List of British monarchs

The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom since the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, featuring the arms of England in both the first and fourth quarters, Scotland in the second and Ireland in the third. In Scotland a separate version is used (shown right), whereby the Arms of Scotland take precedence.[1]

There have been 12 monarchs of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom (see Monarchy of the United Kingdom) since the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. England and Scotland had been in personal union under the House of Stuart since 24 March 1603. On 1 January 1801, Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland (also previously in personal union with Great Britain) to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After most of Ireland left the union on 6 December 1922, its name was amended on 12 April 1927 to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

House of Stuart (1707–14)

Queen Anne had been queen of England, Scotland and Ireland since 8 March 1702, and so became Queen of Great Britain upon the Union of England and Scotland.

Name
Reign
Duration as Monarch Portrait Arms Birth
Parentage
Marriage(s)
Issue
Death Claim
Anne
1 May 1707

1 August 1714
7 years, 92 days 6 February 1665
St James's Palace

Daughter of James II and VII and Anne Hyde
George of Denmark
St James's Palace
28 July 1683

17 pregnancies, but no surviving children
1 August 1714
Kensington Palace
aged 49
Daughter of James II and VII (cognatic primogeniture; Bill of Rights 1689); Queen of England and Scotland before the Union; (Treaty of Union and Acts of Union 1707)

House of Hanover (1714–1901)

The Hanoverian succession came about as a result of the Act of Settlement 1701, passed by the Parliament of England, which excluded "Papists" (that is, Roman Catholics) from the succession. In return for access to the English plantations in North America and the West Indies, the Hanoverian succession and the Union were ratified by the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.

After the death of Queen Anne with no living children, George I, the son of Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England through his daughter Elizabeth of Bohemia, was the closest heir to the throne who was not a Roman Catholic.[2]

Name
Reign
Duration as Monarch Portrait Arms Birth
Parentage
Marriage(s)
Issue
Death Succession right Ref
George I
George Louis
1 August 1714

11 June 1727
12 years, 314 days 28 May 1660
Leineschloss

Son of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of Hanover
Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle
21 November 1682

2 children
11 June 1727
Osnabrück
aged 67
Great-grandson of James VI and I, Act of Settlement, eldest son of Sophia of Hanover [3]
George II
George Augustus
11 June 1727

25 October 1760
33 years, 136 days 30 October 1683
Herrenhausen

Son of George I and Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle
Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach
22 August 1705

8 children
25 October 1760
Kensington Palace
aged 76
Son of George I [4]
George III
George William Frederick
25 October 1760

29 January 1820
59 years, 96 days 4 June 1738
Norfolk House

Son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
St James's Palace
8 September 1761

15 children
29 January 1820
Windsor Castle
aged 81
Grandson of George II [5]
George IV
George Augustus Frederick
29 January 1820

26 June 1830
(Prince Regent: from 1811)
10 years, 148 days 12 August 1762
St James's Palace

Son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
1st: Maria Anne Fitzherbert
Park Lane
15 September 1785

2nd: Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
St James's Palace
8 April 1795
1 daughter
26 June 1830
Windsor Castle
aged 67
Son of George III [6]
William IV
William Henry
26 June 1830

20 June 1837
6 years, 359 days 21 August 1765
Buckingham Palace

Son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
Kew Palace
13 July 1818

2 children
20 June 1837
Windsor Castle
aged 71
Son of George III [7]
Victoria
Alexandrina Victoria
20 June 1837

22 January 1901
63 years, 216 days 24 May 1819
Kensington Palace

Daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
St James's Palace
10 February 1840

9 children
22 January 1901
Osborne House
aged 81
Granddaughter of George III [8]

Houses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1901–17) and Windsor (1917–present)

Due to his father Albert, Prince Consort being of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Edward VII inaugurated a new royal house when he ascended in 1901 when he succeeded his mother Queen Victoria, the last Hanoverian monarch of Britain. George V changed its name in 1917, during World War I, because of wartime anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom. The house name Windsor has since been used.

Name
Reign
Duration as Monarch Portrait Arms Birth
Parentage
Marriage(s)
Issue
Death Succession right Ref
Edward VII
Albert Edward
22 January 1901

6 May 1910
9 years, 104 days 9 November 1841
Buckingham Palace

Son of Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Alexandra of Denmark
St George's Chapel
10 March 1863

6 children
6 May 1910
Buckingham Palace
aged 68
Son of Victoria [9]
George V
George Frederick Ernest Albert
6 May 1910

20 January 1936
25 years, 259 days 3 June 1865
Marlborough House

Son of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark
Mary of Teck
St James's Palace
6 July 1893

6 children
20 January 1936
Sandringham House
aged 70
Son of Edward VII [10]
Edward VIII
Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David
20 January 1936

11 December 1936 (abdicated)
326 days 23 June 1894
White Lodge

Son of George V and Mary of Teck
Wallis Warfield Simpson
Château de Candé
3 June 1937

no children
28 May 1972
Neuilly-sur-Seine
aged 77
Son of George V [11]
George VI
Albert Frederick Arthur George
11 December 1936

6 February 1952
15 years, 57 days 14 December 1895
Sandringham House

Son of George V and Mary of Teck
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Westminster Abbey
26 April 1923

2 children
6 February 1952
Sandringham House
aged 56
Son of George V [12]
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
6 February 1952

present
65 years, 191 days
(incumbent)
21 April 1926
Mayfair

Daughter of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Philip of Greece and Denmark
Westminster Abbey
20 November 1947

4 children
Living; age 91 Daughter of George VI [13]

Timeline of British monarchs

Elizabeth II George VI Edward VIII George V Edward VII Queen Victoria William IV of the United Kingdom George IV of the United Kingdom George III of the United Kingdom George II of Great Britain George I of Great Britain Anne, Queen of Great Britain House of Windsor House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House of Hanover House of Stuart

See also

Notes and references

  1. "Symbols of the Monarchy. Coats of Arms. – The official website of The British Monarchy". Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  2. For a family tree showing King George I's relationship to Queen Anne, see George I of Great Britain § Family tree
  3. "George I". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  4. "George II". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  5. "George III". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  6. "George IV". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  7. "William IV". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  8. "Victoria". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  9. "Edward VII". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  10. "George V". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  11. "Edward VIII". Official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  12. "George VI". Official website of the British Monarchy. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  13. "Her Majesty The Queen". Official website of the British Monarchy. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2010.

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