When you think of Great Britain, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind are the iconic figures of the royal family. This sacred line of descent constitutes the British monarchy, above the people of the Commonwealth under the control of Great Britain. With such fanfare and dignity comes an equally great responsibility. While the structure and ceremonial surrounding the British monarchy have remained largely unchanged since its creation, the role and powers of the current British monarchy are significantly different. The British monarchy consists of a king or queen and their family, whose heirs inherit the throne when the king or queen dies. The current royal family is known as the “House of Windsor” and was created in 1917 (Whitelock). Before 1917, the name of the British royal family was “Saxe-Coburg-Gotha”, which was derived from the numerous intermarriages between English and Germans. In the midst of World War I, relations between England and Germany were called into question and, in a pretentious attempt to distance itself from its Germanic roots, the name of the monarchy was changed by King George V (Marr 17). Along with the renaming of the royal family, King George V also made several changes to the functioning of the monarchy at the time. For the first time in the history of the monarchy, King George V not only allowed, but promoted the marriage of the royal family with other British nobles, rather than with royals from other countries (Whitelock). The era of the House of Windsor also encouraged greater development in the arts, which Britain had long been accused of lacking prior to that period (Marr 21). Despite the many changes that the Monarchy has undergone over the years, the basic structure has remained at the heart of the ph MediaGroup paper. April 10, 2011.Web. February 20. 2012. “Public Opinion.” republic.org.uk. Republic. Nd Web. 14 February. 2012. “The Queen and the United Kingdom.” The official website of the British monarchy. Network. 09 February 2012. Simpson, Jeffrey. "A Brief Guide to the British Monarchy." Center for Citizenship.Globe & Mail. Network. February 11. 2012.Stinson, Jeffrey. "At Queen's 80th anniversary, Britons ask: is the monarchy licked?" USA Today.Gannett CO. Inc., May 3, 2006. Web. February 20. 2012. “What polls reveal about Britain's support for the monarchy.” BBCAmerica.com.BBC. nd Web. 14 February. 2012.Whitelock, Anna. "The monarchy makes a living." The New York Times. The New York Times. April 28, 2011. Web. February 20. 2012.Williamson, Phillip, et. al. . “The British monarchy: unifies or divides?” A stamp on the world. April 28. 2011. Network. 15 February. 2012.