# Can you tell them apart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208 "2009-07-25T07:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/21 "2009-07-25T19:54:12Z")
How did those guys eat without getting food all over their beards? ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/22 "2009-07-25T19:58:32Z")
My guess before peeking is that George V is on the right, based entirely on the fact that to me he looks more like George VI around the eyes… ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/23 "2009-07-25T22:55:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I guessed correctly as well, on the same basis as **Cazzle.** > > **Mr. Kobayashi** got the right answer, but the reason is wrong: > > According to [this site](http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/collections/relax-with-stamps/), the monarchs switched uniforms for the occasion. and just for yuks, Nicky would let Georgie kill a few Jews, and Nicky would hang a few Irishmen ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/24 "2009-07-26T08:19:53Z")
I guessed correctly. My reasoning was the bone structure of their faces. Nick has much more defined bone structure. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/25 "2009-07-26T22:32:15Z")
Nick is a hottie! (And I guessed based on fur level, as well) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/26 "2009-07-26T22:35:15Z")
How did these guys eat without getting food all over their beards? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/27 "2009-07-26T23:45:25Z")
I got it right, but not because of the uniforms. The eyes gave George V away. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/28 "2009-07-27T01:07:00Z")
I got it right - I’ve read some bios of George V so was familiar with his features. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/29 "2009-07-27T01:24:46Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > How did these guys eat without getting food all over their beards? Chin bibs? ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/30 "2009-07-27T01:31:04Z")
Pretty sure it’s George on the right. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/31 "2009-07-27T01:36:24Z")
The file name gave a clue, but I have seen a picture of the two together before (not this picture though) and I could kind of tell by the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/32 "2009-07-27T01:43:18Z")
There’s a good book by Catrine Clay titled [King, Kaiser, Tsar](http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/31?book_id=1438551)about the three cousins, King George V, Tsar Nicholas II, and Kaiser Wilhelm, and the familial relationships between them, including some of the implications before and during the War. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/33 "2009-07-27T02:08:45Z")
How were Wilhelm and Nicolas cousins? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/34 "2009-07-27T02:34:03Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#): > > King George V, Tsar Nicholas II, and Kaiser Wilhelm, and the familial relationships between them, including some of the implications before and during the War. It is probably an historical urban legend, but Kaiser Wilhelm is said to have remarked, “If only Grandmother were her!” 🙂 I didn’t see Northen Piper’s post. Victoria was Grandmother to most of European royalty. Nicholas married Alexandra, granddaughter of Victoria. Victoria was related to the German house of Saxe-Coberg-Gotha through her marriage to Albert. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/35 "2009-07-27T04:38:44Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > How were Wilhelm and Nicolas cousins? George was first cousin to Wilhelm, and also first cousin to Nicholas, but Wilhelm and Nicholas were not themselves first cousins (although they were more distantly related, as fifth cousins). George and Wilhelm were grandsons of Victoria, George through his father Edward VII and Wilhelm through his mother Victoria, Edward’s sister. George and Nicholas were grandsons of Christian IX of Denmark, George via his mother Alexandra and Nicholas via his mother Dagmar, Alexandra’s sister. Nicholas’s wife Alexandra, however, was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and thus first cousin to both George and Wilhelm. No wonder they all looked alike. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/36 "2009-07-27T08:06:24Z")
A pedigree collapse rivalled only by the _Hindenburg_ disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/37 "2009-07-27T10:41:52Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > How did these guys eat without getting food all over their beards? They were royalty. They had people to do that for them. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/38 "2009-07-27T14:05:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I guessed correctly as well, on the same basis as **Cazzle.** > > **Mr. Kobayashi** got the right answer, but the reason is wrong: > > According to [this site](http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/collections/relax-with-stamps/), the monarchs switched uniforms for the occasion. Interesting. I got it exactly wrong, but I was going by the uniforms, so if they hadn’t switched, I’d be right. 😛 those sneaky royals! ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/39 "2009-07-27T14:32:46Z")
Ha. I got it right because the one on the left looks like an autocrat. The one on the right looks like a constitutional monarch. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208/40 "2009-07-27T20:55:57Z")
I guessed based on their clothing. Nick is holding a fur cap of a style that I associate with Russia and has the pelt of an animal over his shoulder. George is dressed more in white, which seems more British to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-them-apart/504208.md?page=3)