The British Royal Family Tree, Explained

It is the most famous family tree in the world — and one of the most misunderstood. The House of Windsor is barely a century old: King George V invented the name in 1917 to shed his family's German titles during the First World War. In the generations since, the dynasty has weathered an abdication that nearly broke it, the longest reign in British history, and a very modern set of exits and scandals. This guide walks through who's who across six generations, from George V down to the children who will one day inherit the crown.

How to read the graph

Each circle is a person. Lines connect parents to children, and spouses to each other. The red labels mark the five reigning monarchs — follow them top to bottom and you trace the line of succession itself: George V → Edward VIII → George VI → Elizabeth II → Charles III. Click a node to focus on it; drag to rearrange the layout.

Generation 1 — the king who became a Windsor

At the top sits George V and his wife Mary of Teck. In 1917, with anti-German feeling running high during the war, the king swept away the dynasty's old name — Saxe-Coburg and Gotha — and declared the royal house would henceforth be called Windsor, after the castle. Every monarch since has been a Windsor. Mary, famously engaged first to George's elder brother before his sudden death, became one of the most formidable queens consort of the century.

Generation 2 — the abdication that changed everything

George V's eldest son became Edward VIII in January 1936 — and gave up the throne 326 days later to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American the establishment would not accept as queen. The crown passed, unwillingly, to his younger brother George VI, who overcame a debilitating stammer to become the steadying voice of Britain through the Second World War. His wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, refused to leave a Blitz-bombed London and lived to 101. Their daughter would inherit everything.

Generation 3 — the record-breaking reign

Never expected to be queen until her uncle's abdication, Elizabeth II acceded in 1952 and reigned for 70 years — the longest in British history. Beside her for 73 of those years was Prince Philip, born a prince of Greece and Denmark, who renounced his foreign titles to marry her and became the longest-serving consort the country has known. Her younger sister, Princess Margaret, lived a glamorous, turbulent life in the spotlight after giving up a romance the palace would not sanction.

Generation 4 — Charles and his siblings

Elizabeth and Philip had four children. Charles III waited longer to be king — over 70 years as heir — than anyone in British history, finally acceding in 2022 with his second wife, Queen Camilla, beside him; his first marriage, to Diana, Princess of Wales, ended in a 1996 divorce and her death a year later transfixed the world. Anne, Princess Royal, is an Olympic equestrian and the family's hardest worker by engagement count; Prince Andrew stepped back from public life amid scandal; and Prince Edward inherited their father's Duke of Edinburgh title in 2023.

Generations 5 & 6 — the modern royals and the future line

The most recognised royals today are Charles and Diana's sons. William, Prince of Wales, is now first in line to the throne; he married Catherine, the first future queen consort with a university degree. His brother Prince Harry and his American wife, Meghan, stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California. The succession then runs on to the youngest generation — William and Catherine's children George, Charlotte, and Louis, who already hold the second, third, and fourth places in line to the crown.

A century in dates

Generation by generation

From George V to Prince George

The line of succession is, at heart, a single chain of parents and children. Follow it from the king who created the Windsor name down to the young prince who will one day inherit it, and a century of British history compresses into five straight steps.