ON 17 JULY, 100 years ago, a proclamation by King George V stated: “By the KING. A PROCLAMATION declaring that the Name of Windsor is to be borne by his Royal House and Family and Relinquishing the Use of All German Titles and Dignities.” Thus began the House of Windsor, the name proposed by the private secretary to the King, Lord Stamfordham, and a name as established and timeless as that of past royal houses, such as Tudor or Plantagenet.
To mark the House’s 100th anniversary, the Royal Mint has issued £5 coins to commemorate the change from Saxe-Coburg- Gotha, which transpired because King George V felt it inappropriate for the Royal House to use the name while at war with Germany.
With the outbreak of war, many were quick to change their Germanic names. Anti-German sentiment grew rapidly as years of tension turned into war, the invasion of Belgium and atrocities conducted there providing ample fuel for propagandists to alter perceptions. In Russia, St Petersburg became Petrograd, while in Britain businesses with Germanic names were attacked. Dachshunds, known to be a favourite of Kaiser Wilhelm II, were used to ridicule the leader in cartoons, and some attacked by frenzied aggressors. The German …
