Born in crisis, crowned in scandal (abdication), sustained by secrets (affairs, cover-ups), and now purged by its own king, the House of Windsor always proves the crown survives by cutting off its own limbs.
The House of Windsor changed its very identity during World War I. In 1917, amidst rising anti-German sentiment, King George V renounced the family’s original German name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, rebranding the dynasty as the House of Windsor. This symbolic break with the past was meant to protect a monarchy under siege.
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THE ABDICATION (1936)
The 20th century was full of drama, scandals and rumors. The first crisis shadowed the dynasty’s very coronation. The abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936—who famously gave up the throne to marry American divorce Wallis Simpson—remains one of the greatest royal scandals of the 20th century.
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