The House Of Windsor - Television Tropes & Idioms

alt title(s): HM The Queen

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Mountbatten-Windsor (Elizabeth II to you, Brenda to readers of Private Eye, "Gertie" to her friends, and "Cabbage" to her husband) of the United Kingdom, plus her family.

According to The Other Wiki, her full official name is "Elizabeth Alexandra Mary". On 8 February 1960, the Queen confirmed that she and her children would continue to be known as the House and Family of Windsor. Though the Royal House is named Windsor, it was decreed, via a 1960 Order-in-Council, that those male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip who were not Princes or Princesses of the United Kingdom should have the personal surname Mountbatten-Windsor. In practice all of their children, in honour of their father, have used Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname (although Prince William has "Wales" on his military uniform). Since becoming Queen, she is Elizabeth II, all other names are not used officially.
- There was a minor flap about her being the first Elizabeth to rule over Scotland (thus making her Elizabeth I there, if that rule were to be believed), but the Royal Family decided that when Scotland and England had different numbers of rulers of the same name, they would follow the higher one whether it was Scottish or English. As it happens, that is the rule that had (accidentally) been followed since the Act of Union 1707. A consequence of this is that if there were to be another King James, he would be James VIII (since James II of England was James VII of Scotland).
Also as a child, her close family knew her as "Lilibet", although it might be Gertie now.

Also Queen of fifteen other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica. She was born in 1926 and acceded to the throne in 1952 on the death of her father, George VI. That's right, she has spent 57 years on the throne and is still going strong. Her current Prime Minister and the one before him weren't even born when she became Queen.

The Windsors were also monarchs of Ireland (till 1949 or 1937, depending on how one interprets the Irish constitution), India (till 1950), and Pakistan (till 1956).

Since the Queen is the best-known monarch in the world, she's turned up quite a lot in fiction, usually as an Anonymous Ringer or Invisible President, in part due to her function as a constitutional monarch.

Possibly One Of Us, as Her Majesty is apparently a big Doctor Who fan.

Appearances of the Queen in fiction:

Johnny English.
The Queen, naturally.
Roald Dahl's The BFG.
Doctor Who. Twice: "Silver Nemesis" and "Voyage of the Damned".
World War Z, she gets mentioned in passing: its both a Tear Jerker and a Crowning Moment Of Awesome And no, she doesn't die. At least, not from the zombies. It's extremely unclear.
2012 features a cameo of Her Majesty boarding on of the arks with one of her corgis.

There are, of course, other members of the Royal Family

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh - The Queen's husband, himself a prince of Greece and Denmark by birth. Rather prone to unfortunate gaffes in real life. He once told a 13-year-old aspiring astronaut that he could do with losing a little bit of weight, and in 2002 asked an Indigenous Australian chieftain if they still throw spears at each other. (Those are among the more printable comments). Worshiped as a god by some.
Prince Charles - The heir to the throne, often characterised as a liberal leaning eccentric due to his belief in homeopathy and tendency to talk to plants. Has been a longtime advocate of green issues. Also known to be rather shy and socially awkward, which doesn't help. Turned up as an Anonymous Ringer in the Tom Clancy novel Patriot Games. When (if?) he succeeds his mother, he is likely to take the title King George VII, as the previous King Charleses didn't have happy reigns.
- Despite the fact that one of his names is Arthur. He could be King Arthur II! ^*
  ^{yes, technically there's never been a King Arthur I of England, but stop being a spoilsport.}
  - There was almost a proper King Arthur: He was Henry VIII's older brother.
Camilla Parker-Bowles, aka the Duchess of Cornwall - the second wife of Prince Charles (and former mistress). When her husband succeeds to the throne, she will be Princess Consort Camilla, rather than Queen Camilla, due to ... some reason.
Prince William - The heir after his father Charles, William is known for being publicity shy and almost as much a master of the poker face as the Queen herself. Also famed for being pretty and eligible, especially when he was younger. Currently training to be an RAF search and rescue pilot- that's a safer military job.
Prince Henry of Wales, aka Prince Harry - A Boisterous Bruiser in the making, with an only slightly undeserved reputation for being a drinking, smoking, fighting sort with a talent for trouble. As such, he is one of the more popular members. Also known for dressing up as a Nazi at a costume party. However, he's patched up his media image recently when it "leaked" that he was serving with his military unit in Afghanistan as a proper soldier on the front lines without fanfare. Although this was more due to security concerns (both for his safety and that of his fellow soldiers) and the official line was that "he was disappointed that he couldn't join his fellow troops". There was some controversy over whether the papers should have revealed this information.
- Then he got into trouble after a tape emerged of him using a racist term about a fellow soldier, although fellow soldiers have argued that in the army the use of what would be offensive terms as nicknames is commonplace and inoffensive.
Prince Andrew - brother of Charles. Flew helicopters in the Falklands War. He and his ex-wife, the Duchess of York (aka Fergie), have pulled off an unbelievable transformation, from Boisterous Bruisers and Butt Monkeys to Model Divorced Couple.
Princess Anne, the Princess Royal - Won BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1971, for being rather good at equine sports: went to the Olympics too. Caught five points on her licence in 2001 for speeding.
- Did we mention that she was almost kidnapped & killed?
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex - youngest of the four children. Tried the Royal Marines, but failed to complete his training, which didn't make him popular. Involved in theatre and TV production. His first foray into that, It's a Royal Knockout was a bit of a failure. The other stuff wasn't much better. Rumoured to be gay. Married Sophie Rhys-Jones, a PR manager and new president of Girlguiding UK.
Zara Phillips - following in her mother Anne's footsteps, is the reigning Eventing World Champion and also got Sports Personality of the Year in 2006. Turns up in, of all things, the comic book V For Vendetta, as Queen Zara, all those above her in the list having been killed in a nuclear war.

The more historical (aka deceased) members

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother - Better known as "The Queen Mum", she lived for over 100 years. Well known for her dry wit and being a particularly loveable figure. Spitting Image gave her a Birmingham accent, and she was invariably caricatured as being mad keen on horse-racing and gin. Which isn't actually that far wrong.
- Earned longstanding devotion from the Blitz Generation for her and George VI's refusal to flee the country to Canada during WWII. Famously said "The girls won't leave without me, I won't leave without the King and the King will never leave".
Diana, Princess of Wales - You've almost certainly heard of her, often as the technically incorrect "Princess Diana". First wife of Prince Charles, bore him two children (although there's a lot of speculation about Harry's parentage...), cheated on him with half the army list and the England rugby captain, divorced him and then hooked up with Dodi al Fayed. Was killed in a car crash in 1997, with a lot of attendant Conspiracy Theories.
Princess Margaret - The Queen's little sister. In 1953 she wanted to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend, her father's equerry, but he was divorced, so naturally this caused a massive drama. In the end, she married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones instead, but they divorced in 1978. Famously a good-time girl in her younger days, the rumour of her having an affair with Mick Jagger is 'unconfirmed'.
George VI - (Reigned 1936-1952) Father of the current queen, husband of the late Queen Mum. Last King of Ireland and last Emperor of India. A well meaning but painfully shy and socially awkward man (rather like his grandson Charles) who led Britain through World War II. Had the misfortune to suffer a dreadful stammer. Only came to the throne due to the abdication of Edward VIII. Until then he had been known as Prince Albert.
- Colin Firth plays him in the 2010 film The Kings Speech, about him and his speech therapist.
Edward VIII - (1936) Elder brother of George VI and uncle of Elizabeth II. Much more forceful than his brother, caused a constitutional crisis by his desire to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Abdicated after less than a year on the throne and became Duke of Windsor. Often accused of latent (or less than latent) fascist sympathies.
- It was this anomaly in the succession that inspired the 1930s setting for Ian McKellen's film adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III. Other elements of the story appear in the film; Richard's regime is unmistakably fascist, while Edward IV's wife is given an American accent.
George V - (1910-1936) Father of Edward and George, grandfather of Elizabeth II. Solid, reliable, conservative monarch, by no means intellectually brilliant but a steady capable hand (rather like Elizabeth II in fact). Led Britain through World War One. Infamously denied his cousin (Nicholas II of Russia) asylum. Tragic personal life includes the premature death of a brother (Prince Albert Victor), and his youngest son (Prince John). Technically the first Windsor - he changed the family name from the bulky "Wettin von Saxe-Coburg a Gotha" during the war to appease anti-German sentiment, despite ironically being as German as his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II. When H.G. Wells referred to Britain's "alien and uninspiring court" before the name shift, George is said to have responded "I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm an alien!" Masterminded the royal family's media image.
- Famous for having last words that may or may not be a Beam Me Up Scotty: during his terminal illness, one of his advisors is supposed to have said that he would soon be well enough to visit Bognor Regis. George's response? "Bugger Bognor."
Queen Mary - Aka Mary of Teck (her full name is hugely bulky), she was the Queen Mum to the Queen Mum. Married to George V. She was a kleptomaniac and a fanatic jewel collector. Has a cruise liner named after her.
Edward VII - (1901-1910) Great grandfather of Elizabeth II. Cigar smoking (he apparently once lit up from a church candle during a service), womanising, lively monarch who surprised everyone by being a pretty good king. A famous Francophile, paved the way for the British alliance with France (and ultimately Russia), his funeral was noted by Barbara Tuchman in The Guns of August to be the greatest assemblage of royalty in history. Was Prince of Wales for longer than anyone else in history (though Charles is due to surpass him in 2011). Probably the only Windsor to actually enjoy being a monarch; the others seem to regard it largely as a duty.
Queen Victoria - (1837-1901) Great great grandmother of Elizabeth II. The longest reigning monarch in British history, she wasn't even 18 when she became Queen. A reserved, pious woman, famously dour in the decades after the death of her husband Prince Albert. Oversaw most of the last vestiges of Royal power stripped away in favour of Parliament and the Prime Minister and the growth of Britain into the largest empire in history and most powerful country in the world.
- Depending on who you ask, Queen Vickie was a Hanover (George III's oldest living grandkid by a couple of days in fact). It was her husband who was from one of the Saxonies.