the current british royal family are members of the house of saxe-coburg and gotha, the german royal dynasty that played many roles in the nineteenth century european dynasty and political history. queen victoria, the last monarch of the house of hanover, which is also a german royal dynasty, married prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha. in 1901, when edward VII, queen victoria son, succeeded to the throne, saxe-coburg-gotha became the royal house name of the british royal family. however, in 1917, the name was changed to windsor by king george V because a german name was considered unpatriotic during world war I