List of British monarchs

This article is about monarchs of Great Britain (1707–1800) and the United Kingdom (1801–). For earlier monarchs, see List of legendary kings of Britain, List of English monarchs, and List of Scottish monarchs.

There have been 13 British monarchs since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. The first British monarch was Anne and the current monarch is Charles III. Although the informal style of "King of Great Britain" had been in use since the personal union of England and Scotland on 24 March 1603 under James VI and I, the official title came into effect legislatively in 1707.

British monarchs

Anne became the first monarch of Great Britain in 1707.

Edward VIII held the shortest reign.

Elizabeth II had the longest reign at 70 years.

Charles III is the current King of the United Kingdom.

On 1 January 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland upon the secession of the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) in the 1920s. British monarchs have also held various other titles, including Elector of Hanover, Emperor of India, and Head of the Commonwealth.

Background

Further information: Union of the Crowns

Before 1603, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were independent states with different monarchs. However, James VI of Scotland inherited the monarchy of England (becoming James VI and I) from his cousin Elizabeth I, meaning that the two independent countries shared a monarch known as the Union of the Crowns. Between November 1606 and July 1607 unification between the two countries was discussed at Westminster. While the English Parliament agreed to certain concessions to the Scots, it refused union. In October 1604, James VI and I declared himself to be the 'King of Great Britain' rather than the simultaneous monarch of both.^[1] The style was used on coins, stamps, and elsewhere, however the Parliament of England refused its official use or him legally becoming the King of a single unified country.^[2][3]

Anne ascended the throne on 8 March 1702 upon the death of her brother-in-law William III, becoming Queen of England and Queen of Scotland.^[4][5] In November that year, Anne began negotiations with the Parliament of Scotland about a possible union of the two countries, but by 1704 they had ended without a deal. In 1706, a new proposal was debated that involved shared unity rather than Scotland joining England under a new country called 'Great Britain', which was more preferable to Scotland. A final version of the proposal was presented to Anne in July that year. In January and March 1707, the Treaty of Union was passed by the Scottish and English parliaments respectively, with the union beginning from May.^[5]

Despite having eighteen pregnancies, Anne did not produce an heir that survived her or to adulthood.^[6] England had passed the Act of Settlement 1701 which defined Sophia of Hanover and her heirs as the successor to Anne and disqualified Catholics from becoming monarch.^[7] However, Scotland had passed its own law, the Act of Security 1704, which allowed its parliament to choose an heir upon Anne's death.^[8] On Union, Great Britain adopted the English succession and the Act of Security was repealed. When Anne died in 1714, she was succeeded by George I, Sophia of Hanover's eldest son.^[7] However, those who believed Scotland should have chosen the exiled Catholic James Francis Edward Stuart (known as 'The Old Pretender') instead rebelled in the Jacobite rising of 1715, which was quashed by Great Britain.^[8]

Statistics

The thirteen monarchs consist of ten kings and three queens.^[9] Only two monarchs were born outside of the United Kingdom, George I and George II in Hanover, Germany.^[10][11] All but two monarchs died in the United Kingdom; George I died at Schloss Osnabrück [de] on a trip to Hanover whilst he was monarch;^[12] Edward VIII (by then Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor) died in Villa Windsor, Paris, while living in exile in France.^[13] The longest reigning monarch was Elizabeth II who reigned for 70 years and 214 days between 1952 and 2022;^[14] the shortest reigning monarch was Edward VIII, who reigned for 326 days between January and December 1936.^[15]

Other titles

Between George I and William IV, all monarchs had the additional office of Elector of Hanover (later King of Hanover). Hanover was a separate Kingdom with its own government and army, which the British government were often forced to help defend;^[16] during the 18th century, the French army invaded the territory whenever it declared war with Great Britain. In 1806, George III even declared war on Prussia after King Frederick William III, under heavy pressure from Napoleon, had annexed George III's German possessions.^[17] When Victoria acceded to the throne in 1837, she could not become the Queen of Hanover suo jure as it followed Salic law, meaning that it was no longer held in personal union with the British monarchy. Instead, her uncle Ernest Augustus became King of Hanover.^[18]

As well as being the monarch of Great Britain (1707–1801) or the United Kingdom (1801–), monarchs have held various other titles ex officio. On 1 May 1876, Victoria accepted the title of Empress of India from then-Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.^[19] Monarchs held this title until George VI issued a Royal Proclamation renouncing it on 22 June 1948; this was an independent event from India's secession from the United Kingdom.^[20] Both India and Pakistan are independent republics within the Commonwealth of Nations.^[21] Since 1949, the monarch has instead been the ceremonial Head of the Commonwealth.^[22]

List

British Monarchs since 1 May 1707

Monarch				Life			Reign
Name	Portrait	Coat of arms	Royal cypher	Birth	Spouse	Death	Reign began[a]	Crowned[a]	Reign ended[a]
House of Stuart[9]
Anne				6 February 1665 St James's Palace[6]	Prince George of Denmark ​ ​ (m. 1683⁠–⁠1708)​ [7]	1 August 1714 Kensington Palace[6]	1 May 1707[23]	—[b]	1 August 1714[6]
House of Hanover[9]
George I George Louis			As Elector of Hanover:	28 May 1660 Hanover[10]	Sophia Dorothea of Celle ​ ​ (m. 1682; div. 1694)​ [24]	11 June 1727 Schloss Osnabrück [de][12]	1 August 1714[25]	20 October 1714[24]	11 June 1727[12]
George II George Augustus				30 October 1683 Herrenhausen Palace[26]	Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach ​ ​ (m. 1705; died 1737)​ [26]	25 October 1760 Kensington Palace[26]	11 June 1727[9]	11 October 1727[26]	25 October 1760[26]
George III George William Frederick		Until 1801: 1801–1816: From 1816:		4 June 1738[11] Norfolk House	Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz ​ ​ (m. 1761; died 1818)​ [27]	29 January 1820 Windsor Castle[11]	25 October 1760[9]	22 September 1761	29 January 1820[11]
George IV George Augustus Frederick				12 August 1762 St James's Palace[28]	Caroline of Brunswick ​ ​ (m. 1795; died 1821)​ [28]	26 June 1830 Windsor Castle[29]	29 January 1820[28]	19 July 1821[28]	26 June 1830[29]
William IV William Henry				21 August 1765 Buckingham House[30]	Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen ​ ​ (m. 1818⁠–⁠1837)​ [30]	20 June 1837 Windsor Castle[30]	26 June 1830[9]	8 September 1831[30]	20 June 1837[30]
Victoria Alexandrina Victoria				24 May 1819 Kensington Palace[31]	Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (m. 1840; died 1861)[31]	22 January 1901 Osborne House[31]	20 June 1837[32]	28 June 1838[31]	22 January 1901[31]
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha[9]
Edward VII Albert Edward				9 November 1841 Buckingham Palace[33]	Alexandra of Denmark (m. 1863–1910)[34]	6 May 1910 Buckingham Palace[35]	22 January 1901[9]	9 August 1902[33]	6 May 1910[35]
House of Windsor[c]
George V George Frederick Ernest Albert				3 June 1865 Marlborough House[37]	Mary of Teck (m. 1893–1936)[38]	20 January 1936 Sandringham House[39]	6 May 1910[37]	22 June 1911[38]	20 January 1936[39]
Edward VIII Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick				23 June 1894 White Lodge[40]	Wallis Simpson (m. 1937–1972)[41]	28 May 1972 Villa Windsor[13]	20 January 1936[13]	—[d]	11 December 1936[42][e]
George VI Albert Frederick Arthur George				14 December 1895[43] York Cottage[44]	Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (m. 1923–1952)[43]	6 February 1952 Sandringham House[45]	11 December 1936[42]	12 May 1937[43]	6 February 1952[45]
Elizabeth II Elizabeth Alexandra Mary				21 April 1926 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair[46]	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (m. 1947; died 2021)[14]	8 September 2022 Balmoral Castle[14]	6 February 1952[14]	2 June 1953[47]	8 September 2022[14]
Charles III Charles Phillip Arthur George				14 November 1948 Buckingham Palace[48]	Diana Spencer (m. 1981; div. 1996)[49]	—	8 September 2022[48]	6 May 2023[48]	—
					Camilla Parker Bowles (m. 2005)[48]

Timeline

The timeline of each British monarch's reign:

Key

Colour	House
	House of Stuart
	House of Hanover
	House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
	House of Windsor

Anne (1707–1714)

George I (1714–1727)

George II (1727–1760)

George III (1760–1820)

George IV (1820–1830)

William IV (1830–1837)

Victoria (1837–1901)

Edward VII (1901–1910)

George V (1910–1936)

Edward VIII (1936)

George VI (1936–1952)

Elizabeth II (1952–2022)

Charles III (2022–)

│

1700

│

1725

│

1750

│

1775

│

1800

│

1825

│

1850

│

1875

│

1900

│

1925

│

1950

│

1975

│

2000

│

2025

│

2050

│

2075

Monarchs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, 1707–2025

See also

• United Kingdom portal
• Royalty portal

• Family tree of the British royal family
• List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign
• Lists of monarchs in the British Isles
• List of British royal consorts
• List of current British princes and princesses

Notes

1. Old Style and New Style dates are used in line with the calendar of the time
2. Anne had been crowned on 17 April 1702 as Queen of England and Queen of Scotland
3. George V changed the name of the British royal house from 'Saxe-Coburg and Gotha' to 'Windsor' on 17 July 1917 because of anti-German sentiment caused by World War I. The change was designed to abandon any reference to the royal family's German descent, and replace it with 'Windsor' after the castle of the same name.^[36]
4. Edward VIII abdicated before his coronation.^[41]
5. The instrument of abdication was signed on 10 December, and given legislative form by His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 the following day. The parliament of the Union of South Africa retroactively approved the abdication with effect from 10 December, and the Irish Free State recognised the abdication on 12 December.^[42]