Looking back: The British royal family
Following the news that Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge are to have another baby, here’s a selection of Guardian stories about the House of Windsor since 1917
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1917: George V, grandson of Queen Victoria, proclaims the House of Windsor. His decision to drop the family name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in favour of the more English sounding Windsor was influenced by anti-German feeling during the first world war.
1936: Following George V’s death, Edward VIII, his first son, succeeds. But Edward’s insistence on marrying the divorced American socialiteWallis Simpson led to a constitutional crisis, forcing him to renounce his throne. It then fell to George VI, his younger brother, to become King.
1947: George VI’s eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth gets engaged toPhilip, son of Prince Andrew of Greece. The couple are married several months later.
1952: Princess Elizabeth, aged 25, accedes to the throne following thedeath of her father. The King’s passing was well covered in the Manchester Guardian.
1953: Elizabeth is crowned Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey, a year after her father’s funeral.
1965: The Beatles are awarded MBE medals from Queen Elizabeth II. Later, John Lennon let slip what the band got up to on the day of the ceremony.
1972: The Duke of Windsor, who had to abdicate in order to marry Wallis Simpson, dies.
1977: The punk movement clashes with the Queen’s silver jubilee, and the Sex Pistols mark the event with a provocative boat trip on the Thames.
1981: Prince Charles, the eldest of Elizabeth’s children, marries Lady Diana Spencer. William, their first child, is born a year later.
1997: Princess Diana is killed in a car crash. The Queen’s perceived lack of compassion leads to a public backlash. Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to sum up Diana’s popularity, describing her as the ‘people’s princess’.
2011: The House of Windsor barely put a foot wrong as a well choreographed wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is watched by a global television audience of many millions.
2012: The Queen celebrates her diamond jubilee with the Windsorshaving appeared to survived the turmoil of the 1990s.
2014: A year after the couple’s first child George is born, the Palace announces that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a new addition to the House of Windsor.
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