Upon hearing that his cousin had changed the name of the British royal house to Windsor , German Emperor Wilhelm II remarked jokingly that he planned to see Shakespeare 's play `` The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha '' , a play on the actual title of Shakespeare 's work The Merry Wives of Windsor .
When he heard about the change of name , German Emperor William II joked that he wanted to see Shakespeare 's play The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha .