The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
The senior Ernestine branch lost the electorship to the Albertine in 1547, but retained its holdings in Thuringia, dividing the area into a number of smaller states. One of the resulting Ernestine houses, known as Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld until 1826 and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after that, went on to contribute kings of Belgium (from 1831) and Bulgaria (1908–1946), as well as furnishing husbands to queens regnant of Portugal (Prince Ferdinand) and the United Kingdom (Prince Albert). As such, the British and Portuguese thrones became a possession of persons who belonged to the House of Wettin.
From King George I to Queen Victoria, the British Royal family was variously called Hanover, Brunswick and Guelph. In the late 19th century, Queen Victoria charged the College of Heralds in England to determine the correct personal surname of her late husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—and, thus, the proper surname of the royal family upon the accession of her son. After extensive research they concluded that it was Wettin, but this name was never used, neither by the Queen nor by her son or grandson, King Edward VII and King George V; they were simply called 'Saxe-Coburg-Gotha'.
Severe anti-German sentiment during World War I led some influential members of the public to quietly question the loyalty of the Royal Family, because they had a German or German-sounding name. Advisors to King George V again searched for an acceptable surname for the British royal family, but Wettin was rejected as "unsuitably comic." By Order in Council, the name of the British royal family was legally changed to Windsor, prospectively for all time.
When Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952, a question arose as to whether the royal family's name would change after her to "Mountbatten"—the name adopted by the Queen's husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, from his mother's family ("Battenberg" translated to English). The reply from Buckingham Palace was immediate that the Royal Family's name would remain "Windsor" in perpetuity. However, the Queen issued an order in 1957, which provides that those of her descendants who do not reign and have no other title may use the surname "Mountbatten-Windsor".
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