<P> Victoria's son, Edward VII, became the first monarch of the House of Saxe - Coburg and Gotha in 1901 . In 1917, the next monarch, George V, changed "Saxe - Coburg and Gotha" to "Windsor" in response to the anti-German sympathies aroused by the First World War . George V's reign was marked by the separation of Ireland into Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom, and the Irish Free State, an independent nation, in 1922 . </P> <P> During the twentieth century, the Commonwealth of Nations evolved from the British Empire . Prior to 1926, the British Crown reigned over the British Empire collectively; the Dominions and Crown Colonies were subordinate to the United Kingdom . The Balfour Declaration of 1926 gave complete self - government to the Dominions, effectively creating a system whereby a single monarch operated independently in each separate Dominion . The concept was solidified by the Statute of Westminster 1931, which has been likened to "a treaty among the Commonwealth countries". </P> <P> The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution, although it is often still referred to as "British" for legal and historical reasons and for convenience . The monarch became separately monarch of the United Kingdom, monarch of Canada, monarch of Australia, and so forth . The independent states within the Commonwealth would share the same monarch in a relationship likened to a personal union . </P> <P> George V's death in 1936 was followed by the accession of Edward VIII, who caused a public scandal by announcing his desire to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson, even though the Church of England opposed the remarriage of divorcées . Accordingly, Edward announced his intention to abdicate; the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and of other Commonwealth countries granted his request . Edward VIII and any children by his new wife were excluded from the line of succession, and the Crown went to his brother, George VI . George served as a rallying figure for the British people during World War II, making morale - boosting visits to the troops as well as to munitions factories and to areas bombed by Nazi Germany . In June 1948 George VI relinquished the title Emperor of India, although remaining head of state of the Dominion of India . </P>

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