Why does the UK have royalty?

[Yerda]

We don't have a written Constitution like the US ,Britain's constitution is historic.its made up of various parliamentary acts as well as documents like Magna carta it has evolved over the years, the product of historical development rather than deliberate design its evolving all the time.

Aye, it's unwritten, and easier to ignore. We need a written constitution including a Bill of Rights and the abolition of all hereditary powers.

Only people themselves can ensure freedom, democracy and equality before the law. Nonetheless, such ends can be far better demanded, and more effectively obtained and guarded, once they belong to everyone by inalienable right. - Charter 88

 

[KatNotKathy]

I've always wondered, does the queen have a last name? Doctor Who has not answered this question yet.

 

[Smoke]

I've always wondered, does the queen have a last name? Doctor Who has not answered this question yet.

No. Other people will tell you different, but those people are wrong. The Queen is the head of the House of Windsor, but Windsor is not her surname.

The Queen was born HRH Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York, but York isn't her surname, either.

However, her male-line relatives who are not royals have adopted the surname Windsor. Specifically, the children and grandchildren of three of the Queen's first cousins who are princes and grandsons of King George V -- Richard, Duke of Gloucester; Edward, Duke of Kent; and Prince Michael of Kent.

The Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, has used the names "Edward Windsor" and "Edward Wessex" for professional purposes. His children use the surname Windsor, though they are entitled to be styled HRHs, as Prince Andrew's children are.

Prince Andrew's children have been known to use York as their surname, and Prince Charles' to use Wales as theirs. However, these are all informal usages; an HRH doesn't properly have a surname. When Prince Andrew was in the Navy, he was Lieutenant His Royal Highness the Duke of York.

 

[KatNotKathy]

When Prince Andrew was in the Navy, he was Lieutenant His Royal Highness the Duke of York.

Lol, I would love to be a prince's boss.

 

[Smoke]

Lol, I would love to be a prince's boss.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Camilla had a riding crop in her nightstand.

 

[Aquitaine]

No. Other people will tell you different, but those people are wrong. The Queen is the head of the House of Windsor, but Windsor is not her surname.

The Queen was born HRH Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York, but York isn't her surname, either.

However, her male-line relatives who are not royals have adopted the surname Windsor. Specifically, the children and grandchildren of three of the Queen's first cousins who are princes and grandsons of King George V -- Richard, Duke of Gloucester; Edward, Duke of Kent; and Prince Michael of Kent.

The Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, has used the names "Edward Windsor" and "Edward Wessex" for professional purposes. His children use the surname Windsor, though they are entitled to be styled HRHs, as Prince Andrew's children are.

Prince Andrew's children have been known to use York as their surname, and Prince Charles' to use Wales as theirs. However, these are all informal usages; an HRH doesn't properly have a surname. When Prince Andrew was in the Navy, he was Lieutenant His Royal Highness the Duke of York.

Man....... you really dig the Monarchy don't you?

 

[Smoke]

Man....... you really dig the Monarchy don't you?

I dig English history, and the monarchy is part of that.

 

[kai]

The British royal family changed their last name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in 1917.

Why did the Royal family change their last name?

The family name was changed as a result of anti-German feeling during the First World War, and the name Windsor was adopted after the Castle of the same name.

Windsor is still the official family name for any British royal who is styled "Royal Highness."

Some members of the royal family have a different last name

From 8 February 1960, all The Queen's descendants who do not bear the "style, title or attribute of HRH, and the titular dignity of Prince or Princess" have been givn the surname of Mountbatten-Windsor. (Mountbatten is the surname adopted by Prince Philip before his marriage).

Project Britain.com: What is the Queen's last name?

 

[Smoke]

The Official Website of the British Monarchy says:

Before 1917, members of the British Royal Family had no surname, but only the name of the house or dynasty to which they belonged.​

Personally, I think the Official Website, and possibly the Royal Family itself, is reading to much into the proclamation of George the V by which name of the "Royal House and Family" was changed to Windsor.

The royals themselves are pretty sloppy about names. When Princess Anne married the first time, her surname appeared in the register as "Mountbatten-Windsor," which seems to be just a whim.

If we take the proclamation of George V as conferring a surname on the royal family, it would still only apply to the male-line descendants of Queen Victoria, and Princess Anne is not a male-line descendant of Queen Victoria. The announcement in 1960 that Queen Elizabeth II's descendants would bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor specifically excepted those of her descendants with the style HRH. So before Princess Anne married, either she had no surname or her surname was Mountbatten. Likewise, Prince Charles, his brothers and their children either have no surname or their surname is Mountbatten. However, the members of the Royal Family, when they choose to use a surname, seem to use whatever surname they feel like using at the moment.

Mountbatten itself only became Prince Philip's surname in 1947 when he adopted that surname on renouncing his Greek and Danish titles. He was born a Prince of Greece and Denmark, and is a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. He chose to take the name Mountbatten -- the surname adopted by his maternal grandfather, the former Prince of Battenberg, when he (the grandfather) renounced his German titles during World War I.

 

[Kathryn]

Oh well, I don't care if the UK or any other country keeps it's monarchy - it's no skin off my nose. And being the Anglophile that I am, I will enjoy kicking around all the castles when we go to the UK and Germany next summer. All that rigamarole is good for tourism, that's for sure.

My user name on this forum is taken from Catherine of Aragon - one of my personal heroes. Just for the record.

 

[Aquitaine]

Oh well, I don't care if the UK or any other country keeps it's monarchy - it's no skin off my nose. And being the Anglophile that I am, I will enjoy kicking around all the castles when we go to the UK and Germany next summer. All that rigamarole is good for tourism, that's for sure.

My user name on this forum is taken from Catherine of Aragon - one of my personal heroes. Just for the record.

Would the visits next Summer be your first ever visit to the UK?

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Well, she's not my queen, so it's not my business, but if it were, I'd much prefer to disestablish the Church than the Queen.

There you go again, always sticking up for the Queens.

*dodges hail of tomatoes*

 

[Kathryn]

Yes, next summer will be my first visit to the UK, though I've often gone THROUGH the airports there on my way to somewhere else.

I am so excited!!!!!!!!

 

[Aquitaine]

Yes, next summer will be my first visit to the UK, though I've often gone THROUGH the airports there on my way to somewhere else.

I am so excited!!!!!!!!

Y' know, everyone I speak to (including my family since we've been to the US loads of times) feels sorry for US tourists visiting the UK, I remember whenever we'd be flying back from the US there'd be US citizens on their way to the UK for a holiday, dressed in shorts and stuff - only to come out in the pooring rain! :biglaugh:

I remmeber one time we were flying home to the UK from the US, the pilot was British and he just presumed that everyone on board was returning home to the UK. He said "And now we're approaching our destination, grey, rainy, cold, miserable UK - home" and then "Oh! But if you're visiting the UK for a holiday, welcome!" and everyong just burst out laughing! ^_^

 

[Kathryn]

Well, my husband is going to be my tour guide and he lived in Scotland for awhile, so he's warned me about the weather.

Also, I lived in Germany for three years and it was pretty darn rainy there too. One never went anywhere without a jacket of some sort, even in the summer time.

And no air conditioning! Whew, that was tough getting used to. I'm from the American South and I don't know how this area was even populated before the invention of air conditioning!

 

[Aquitaine]

Well, my husband is going to be my tour guide and he lived in Scotland for awhile, so he's warned me about the weather.

Also, I lived in Germany for three years and it was pretty darn rainy there too. One never went anywhere without a jacket of some sort, even in the summer time.

And no air conditioning! Whew, that was tough getting used to. I'm from the American South and I don't know how this area was even populated before the invention of air conditioning!

Hehe! Another thing though is that stuff in the UK isn't as erm...... glam as it is in certain parts of the US: no big roads, no big cars, no big portions etc.

Anyways where abouts in the UK are you visiting?

 

[Kathryn]

Hehe! Another thing though is that stuff in the UK isn't as erm...... glam as it is in certain parts of the US: no big roads, no big cars, no big portions etc.

Anyways where abouts in the UK are you visiting?

Hey, I live in Texas. Everything really is bigger, but that doesn't mean it's better. A bigger trailer park, for instance...not glam!

Anyway - unfortunately, we're not going to be in the UK very long. Just three days. We're taking our youngest to Europe for his graduation present - the Grand Tour so to speak. We'll only have about two weeks and we're spending only three days in the UK, so we'll probably spend those entire three days in London.

Our son really wants to see Germany and Austria and Switzerland so we're spending most of our time there.

But the following year we've discussed just the two of us going back to Scotland and Ireland. I've always wanted to take a very leisurely vacation through the UK and just meander down country roads, stop at a different pub every night, take a side tour to some historical site but mainly just get a feel for the UK in general. That's more of a husband/wife trip so it will have to be next time.

But I'm very excited about seeing London. My top choices for sights are: The Tower, Westminster Abbey, and the Museum of Natural History.

Which museum of British history would you recommend? And any other suggestions are definitely welcome!

 

[Aquitaine]

Hey, I live in Texas. Everything really is bigger, but that doesn't mean it's better. A bigger trailer park, for instance...not glam!

Anyway - unfortunately, we're not going to be in the UK very long. Just three days. We're taking our youngest to Europe for his graduation present - the Grand Tour so to speak. We'll only have about two weeks and we're spending only three days in the UK, so we'll probably spend those entire three days in London.

Our son really wants to see Germany and Austria and Switzerland so we're spending most of our time there.

But the following year we've discussed just the two of us going back to Scotland and Ireland. I've always wanted to take a very leisurely vacation through the UK and just meander down country roads, stop at a different pub every night, take a side tour to some historical site but mainly just get a feel for the UK in general. That's more of a husband/wife trip so it will have to be next time.

But I'm very excited about seeing London. My top choices for sights are: The Tower, Westminster Abbey, and the Museum of Natural History.

Which museum of British history would you recommend? And any other suggestions are definitely welcome!

Hmmmmm........ well, I guess there's a lot of nice rural areas you can visit. I doubt the inner cities will be particularly impressive to you though, since sadly there's a real Nightclub excess & binge drinking problem that the country is suffering from, especially on the weekends in city centres like in Manchester and Stockport - not pretty!

As for London, meh I've only ever been once, I heard it's not as grotty as it used to be, atleast in the city center, and honestly I can't really recommend anything there since it's been so long........ I dunno, Buckignham Palace is quite nice from what I remember.

But yeah in regards to when you and your husband go, touring the more rural areas and trying out different Pubs etc sounds like a good idea Or maybe go somewhere in the South, like Bournemouth/Poole which is kinda nice, fairly good weather and a beach - and they say the South is much nicer than the North. From my experience there are also less Chavs in the South - 'cept in Greater London I guess! :biglaugh:

 

[Smoke]

There you go again, always sticking up for the Queens.

*dodges hail of tomatoes*

Frubals ain't tomatoes.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

My user name on this forum is taken from Catherine of Aragon - one of my personal heroes. Just for the record.

You mean the Catherine of Aragon who was screwed over by the British monarchy?