When people talk about the British Royals, they usually skip straight to the late Queen Elizabeth II or her son, King Charles. But honestly, if you want to understand why the family even exists today, you have to look at the man who started the whole modern vibe. Who was Queen Elizabeth's grandfather? His name was George V, and he wasn't just some dusty figure in a history book. He was the guy who literally changed the family's name because their old one sounded too German during World War I.
He was the second son. He wasn't even supposed to be King.
His older brother, Prince Albert Victor (known as Eddy), was the heir. But Eddy died of influenza in 1892, and suddenly, George was the one in line for the throne. It’s a bit of a pattern in that family, isn't it? Spare becomes the heir. George inherited his brother’s position, his responsibilities, and—in a move that feels very "Game of Thrones"—he even married his brother’s fiancée, Mary of Teck.
The man behind the beard: King George V explained
George V reigned from 1910 until his death in 1936. If you look at photos of him, he looks remarkably like his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. They were basically twins. But while Nicholas lost his head (and his empire), George survived. How? By being incredibly boring and incredibly relatable. He loved stamp collecting. He was obsessed with it. He also loved shooting birds. He was, by most accounts, a man of very simple tastes who happened to wear a crown during the most turbulent time in modern history.
He was the first "Windsor." Before 1917, the family was the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During the war, having a German name was a PR nightmare. People were literally throwing stones at Dachshunds in the street. So, George rebranded. He picked "Windsor" because of the castle. It was a stroke of genius. It made the family feel English, rooted, and permanent.
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You've probably heard the stories about him being a strict father. He famously said, "My father was frightened of his mother, I was frightened of my father, and I am damned well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me." He wasn't kidding. He was a naval officer through and through, and he ran his household like a battleship. His relationship with his eldest son, David (the future Edward VIII), was a disaster. George predicted that David would ruin himself within a year of taking the throne. He was right.
The connection to Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth was his favorite.
He called her "Lilibet." She called him "Grandpa England." It’s kinda sweet when you think about this gruff, bearded King crawling on the floor to help a toddler find her toy. When he was recovering from a serious illness in 1929, the three-year-old Elizabeth was credited with helping him get better just by being around. She was his "sweetheart."
There's a real thread of continuity between them. George V was the one who started the Christmas Broadcast tradition in 1932. He sat in a small room at Sandringham and spoke to the Empire over the radio. Elizabeth took that tradition and turned it into a global television event. They both shared a sense of duty that was almost pathological. They didn't view being King or Queen as a right; they viewed it as a job you couldn't quit.
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Why George V matters more than you think
It’s easy to dismiss him as a Victorian relic, but George V navigated the rise of socialism, the first Labour government, and the Irish War of Independence. He was a stabilizer. He wasn't an intellectual. He didn't like "clever" people. But he had a gut feeling for what the British public wanted. They wanted someone who looked like them, shared their values, and didn't make too much of a fuss.
- He was the first King to really embrace the "People's King" persona.
- He visited coal mines and factories.
- He insisted on staying in London during the Blitz (wait, that was his son, George VI, but the precedent started with the father's visibility during WWI).
His death in 1936 was actually a bit of a scandal, though the public didn't know it at the time. His physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, essentially euthanized him. He gave the King a lethal injection of morphine and cocaine. Why? So the news would make the deadline for the The Times morning edition rather than the "less appropriate" evening papers. Talk about brand management.
The Other Grandfather: The maternal side
We focus on the Kings, but Elizabeth had another grandfather: Claude Bowes-Lyon, the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He was the father of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
Claude was a Scottish aristocrat. He lived at Glamis Castle, which is basically the setting for Macbeth. He was much more low-key than George V. He liked gardening. He was known for being exceptionally kind, which is perhaps where the Queen Mother got her "Smiley Mother" persona. While George V provided the royal lineage, the Bowes-Lyon side provided the longevity and the "common" touch that helped the royals survive the 20th century.
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Common misconceptions about George V
People often think he was cold. And yeah, to his sons, he was. But his diaries show a man who was deeply anxious about his role. He worried about the world changing too fast. He hated the radio at first. He hated the idea of "talking to a machine."
Another mistake? Thinking he was just a figurehead. He actually exerted a lot of influence behind the scenes, especially during constitutional crises. He was the one who nudged politicians toward compromise. He was a mediator in a crown.
If you're looking for the blueprint of the modern British monarch, George V is the guy. He understood that to survive, the monarchy had to be visible, it had to be "British," and it had to be slightly boring. He traded the grand, imperial style of his grandmother, Victoria, for a more suburban, family-oriented vibe. It worked.
How to explore this history yourself
If you're actually interested in the guy, don't just read Wikipedia.
- Check out the Royal Philatelic Collection. It’s basically his life’s work. He turned a hobby into one of the most valuable stamp collections in the world.
- Visit Sandringham. This was his favorite place. He actually kept the clocks there twenty-five minutes fast (Sandringham Time) so he would have more daylight for hunting.
- Watch the 1930s newsreels. You can find them on YouTube or the British Pathé archives. Seeing him speak gives you a much better sense of why people respected him. He sounds like a grumpy but fair grandfather.
Knowing who Queen Elizabeth's grandfather was gives you the context for everything she did. She didn't invent the "keep calm and carry on" attitude. She inherited it from a man who spent his life trying to make a German-descended family feel as British as a cup of tea. He was the architect of the House of Windsor, and without him, the monarchy probably wouldn't have made it to the 21st century.
To dig deeper into the specific lineage, look into the 1917 Proclamation. It’s the legal document that changed everything and explains exactly why the family shifted away from their continental roots to become the quintessential British institution we recognize today. Look for biographies by Kenneth Rose or Gore’s authorized biography if you want the "heavy" versions of his life story.