The one subtle move that changed the Royal Family forever

The current members of the Royal Family are descendants from an unbroken sovereign line which stretches back nearly 1,000 years and includes some of the most famous historical figures, from William the Conqueror and Henry VIII to Elizabeth II. While the course of history has not always run smooth - with wars, depositions and scandals impacting them along the way, there have been a number of changes made to ensure the Firm's survival.

One of the biggest changes was announced 108 years ago on July 17, 1917, by King George V when it was declared that he was changing the Royal Family's last name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor. The Germanic surname had been in use in Britain since 1840 when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert.

The shift was made for several important reasons and has changed the Royal Family forever.

King George V issued a Letters Patent in 1917 which changed the Royal Family's last name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor during World War One. Inspired by the name of the Royal Family's most famous fortress in Berkshire, the English-sounding last name was chosen during a time of significant anti-German sentiment in Britain.

It dictated a number of important royal rules, many of which still exist, or were slightly adapted by Queen Elizabeth II when her great-grandchildren began to arrive. The Letters Patent declared that only the monarch's children, male-line grandchildren and the eldest son of the Prince of Wales could hold a princely title.

It read: "...the grandchildren of the sons of any such sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of dukes of these our realms."

As well as the Royal Family's official last name being changed, the King's rule also saw several descendants of Queen Victoria change their German-sounding last names to more Anglican ones. This includes Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was previously known as Prince Louis of Battenberg.

Under the rules laid out in the Letters Patent, only the Prince and Princess of Wales' eldest son, Prince George, was immediately entitled to be a prince when Queen Elizabeth II was still alive.

However, the late Queen stepped in ahead of George's birth in 2013 to issue a new Letters Patent which ensured that all of George's future siblings would also have fitting titles as children of a future monarch. As a result, when Princess Charlotte arrived in 2015 and Prince Louis was born in 2018, they were immediately a Princess and a Prince.

This was not the case for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, as they were styled as Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor until King Charles came to the throne. At this point, they became entitled to a princely style, but no change was announced until March 2023 when it was revealed that the pair would be known as Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex.

While the Royal Family is still known as the House of Windsor, there is a slightly different last name available to be used by descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

The singular last name of Windsor remained in place until 1960, when the Queen issued a declaration in Council saying that her descendants should use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, therefore combining her husband's adoptive surname.

It combines the Royal Family's name of Windsor and the late Duke's adopted surname of Mountbatten, which he took from his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, when he renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles before his wedding in 1947.