House of Saxe Coburg Gotha

Saxe Coburg Gotha Kings and Queens

On the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 the royal house took the Germanic surname of her consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. King Edward VII, who reigned until 1910, was to become the only sovereign of that dynasty to reign in Britain.

The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha descended in the male line from the Wettin family, German Prince-Electors of Saxony, the earliest traceable member of the House of Wettin was Thiedericus who died in 982, who was probably based in the Liesgau. Its earliest known ancestors pushed the frontier of Germany eastward into formerly Slav territory. They acquired their name from their castle on the bank of the Saale river.

At the height of World War I, when German xenophobia had reached boiling point, Edward VII's son, King George V (1910- 1936) changed the family name to the more English sounding House of Windsor.

Members of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha occupied the thrones of other European countries, including Belgium, Portugal and Bulgaria.

Monarch

Born and Reign

Queen Victoria

B. 1819 Daughter of Edward Duke of Kent & Victoire of Saxe-Coburg Saalfield R. 1837-1901

EdwardVII

B. 1841 Son of Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha & Queen Victoria R. 1901-1910

 

Additional Information on the era