The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the UK. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with official national terms for the family. Members of the Royal Family belong to, either by birth or marriage, the House of Windsor, since 1917, when George V changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Cotha. This decision was primarily taken because Britain and her Empire were at war with Germany and given the British Royal Family's strong German ancestry, it was felt that its public image could be improved by choosing a more British house name. The new name chosen, Windsor, had absolutely no connection other than as the name of the castle which was and continues to be a royal residence.

The Queen lives in Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace is not only the home of the Queen and Prince Philip but also the London residence of the Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and the Earl and Countess of Wessex (Prince Edward and his wife) and their daughter.

Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms, a cinema and a swimming pool. About 400 people work at the Palace, including domestic servants, chefs, footmen, cleaners, plumbers, gardeners, chauffeurs, electricians, and two people who look after the 300 clocks. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live at Buckingham Palace.

«Я должно быть почти единственный человек в мире, который носит шляпы постоянно»

At present the British royal family is headed by Queen Elizabeth II. The familys surname is Windsor. It was changed from Saxe- Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April, Her birthday is celebrated in Britain on the second Saturday of June each year. On this day the parade called the Trooping of the Colour takes place. Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne on February 6, 1952 after the death of her father, King George VI. She was crowned in Westminster Abbey in June, The Queen lives in Buckingham Palace. There are some other official royal residences: Windsor Castle, St, James Palace, Balmoral Castle, Frogmore House, The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Sandringham House and Kensington Palace. Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, married Princess Elizabeth in They have got three sons and a daughter.

Diana, Princess of Wales (often called in mass media Princess Di), won the affection of many people by her modesty, shyness and beauty. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident in August, 1997.

On 31 August 1997, Diana was fatally injured in a car crash in the Pont de lAlma road tunnel in Paris, which also caused the death of her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul, acting security manager of the Hotel Ritz Paris. Millions of people watched her funeral. Diana's funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 6 September The previous day Queen Elizabeth II had paid tribute to her in a live television broadcast.Her sons, the Princes William and Harry, walked in the funeral procession behind her coffin, along with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, and with Diana's brother, Charles Spencer,9 th Earl Spencer. Lord Spencer said of his sister, "She proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic."

Майкл, Пиппа, Джеймс и Кэрол Миддлтон, принц Чарльз, герцогиня Камилла, принц Филипп, принц Уильям, принц Георг, принцесса Шарлотта, герцогиня Кэтрин и королева Елизавета II