What The Royal Family Looked Like 100 Years Ago

George V was a king firmly tied to the Victorian era but leading his country into a very different new century. Ascending to the throne when his father Edward VII died in 1910, per Biography, George reigned during the First World War, which, incidentally, was fought against and with a couple of his first cousins, including Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Another first cousin, Nicholas II of Russia, who was assassinated along with his family in 1918, looked like George's twin. In some photos, it's very hard to know which one of them you are looking at.

George V had served in the Royal Navy for 15 years when he was young, according to BBC News, and he loved wearing uniforms, naval or otherwise. And in 1920, the Navy made the big mistake of changing a small detail of their uniform without asking the king (because ... why would they?). The gold lace stripes worn on the cuffs of an admiral that denotes one's rank were made slightly thinner. That was it. But George was not having it, refused to wear the new stripes, and made sure no one in the royal family did either, something that holds to this day. If you ever see one of the current royals in an admiral uniform, they will have thicker stripes than anyone else.

The king definitely gives off a serious vibe in this portrait, taken in 1923. He was 58 years old and would live until 1936.

In the 1920s, the Prince of Wales was George V's eldest son, whom the family called David. However, he would go down in history as Edward VIII, the king who abdicated the throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. After the abdication, he was known as the Duke of Windsor. To avoid confusion, let's just call him Edward.

Edward was perhaps one of the most fashionable members of the royal family ever. One thing that comes through in contemporaries' comments about him is how slick he was. According to Biography, an obsessed American press called him an "arbiter of men's fashions, a fearless horseman, tireless dancer, idol of bachelors, dream of spinsters." Biographer Alexander Larman, author of "The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication," explains (via Vanity Fair) that Edward was "an accomplished public speaker who seemed genuinely to enjoy the adulation of the crowds and the masses." It wasn't all good though, as Larman adds, "Edward was a consummate performer whose charm, charisma, and good looks could not disguise the vacancy at his core." And Gore Vidal once wrote that Edward "always had something of ... riveting stupidity to say on any subject."

But Edward was a ladies man, carrying on many, many affairs before and after he met Wallis Simpson, as recorded in "Before Wallis: Edward VIII's Other Women." While his natural flair is muted by his uniform in this portrait taken in early 1920, when Edward was 25, you can still see the delicate features that so many would find so attractive.

When talking about the six children of George V and Queen Mary, the Times opined that "the middle two can be a bit forgettable." One of those two was Princess Mary. This is a shame because her life was pretty amazing. She was no-nonsense and intelligent. Her brother Edward, the Prince of Wales, is alleged to have said that it was "a shame she was not heir to the throne as she is far cleverer than me."

She was 17 when WWI broke out, and instead of crying that her debutante ball was canceled, she got to work supporting the troops. She organized a Christmas gift for every single one, and as a 21st birthday present, she told her father she wanted him to let her train as a nurse so she could work in a hospital helping the wounded. After the war, Mary didn't slow down, and was known to be one of the hardest workers in the whole family. As Tatler explains, she "lived a life characterized by 'firsts.'" She became chancellor of the University of Leeds (the first woman in that role at any university) and was the first woman to be an honorary General of the British Army.

But the only thing that mattered at the time, according to Vanity Fair, was that the tomboyish Mary reached her mid-20s with no husband. In 1922, she married the 15-years-older Viscount Lascelles, and while the rumor mill said she was pressured into it, Vogue reported the bride looked like "a fairy princess with youth, beauty, and happiness."

If there's any member of the Windsors who can beat out Edward for most fashionable, it was his brother Prince George, Duke of Kent, pictured here in 1922. According to "George and Marina: The Duke and Duchess of Kent" (via The Rake), he was "the most interesting, intelligent, and cultivated member of his generation." Even the fashionable Edward later talked about how much they had in common, saying, "Although George was eight-and-a-half years my junior, I found in his character qualities that were akin to my own. We became more than brothers — we became close friends."

George attracted equally attractive people to him, including his wife, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, who he once described as "this lovely, chic creature." Still, he couldn't limit himself to one person, or indeed, one gender. George slept with a who's who of 1920s society and may have had at least one illegitimate child. There's also rumor of drug abuse, with legend stating Edward had to forcibly get his brother to stop taking morphine and cocaine. Despite this, the marriage was very happy, with the couple entertaining their famous and titled friends at their lavish home. George had done the interior design himself, and was accomplished in many more areas, speaking multiple languages, and enjoying the theatre, art, and skiing.

Because of his hedonistic lifestyle, there are many conspiracies surrounding George's death in a plane crash in 1942, just before he turned 40, but it was simply a tragic accident.

In 1920, the BBC records, Albert, Duke of York attended a ball. That's where he met the woman who would be the love of his life, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, whose father was a minor aristocrat. Albert spent the next two years courting her, before he finally asked her to marry him. But Elizabeth took some convincing to marry Albert. While their relationship would be a huge success, he had to ask her three times before she agreed. (Strangely, according to the Irish Independent, before the announcement, British newspapers ran stories saying Elizabeth would marry his brother Edward, Prince of Wales.)

Elizabeth's personality was very different than that of her shy and retiring husband. She was extremely kind and outspoken. She replied to Albert once while turning him down that she couldn't marry him because she was "afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak, and act as I feel I really ought to" (via British Heritage). But especially as she got older (she lived to be 101), her tongue got looser, and she became known for her quips.

Compared to the glamorous Wallis Simpson, the mistress and then wife of her brother-in-law Edward, Elizabeth was extremely commonplace. While Albert might have loved her very deeply and probably thought she was a stunner, Wallis herself had some nasty nicknames for Elizabeth, calling her "the Dowdy Duchess" or "the fat Scottish cook." But she was perfectly lovely, as you can see in her half of a photo taken in 1923 to mark her engagement to Albert.

Princess Beatrice was Queen Victoria's youngest child and had been raised by the side of her mother, like, literally. Victoria decided that Beatrice would have a special role in the family: to be there as her mother's companion – and, essentially, her servant – constantly at the queen's beck and call, as explained by PBS. Victoria did not bother asking Beatrice if this was what she wanted with her life, of course. The result was a very isolated and shy young girl, whose father died when she was only 4 years old, and who was completely under the thumb of her mother.

Or was she? Despite the fact Victoria had tried to make it impossible, Beatrice finally rebelled. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum, on a trip to Germany, she met Prince Henry of Battenberg. When she came home, she informed her mother she wanted to marry him. Victoria refused her consent, and the two women didn't speak to each other for months, even though they were still constantly together, which must have been very awkward. Eventually, Victoria gave in – with a catch. Beatrice and Henry could get married, as long as they promised to live with Victoria from then on.

But by the early 1920s, Queen Victoria had been dead for two decades. Only three of her nine children were still alive, including Princess Beatrice (seen here in 1926), who was now a widow, and a stately reminder of a time that had passed. She lived until the age of 87, dying in 1944.