Home > List of British monarchs
This is a list of British monarchs, that is, the monarchs on the thrones of some of the various kingdoms that have existed on, or incorporated, the island of Great Britain, namely:
Since 1559 English monarchs have had the title Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
In 1328, on the death of the French king, Charles IV, Edward III (nephew of the Charles IV) claimed the French throne. British monarchs then styled themselves "King/Queen of France" until the Treaty of Amiens in 1802Events March 16 West Point is established. March 25/ 27 Treaty of Amiens between France and United Kingdom ends the War of the Second Coalition. March 28 H. Olbers discovers the asteroid Pallas. May 19 Napoleon Bonaparte establishes the French legion d'ho. By then FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. had been a republic for ten years.
For the small kingdoms which existed prior to the formation of EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England, Scotland or Wales, see:
1 Complications over Title and Style
Royal titles are also complicated because in some cases, names of kingdoms are used that did not officially come into existence until later, or came into existence earlier without immediate adoption of the royal title.
- For example, in October 1604, one year after James VI of Scotland had become king of England, he decreed that the Royal Title would use the term Great Brittaine to refer to the "one Imperiall Crowne" made up of England and Scotland. However using that title is problematic because the 'state' of Great Britain was only created in the Act of Union 1707. Nor was the united crown generally referred to as 'imperial'. Furthermore, monarchs continued to use ordinals attached to the two previous kingdoms, for instance James VII/II. To avoid confusion, historians in general thus refer to all monarchs up to 1707 as monarchs of England and Scotland (so explaining their two ordinals where they existed), with the monarch's title at all times accurately following the official name or names of the state or states they reigned over, where it differed from the official royal title. (Hence though many English and British monarchs claimed France as part of their official title, that had no reality in substance, so it isn't used.) After the Union, the ordinal has either been the English number, or the greater of the two numbers - the results have been the same and there is no formal rule.
- In different documents, the terms Kingdom of Great Britain and United Kingdom of Great Britain feature, even documents as official as the Act of Union 1707. Most historians presume the United was meant to be descriptive (indicating a union as a form of unity by marriage rather than coercion). For clarity and because the United is far more strongly associated with the later name United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland produced in the Act of Union 1800, the 1707 kingdom is generally referred to as the Kingdom of Great Britain.
- Similarly, though the Irish Free State ceased to be part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1922, neither the full name of the United Kingdom nor the royal title was changed until the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act, 1927. In this instance historians generally retrospectively date the coming into being of the modern United Kingdom to December 1922, even though in this case the formal change did not occur for another five years.
The list of monarchs below cannot be exhaustive. For succession to the many thrones often did not pass smoothly from parent to child; lack of heirs, civil wars, murders and invasions affected the inheritance in ways that a simple list does not show.
The relationships that formed the basis for claims to throne are noted where we know them and the dates of reign indicated.
