In 1910, George V succeeded Edward VII as King and married Maria von Teck, who also had German ancestry, and would become known as Queen Mary.īut his reign coincided with the First World War, which was waged against his cousin, German emperor Wilhelm II. The German name was changed to Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was felt to be “easier to pronounce for the English”. Victoria died in 1901 and was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII, making him “the first English king from the German dynasty of Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha”, said DW. As a result, many of her descendants, including Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Kings Harald of Norway and Carl Gustav of Sweden, sit on thrones in Europe today. Queen Victoria was dubbed “the grandmother of Europe” due to her efforts to ensure her children married into other European royal courts. The British monarchy has long had ties to Germany, first “cemented” by Queen Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, said The Telegraph.īut “the first German to ascend an English throne”, said Deutsche Welle (DW), was the German Elector George Louis of Hanover, who was proclaimed King of Great Britain in 1714, after the death of Queen Anne. Princess Xenia is the co-founder of Considerate Group and works in the hospitality industry. Prince Philipp, the current head of the house of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, was said to be “a favourite relation of the late Queen” and was “frequently invited to Royal Ascot”, said The Times.
Philipp and Xenia are the grandchildren of Prince Philip’s eldest sister, Margarita, and Bernhard is the grandson of another of his sisters, Princess Theodora. The youngest and only boy of five children, “his sisters made transcontinental connections as they married men from various houses around Europe”, said the paper. Prince Philip was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, descendants of whom still rule Denmark and Norway. “In other words, they are the King’s cousins’ children”, explained The Times. The Margrave of Baden and the Prince and Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg are the King’s first cousins once removed on the side of his late father, Prince Philip.