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Lineage

British Monarchs in Order

Explore the full sequence of British monarchs in order, from the Norman conquest to the modern Windsor monarchy. Switch between a structured dynasty view and a scrollable timeline.

41 rulers listed

1066 to present

Two viewing modes

Portrait of William I

MONARCH 1

William I

1066–1087 · Norman

He invaded England with no legitimate claim, won a single battle, and spent the next twenty years convincing a conquered people that what had just happened was normal.

Portrait of William II

MONARCH 2

William II

1087–1100 · Norman

He was found dead in the New Forest with an arrow through his chest — and whether it was an accident, a hunting party mishap, or something more deliberate has never been established.

Portrait of Henry I

MONARCH 3

Henry I

1100–1135 · Norman

He had more than twenty illegitimate children, lost his only legitimate son in a shipwreck, and spent the rest of his reign trying to solve a succession crisis that would outlast him.

Portrait of Stephen

MONARCH 4

Stephen

1135–1154 · Blois

Stephen’s contested accession led to civil war, remembered as the Anarchy, before the succession passed to the future Henry II.

Portrait of Henry II

MONARCH 5

Henry II

1154–1189 · Plantagenet

He was England's most capable medieval king — and one remark he made in anger led to the murder of his closest friend in a cathedral, a crisis from which he never fully recovered.

Portrait of Richard I

MONARCH 6

Richard I

1189–1199 · Plantagenet

He spent less than six months of his ten-year reign actually in England — and is still celebrated as one of its greatest medieval kings.

Portrait of King John of England

MONARCH 7

King John of England

1199–1216 · Plantagenet

He lost Normandy, lost the battle of Bouvines, and was forced to sign Magna Carta — and the document that defined his failure became the foundation of constitutional rights everywhere.

Portrait of Henry III

MONARCH 8

Henry III

1216–1272 · Plantagenet

He reigned for fifty-six years and spent much of that time in conflict with his own barons — a struggle that produced the first English parliament, though that wasn't what anyone intended.

Portrait of Edward I of England

MONARCH 9

Edward I of England

1272–1307 · Plantagenet

He was determined to bring the whole of Britain under English rule — and came close enough that Scotland has been pushing back ever since.

Portrait of Edward II of England

MONARCH 10

Edward II of England

1307–1327 · Plantagenet

His father conquered Scotland and he lost it — at Bannockburn, against a force half the size of his own, in one of the most complete military reversals of the medieval era.

Portrait of Edward III of England

MONARCH 11

Edward III of England

1327–1377 · Plantagenet

He started the Hundred Years' War over a claim to the French throne that even his own lawyers found unconvincing, and then made it look plausible by winning every battle for a decade.

Portrait of Richard II

MONARCH 12

Richard II

1377–1399 · Plantagenet

He crushed the Peasants' Revolt at fifteen and spent the next twenty years becoming exactly the kind of king that invited deposition.

Portrait of Henry IV

MONARCH 13

Henry IV

1399–1413 · Lancaster

He seized the crown from his cousin, spent the rest of his reign defending it against the consequences, and died before his son could show what he had really inherited.

Portrait of Henry V

MONARCH 14

Henry V

1413–1422 · Lancaster

He led a small, sick, exhausted army across northern France and destroyed a much larger force at Agincourt — a victory so unlikely that people have been trying to explain it ever since.

Portrait of Henry VI

MONARCH 15

Henry VI

1422–1461, 1470–1471 · Lancaster

Henry VI’s weak rule and mental illness helped drive the Wars of the Roses between Lancaster and York.

Portrait of Edward IV

MONARCH 16

Edward IV

1461–1470, 1471–1483 · York

Edward IV restored Yorkist power through battlefield success and firmer kingship after years of civil war.

Portrait of Edward V

MONARCH 17

Edward V

1483 · York

Edward V’s reign was brief and uncrowned; he is remembered as one of the Princes in the Tower.

Portrait of Richard III

MONARCH 18

Richard III

1483–1485 · York

Richard III’s short reign ended at Bosworth Field, where the Tudor era began.

Portrait of Henry VII

MONARCH 19

Henry VII

1485–1509 · Tudor

Henry VII founded the Tudor dynasty, stabilised the crown, and ended the Wars of the Roses.

Portrait of Henry VIII

MONARCH 20

Henry VIII

1509–1547 · Tudor

He wanted a divorce, couldn't get one through the usual channels, and ended up breaking with Rome and remaking England's relationship with Christianity to get what he wanted.

Portrait of Edward VI

MONARCH 21

Edward VI

1547–1553 · Tudor

Edward VI’s reign advanced Protestant reform, though he died before reaching adulthood.

Portrait of Mary I

MONARCH 22

Mary I

1553–1558 · Tudor

Mary I attempted to restore Catholicism and became known to later Protestant memory as ‘Bloody Mary’.

Portrait of Elizabeth I

MONARCH 23

Elizabeth I

1558–1603 · Tudor

Every European power assumed a woman couldn't rule alone — and she governed England for forty-five years without a husband, surviving plots, rebellions, and the Spanish Armada.

Portrait of James I

MONARCH 24

James I

1603–1625 · Stuart

James VI of Scotland became James I of England, uniting the crowns and beginning the Stuart era in England.

Portrait of Charles I

MONARCH 25

Charles I

1625–1649 · Stuart

Charles I’s clashes with Parliament led to civil war, defeat, and his execution in 1649.

Portrait of Charles II

MONARCH 26

Charles II

1660–1685 · Stuart

After the Interregnum, Charles II restored the monarchy and presided over a politically agile Restoration court.

Portrait of James II

MONARCH 27

James II

1685–1688 · Stuart

James II’s Catholicism and centralising instincts helped provoke the Glorious Revolution.

Portrait of William III and Mary II

MONARCH 28

William III and Mary II

1689–1694 · Stuart / Orange

William and Mary ruled jointly after the Glorious Revolution, establishing a stronger constitutional balance between crown and Parliament.

Portrait of William III

MONARCH 29

William III

1694–1702 · Orange

After Mary’s death, William III continued alone, focusing heavily on European war and the balance of power.

Portrait of Anne

MONARCH 30

Anne

1702–1714 · Stuart

Anne became the first monarch of Great Britain after the 1707 union of England and Scotland.

Portrait of George I

MONARCH 31

George I

1714–1727 · Hanover

George I began the Hanoverian era and ruled in partnership with an increasingly powerful parliamentary system.

Portrait of George II

MONARCH 32

George II

1727–1760 · Hanover

George II was the last British monarch to lead troops in battle and reigned during Britain’s expanding imperial power.

Portrait of George III

MONARCH 33

George III

1760–1820 · Hanover

George III ruled through the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and major constitutional strain.

Portrait of George IV

MONARCH 34

George IV

1820–1830 · Hanover

George IV is remembered for extravagance, patronage of the arts, and the culture of the Regency period.

Portrait of William IV

MONARCH 35

William IV

1830–1837 · Hanover

William IV’s reign saw the Great Reform Act and a changing relationship between monarchy and Parliament.

Portrait of Victoria

MONARCH 36

Victoria

1837–1901 · Hanover / Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Queen Victoria’s long reign became synonymous with industrial growth, empire, and the social tone of the Victorian age.

Portrait of Edward VII

MONARCH 37

Edward VII

1901–1910 · Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Edward VII ushered in the Edwardian era and played a visible diplomatic role in pre-war Europe.

Portrait of George V

MONARCH 38

George V

1910–1936 · Windsor

George V guided the monarchy through the First World War and renamed the royal house Windsor.

Portrait of Edward VIII

MONARCH 39

Edward VIII

1936 · Windsor

Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, producing one of the most dramatic constitutional crises of the modern monarchy.

Portrait of George VI

MONARCH 40

George VI

1936–1952 · Windsor

He never wanted to be king, had a stammer that made public speaking an ordeal, and became the defining symbol of his country's refusal to give in during its darkest years.

Portrait of Elizabeth II

MONARCH 41

Elizabeth II

1952–2022 · Windsor

She became queen at twenty-five and reigned for seventy years — watching fourteen prime ministers come and go while the empire that shaped her childhood quietly disappeared.

Portrait of Charles III

MONARCH 42

Charles III

2022–present · Windsor

He waited longer to become king than almost anyone in British history — and arrived on the throne with decades of opinions about the world already fully formed.

Frequently asked questions

Who was the first British monarch?

Formally, Queen Anne is usually treated as the first monarch of Great Britain after the 1707 union. For search and usability, this page begins with William I in 1066 because that is the sequence most readers expect.

Why are some reigns disputed or interrupted?

The monarchy includes civil war, deposition, joint rule, and interrupted reigns. Those complexities are part of why a clear lineage page is useful.