 'leaders'.
Edward VII is therefore German, but his wife, Alexandra, was 3/4 Danish and 1/4 German
George V is therefore still more German than anything else, and his wife Mary of Teck was 100% German
George VI is back to being very German in bloodline , but his wife Elizabeth was English
Thus, Elizabeth II was back on the road to being more English, but Phillip is essentially German with only a smattering of Danish and Russian.
I would think what really matters is that Victoria was certainly as culturally English as one could want, and her consort reached the point of being almost more English than the English. The monarchs since Victoria were culturally English as well. Mary of Teck's family had essentially dumped their German cultural heritage and become English. And even the ever-charming Prince Phillip has been as much Brit as anything since his youth, he has been in the British navy since 1939.
Philips became a naturalised British subject in 1947 and took the name Mountbatten, an Anglicised version of his mother's family name of Battenberg. His mother wore a nuns habit to the Queens coronation ceremony.
Philips became a naturalised British subject in 1947 and took the name Mountbatten, an Anglicised version of his mother's family name of Battenberg. His mother wore a nuns habit to the Queens coronation ceremony.
His mother, Princess Andrew, is a fascinating person who endured a life of incredible political ups and downs, as well as great emotional stress and illness.
Her behaviour in WW II Greece was quite remarkable in many respects.
Edward VII is therefore German, but his wife, Alexandra, was 3/4 Danish and 1/4 German
George V is therefore still more German than anything else, and his wife Mary of Teck was 100% German
George VI is back to being very German in bloodline , but his wife Elizabeth was English
Thus, Elizabeth II was back on the road to being more English, but Phillip is essentially German with only a smattering of Danish and Russian.
I would think what really matters is that Victoria was certainly as culturally English as one could want, and her consort reached the point of being almost more English than the English. The monarchs since Victoria were culturally English as well. Mary of Teck's family had essentially dumped their German cultural heritage and become English. And even the ever-charming Prince Phillip has been as much Brit as anything since his youth, he has been in the British navy since 1939.
There was a series on Queen Victoria's world on pbs last year, and they told much of Albert's life too. I wonder if he was chosen to marry an English queen since he was so suited to it. He certainly didn't embody much of the elements which generally are called 'german'. I suppose they were one of the supremely lucky ones since they actually had a marriage fueled by love.
I wonder now that commoners can be accepted if it will mean more English spouses over foreigners.
They are getting more British with every generation. Prince George is mostly English.
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