House of Winton

The House of Winton is the fictional royal family of the Star Kingdom of Manticore in the Honorverse, a series of military science fiction novels written by David Weber.

The House of Winton has been the only Royal dynasty in the history of the Manticore. The current reigning monarch is Her Majesty Elizabeth III, who came to the Throne after her father's (King Roger III) assassination by agents of the People's Republic of Haven.

Roger Winton (leader of the Manticore colonization project) had black skin and his descendants have remained so, despite centuries of intermixing and dilution of genetic stock varieties. Since Winton's parents had him slightly genetically modified, it may be that the retention of dark skin is linked to the modifications which are more than likely dominant, thus accounting for the effect.

Prior to leaving for Manticore A, Roger Winton set up the Manticoran Colony Trust of Zurich which was to invest remaining capital on behalf of the colonists, who were traveling via cryogenic slowboat. The trust was to watch over the colonist's interests (political, technological, etc) during the 650 years that it would take for the colony ship, Jason to reach its destination.

The Trust did its job well enough that upon Jason's arrival in 1416 P.D., the colonists found themselves with a very favorable bank balance, and a crew of teachers on hand to bring them up to speed with technological advances over the centuries. Thirty eight years after the colony's founding, a plague resistant to everything available to Manticoran doctors struck. It took ten years to develop an effective vaccine and in that time, 60% of the original colonists died.

Replacement colonists were needed, and money from the Trust was used to by the surviving Manticorans to finance travel for those interested. But, being concerned about retaining control of the newly expanded colony, the surviving colonists took measures to retain that control.

Since the colony's foundation Roger Winton had served as Planetary Administrator. Although now elderly (more than eighty T-years), he remained active and his daughter, Elizabeth, was herself President of the Board of Directors, and also a good manager.

Because the Wintons had served Manticore well, a convention of colony shareholders decided to convert the planetary government from a Board of Directors to a Monarchy with Roger Winton as its first King. The Wintons have ruled the Star Kingdom of Manticore ever since. The Manticoran Constitution gives reigning monarchs limited actual executive power, leaving control of government largely in the hands of Parliament. The original intent was that the Monarchy would be largely ceremonial, but Elizabeth I was more capable than most had expected. By the time of her death, the Monarch had become an important part of governance, not merely a figurehead.

Even though the Star Kingdom does not have an official religion, the members of the House of Winton are communicants of the Second Reformation Roman Catholic Church, and have supported the construction of King Michael's Cathedral.

The Manticoran Constitution also mandates that the Heir to the Throne must marry a commoner, thus ensuring that the Royal Family keeps in touch with the commoner population of the Star Kingdom.

Since King Roger's ascension to the throne there have been sixteen monarchs of Manticore. Individually and as a group the Wintons have proven to be unusually strong and responsible rulers.

King Roger I

 * Post Diaspora calendar: 1471-1474 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 32-34 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3574-3577 AD

First monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Born Roger Winton, on Old Earth. King Roger I was not only the first King of Manticore, but also the only one born on Earth as well as the only colony leader in the pre-monarchy period. As President of Manticore Colony, Ltd., Roger Winton organized the colony expedition and established the Manticore Colony Trust to safeguard the colonists' interests during the centuries-long journey. After colonization, he served as Planetary Administrator and was continuously reelected for more than forty years. The plague that devastated Manticore took the lives of his wife and two Earth-born children. When Manticore reformed its Constitution, Roger Winton (already over eighty years old) was crowned King Roger I and reigned for three years before his death.

Queen Elizabeth I

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1474-1507 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 34-53 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3577-3610 AD

Second monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Born Elizabeth Winton, Queen Elizabeth I was the first Manticore-born monarch of the Star Kingdom. Before the monarchy, Elizabeth Winton served as President of the Board of Directors of the Manticore Colony, effectively second only to her father. She was also one of Manticore's leading jurists and a survivor of the plague that ravaged the colony.

Elizabeth became Queen of Manticore after the death of her father, and immediately took steps to ensure that the Crown would not be a mere figurehead. Queen Elizabeth played the nobility's various factions against each other and gained the support of the growing commoner population of the Star Kingdom, securing for her and her descendants the supreme role in the Manticoran political system.

King Michael

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1507-1539 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 53-72 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3610-3642 AD

Third monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

King Edward I

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1539-1544 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 72-74 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3642-3647 AD

Fourth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. King Edward I ruled for only five Terran years before dying in a boating accident. He was succeeded in the Throne by his sister, presumably due to the lack of heirs of his own.

Queen Elizabeth II

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1544-1601 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 74-107 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3647-3704 AD

Fifth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

King David

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1601-1642 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 107-131 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3704-3745 AD

Sixth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

King Roger II

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1642-1669 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 131-147 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3745-3772 AD

Seventh monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. During his youth, Prince Roger came to believe in liberal ideas. This was a source of problems for his parents in the light of widespread criticism of the Monarchy (due in part to the example of the Republic of Haven, a planet with high ideals and superb performance in reaching them -- the expansion of later centuries had not begun at the time). Prince Roger married Gryphon-born commoner Solange Chabala, and after being crowned, the couple worked intensely to make the monarchy useful in the eyes of the population.

Following the death of Queen Solange onboard the royal yacht HMS Queen Elizabeth I when its inertial compensator failed, King Roger II undertook to run the government efficiently and to ensure that the Crown ruled supreme over all the Star Kingdom. This led to clashes between the Crown and elements in the Manticoran government which resisted, most notably reactionary elelment sin the aristocracy. In addition, the Sphinx Forestry Service, established by an Amendment to the Star Kingdom's Constitution proved recalcitrant to king Roger's attempts to abrogate the special protection that amendment afforded treecats in the Star Kingdom. This resulted in an obsession about bringing Sphinx under Crown control. Some of his views changed, however, after Princess Adrienne survived an assassination attempt due to timely intervention by her treecat and some of his associates at the Forestry Commission Headquarters on Sphinx.

Queen Adrienne

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1669-1681 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 147-154 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3772-3784 AD

Eighth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Born Adrienne Michelle Aoriana Elizabeth Winton to King Roger II and Queen Solange. During a state visit to Sphinx, Crown Princess Adrienne was attacked as part of an assassination attempt. She was the first Manticoran Monarch to be adopted by a treecat, and at her direction, the Manticoran military allowed those adopted by treecats to serve with their companions in the ships of the Royal Manticoran Navy.

The famous last battle of Edward Saganami took place during her reign. (see "Shadow of Saganami", ch. 1)

A royal yacht HMS Queen Adrienne was named after her.

King William

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1681-1690 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 154-158 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3784-3793 AD

Ninth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. King William was the first Manticoran monarch to be assassinated. He was murdered by a psychotic during the ninth T-year of rule.

The superdreadnought HMS King William (affectionatly nicknamed "Billy Boy") was named after him. This ship was the lead ship of her class, and was destroyed at the Second Battle of Basilisk during Operation Icarus.

King William II

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1690-1741 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 158-188 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3793-3844 AD

Tenth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

Queen Caitrin

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1741-1762 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 188-200 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3844-3865 AD

Eleventh monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. The superdreadnought HMS  Queen Caitrin, Admiral Hamish Alexander's flagship during the Trevor's Star campaign, was named after her.

Queen Samantha I

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1762-1785 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 200-214 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3865-3888 AD

Twelfth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

King George

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1785-1802 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 214-224 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3888-3905 AD

Thirteenth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

Queen Samantha II

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1802-1857 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 224-255 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3905-3960 AD

Fourteenth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Mother of King Roger III and of Caitrin Winton-Henke. Queen Samantha II died of old age and heart failure due to incurable deterioration.

King Roger III

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1857-1883 P.D.
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 255-270 A.L.
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3960-3986 AD

Fifteenth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. King Roger III was a major factor in the Star Kingdom's pre-war military expansion. He and his advisors resolved to fight if necessary when the rapidly expanding People's Republic of Haven became agressive. The Centrist and Crown Loyalist parties supported him in this policy. King Roger III was also the first Manticoran monarch to receive Prolong. He died while grav-skiing. The public was not told that it was in fact an assassination after investigation revealed a conspiracy by a cabal of isolationist politicians and political figures in the payroll of the Havenite Office of Internal Security (InSec).

His common-born wife, Queen Angelique, had been called "poor little beggar maid" by the Manticoran nobility, but came to be regarded with affection by the population. He had two children, the future Queen Elizabeth III and Prince Michael.

Queen Elizabeth III

 * Post diaspora calendar: 1883 P.D.-present
 * Official Manticoran reckoning: 270 A.L.-present
 * Christian Era reckoning: 3986 AD-present

Sixteenth and currently reigning monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. She is straightforward, unduplicitous and honourable. This sets her apart from many of her aristocratic contemporaries.

However, she is regarded as a shrewd political analyst and an effective monarch, though she has a volcanic temper and is said to keep her grudges until they die of old age, whereupon she has them stuffed and mounted. In comparison, even elephants are forgetful. in particular, she hates the People's Republic of Haven, since it was responsible for the murder of her father, and for starting an expensive and deadly war with the Star Kingdom. The second version of the Committee of Public Safety Havenite government also assassinated her Prime Minister, uncle, cousin, and many others during a State visit to Grayson.

Her father was killed in a grav-skiing 'accident' orchestrated by some Manticoran politicians who disagreed with his military policies and who were influenced by Havenite agents or paid directly by them. The apparent plan had been to put a weak, teenaged Heir onto the Throne and to influence Star Kingdom policies (specifically the military buildup in anticipation of war with the PRH). They were, however, faced instead with Queen Elizabeth Winton III.

Elizabeth III, like seven of the previous nine Manticoran monarchs, was adopted by a treecat. She has named him Ariel. Treecats refer to here as Soul of Steel. Her consort, Prince Justin, is also an adoptee, having been adopted by her father's treecat, Monroe, after the late King's assassination. The Royal Couple have two children, Crown Prince Roger and Princess Joanna.