Barb German, age 14, of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, for her question:
WHAT IS QUEEN ELIZABETH'S LAST NAME?
Queen Elizabeth II was 21 years old in 1947 when she married Philip Mountbatten, formerly Prince Philip of Greece. The day before the wedding he was given a new title: Duke of Edinburgh. The royal couple have four children. Firstborn, and heir apparent, is Charles Philip Arthur George who was born in 1948 and named Prince of Wales when he was nine years old.
Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and the head of the British Commonwealth of Nations, took the throne at the age of 25 when her father, George VI, died in 1952. Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, have four children.
In addition to the heir apparent, Charles, there is one daughter named Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise who was born in 1950, and two other sons, born in 1960 and 1964, Andrew Albert Christian Edward and Edward Anthony Richard Louis.
The royal family's last name is Windsor. In 1960, however, Queen Elizabeth proclaimed that all of her descendants will bear the name Mountbatten Windsor.
Actually, the family name of Windsor had been adopted in 1917, and was taken from the royal residence, Windsor Castle. This new name was selected to replace Saxe Coburg¬Gotha. The old name was abandoned because World War I was under way, and there was a strong national feeling against the German origin of the old family name.
The first British king of the line preceding the Windsors was George I of Hanover. The family name of Hanover originated from the Electorate of Hanover, in Germany, which the British kings also ruled. The last Hanoverian king ,was William IV, Victoria's uncle.
Saxe Coburg was a duchy in Saxony held by the Wettin family. One of the daughters of Duke Francis, ruler of the duchy, married the Duke of Kent, a son of George III of England. This woman was Queen Victoria's mother.
In 1826 there was a redivision of lands in Saxony, and Ernest, son of the Duke of Francis, exchanged Saalfield for Gotha and founded the house of Saxe Coburg Gotha. Ernest had two sons, Ernest II and Albert, who were first cousins of Victoria. Albert married Victoria in 1840. Victoria's children took their father's last name, and Edward VII, her son, was the first English king to bear the name of Saxe Coburg Gotha. His son George V was the first to use the last name of Windsor.
Heir apparent to the British throne will be the first ruler named Mountbatten Windsor. His full name is His Royal Highness, Prince Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten¬Windsor, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of Scotland.