LIVEBLOG - As the Royal House of Windsor turns 100, we keep you up-to-date with all the pomp and excitement surrounding today's unique royal centenary.
♕ It's time to close the liveblog on this momentous day for the House of Windsor, but the centenary celebrations will no doubt continue long into the evening, so don't forget to raise a glass to royal longevity and a century of Anglo-German unease. 18:00
♕ Still no sign of the Queen today, as the Cambridges and newly-septuagenarian Camilla hog the headlines. 17:40
♕ If today's anniversary has inspired you to take a trip to Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, please note that the duchy no longer exists, but Gotha is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia and is home to Germany's only museum on the history of the insurance business, while historic Coburg in Bavaria was once home to Martin Luther and is said to be the place of origin of the hot dog. 17:15
♕ Over the the last 800 years, poor old Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is the royal House with the shortest tenure. The House of Hanover is first, just ahead of the House of Plantagenet. The House of Windsor is due to overtake the house of Stuart at the end of next week.
♕ Members of the Royal Family who are entitled to the style of HRH Prince or Princess do not normally need a surname, but if at any time they do (such as upon marriage), that surname is Mountbatten-Windsor. This surname first appeared on an official document on 14 November 1973, in the marriage register at Westminster Abbey for the marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. 16:20
♕ Today is also the first day of Swan Upping, the annual census of the swan population on the River Thames, but no members of the Royal Family appear to have turned up to that either. 15:45
♕ There are 35 living members of the House of Windsor - thirteen descendants of King George VI, six descendants of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and sixteen descendants of Prince George, Duke of Kent. Amongst the younger members of the family are Lady Cosima Windsor, Leopold Windsor, Louis Windsor, Isabella Windsor and Maud Windsor. 15:05
♕ Queen Elizabeth II is the House of Windsor's longest reigning monarch, having ruled for 65.4% of its existence. The House of Windsor's other monarchs, in percentage order, were King George V (18.5%), King George VI (15.2%), and King Edward VIII (0.9%). 14:40
♕ In today's only other royal engagements, the Princess Royal is attending a reception at Saddlers' Hall, and the Duke of Gloucester is at the Honourable Artillery Company for the launch of the Partnership of the Mark Benevolent Fund and St John Ambulance. 14:10
♕ Confirming the extent to which relationships with Germany have changed, today the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte) flew out on a four day tour of Poland and Germany. There are no plans to visit Saxe Coburg or Gotha. 13:50
♕ The Royal family decided to change its name after being backed into a corner by a public increasingly hysterical about 'the enemy within'.
♕ Today is the 70th birthday of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. It has been suggested that Prince Charles may have married her in an attempt to upstage today's more important royal anniversary. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were invited to her private party at Highgrove House this weekend but did not attend. 12:30
♕ On taking the throne in 1952 the Queen declared that the royal house would remain the House of Windsor - that is, she and her children would not take Philip's name of Mountbatten. The Prince was not amused.
The Queen made another declaration in 1960 that all non-royal descendants would be known as 'Mountbatten-Windsor'. 11:40
♕ Prince Louis of Battenberg, resident in Britain at the time, opted for literal translation and took the name Mountbatten. The original suggestion had been Battenhill. 11:20
♕ Several different potential rebrands were discussed in 1917, with the name Windsor being proposed by the King’s private secretary Lord Stamfordham. 10:40
♕ The BBC's Royal Correspondent reports on the Queen's fortuitous location this morning, and suggests that Mall-bound well-wishers should immediately relocate.
10:05
♕ As yet there is no sign of Her Majesty the Queen and the other Windsors on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. 09:50
♕ The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was introduced to the royal lineage in 1840 by the the marriage of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Queen Victoria, the last of the Hanovers. King Edward VII (1901-1910) and King George V were the only British monarchs of the short-lived House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 09:20
♕ When revolution forced King George's first cousin Nicholas II to abdicate as Emperor of Russia, also in 1917, Britain's royal family were finally convinced of the need to abandon all titles held under the German Crown and adopt anglicised names.
♕ The name change was driven by a rapid increase in anti-German sentiment in Britain after the Gotha G.IV, a heavy WW1 aircraft capable of crossing the English Channel, began bombing London directly and became a household name. 07:55
♕ On Tuesday 17th July 1917 King George V issued a royal proclamation renouncing the family name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and adopting the name Windsor instead.
