[ingliz]

Imperialism -The British Royal family married into most of the European ruling families, Russia, Prussia, etc., so there is an argument to be made for the House of Hanover/Saxe-Coberg & Gotha being the most powerful family in the 19th and early 20th centuries

[Figlio di Moros]

Isn't the House of Hanover a small offshoot of the House of Wettin?

[ingliz]

Yes, but that name has never been associated with British royalty.

[redcarpet]

The British royal family from 1900-1914. In my view. That was the period of the height of the British Empire.

[MB.]

The British royal family from 1900-1914. In my view. That was the period of the height of the British Empire.

Height of the British Empire was more like 1855-1902, with the actual economic and military power of the empire at its height during the Palmerston regime.

[JohnRawls]

Come on. I am really surprised nobody mentioned The Romanovs .

They RULED the world for some time by dominating Europe Under Catherine the Great and may be under her Grandchild .

Nobody on the list came close to that . On top of that they had many relatives in most European familites + Russian Throne untill the Commies , although not many our still alive nowadays .

I am pretty sure the House of Habsburg could give them a nice challenge but still .

[Igor Antunov]

Yeah Romanovs, germany + russia = win

[Oddity]

In history, it'd be impossible to accurately measure, though I'd say the Rothschilds are a good bet.

In the modern day, it'd probably be divided between the Waltons, Rockefellers, and Rothschilds.

[R_G]

The Earnhardts.

[Cookie Monster]

The Rothschild's. They made profits by toying with nations, from war to economic depression.

[Thunderhawk]

Currently, Rothschild. Though they are a pretty large group of people.

Historically, Khans.



Contenders? :
- Did the Pharoah have lots of consorts? What happened to children of such relationships? If there were a lot and spread out they might be contenders.

- Mohammed's descendents have special status, right? Ayatollahs and many of the caliphs used such ancestry as a claim to legitimacy and a lever to power.

[Lensky1917]

The Earnhardts.

You have a point there.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s fans are rabid fanatcis who make NASCAR total pussies when it comes to making decisions.

"What will Jr.'s fans think"?!

[Potemkin]

Height of the British Empire was more like 1855-1902, with the actual economic and military power of the empire at its height during the Palmerston regime.

Agreed. The British Empire was in decline as early as the 1890s.

[Thunderhawk]

How far apart in relation can be people be and still be consdiered family?

3rd cousins? 8th cousins?

Should the current members of the Capetian family really be considered a single family?

[Inexorable]

Point taken. Combine the Waltons and Oprah and you have an invicable force of dumb rednecks and stay at home moms, until the Rothschilds crush them all.

I think I'm going to be warned for that statement....

Awesome movie plot. In the future everyone lives and works inside Wal Marts (they have Wal-Mart dentists, why not apartments?) and they are constantly attacked by Rothschild terrorist gangs.

[Jackal]

Rothchild Family.

They are Jews and thus run the world.

[Quantum]

It's hard to quantify but I'll vote for the Rothschilds, along with the Du Pont's and the Rockefellers and other prominent families because these families have huge influence over the banking sector and other areas of the economy and their vast wealth influences Presidential elections. Some people have the audacity to call the Presidency the most powerful job in the world when Obama doled the taxpayers' money on bankers and this is proof that this chump is bought and sold for by Wall Street, despite pretending to be a champion of the people.

[Doomhammer]

The Medicis?

Granted, they're based in Florence and so don't have great influence... okay "Medici" sounds awesome. Alright? That's my angle.

[Caveat Lector]

I'd have to say Rothschild, though I may be a bit biased in this. In highschool I did a project outlining my family history, thus I've done a lot of research into the Rothschild banking family. Later, I was bluntly corrected by my Grandparents who informed me I am an Ashkenazi Jew. The famous Rothschild family as we all know has massive wealth and influence, especially in France, England, Austria and perhaps Naples and Belgium.

[Thunderhawk]

I'd have to say Rothschild, though I may be a bit biased in this. In highschool I did a project outlining my family history, thus I've done a lot of research into the Rothschild banking family

So whats it like being part of a super rich and reclusive family?