House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Parent house	House of Wettin
Country	List Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Kingdom of Belgium; Kingdom of Portugal; Kingdom of Bulgaria; Principality of Bulgaria; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; ;
Founded	1826; 198 years ago
Founder	Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Current head	Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Titles	List Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; (1826–1918); King of the Belgians; (1831–1920); King of Portugal and the Algarves; (1837–1910); Consort of the British monarch; (1840-1861); Prince of Bulgaria; (1887–1908); King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; (1901–1917); Emperor of India; (1901–1917); Tsar of Bulgaria; (1908–1946); Empress consort of Mexico; (1864-1867); ;
Estate(s)	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria
Deposition	1918 (in Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)
Cadet branches	Windsor (United Kingdom); Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Portugal; extinct in 1932); Bulgarian royal family; ; Belgian royal family Eppinghoven (illegitimate); ;

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (/ˌsæks ˈkoʊbərɡ ... ˈɡɒθə, - ˈɡɒtə/ SAKS KOH-bərg ... GOT(H)-ə;^[1] German: Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) is a European royal house. It takes its name from its oldest domain, the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and its members later sat on the thrones of Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal, and the United Kingdom and its dominions.

Founded in 1826 by Ernest Anton, the sixth duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, it is a cadet branch of the Saxon House of Wettin. One agnatic branch currently reigns in Belgium—the descendants of Leopold I—and another reigned until the death of Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom—the descendants of Albert, Prince Consort.

In 1917, the First World War caused the British king George V to officially change the name from "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" to "Windsor" in the United Kingdom.^[2] In Belgium, due to similar resentment against Germany after the Great War, the use of the name was also changed in 1920 by King Albert I to "de Belgique" (French), "van België" (Dutch) or "von Belgien" (German), meaning "of Belgium". However, the "Saxe-Coburg" house name of the Belgian royal family was never officially abolished, and since relations between Belgium and Germany have been normalized for a long time, the use of this family name has been slowly reintroduced since the 2010s (especially since King Philippe of Belgium wants to limit the number of princes and princesses of Belgium, and thus the use of the designation "of Belgium", to only a select group of his family).^[3]

^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
^ "The House of Windsor – A Proclamation 1917". British Monarchist Society and Foundation.
^ Waarom Delphine de foute naam krijgt – website of the Faculty of Law of KU Leuven

[1] Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2

[2] "The House of Windsor – A Proclamation 1917". British Monarchist Society and Foundation.

[3] Waarom Delphine de foute naam krijgt – website of the Faculty of Law of KU Leuven

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