British monarchs timeline — every king and queen from 1066 to today

British monarchs timeline: 1066 to today

Britain's royal story is usually told as starting in 1066, when William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings and was crowned King of England on Christmas Day. From William the Conqueror to King Charles III, the same line of succession has continued — interrupted only by civil wars, abdications, and an eleven-year republic in the seventeenth century.

Forty-one monarchs have ruled England (and from 1707, Great Britain, and from 1801, the United Kingdom) since 1066. The table below lists every one of them. The rest of the article walks through each dynasty in turn, so you can see how the houses connect and which monarchs are most likely to appear in Chapter 3 questions on the Life in the UK Test.

The complete timeline at a glance

Reign dates follow the official Royal Family website. For a deeper look at the monarchs who held the throne the longest, see our companion article on the longest-reigning British monarchs.

The Norman conquest (1066) — where it all begins

Most timelines of the British monarchy start in 1066 because that year marks the moment England's ruling line was permanently changed by foreign invasion. King Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 without a clear heir. Three rival claimants moved to seize the throne: Harold Godwinson, who was crowned Harold II almost immediately; Harald Hardrada of Norway; and William, Duke of Normandy.

Harold defeated Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in September, then marched south to face William's invasion at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. Harold was killed — famously, according to legend, by an arrow to the eye — and William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on 25 December 1066. The Anglo-Saxon period ended; the Norman period began. This is one of the most reliably-tested dates in the entire Life in the UK syllabus.

House of Normandy (1066–1154)

The Norman kings imported French language, feudal land-holding and stone castle-building. William I commissioned the Domesday Book in 1085–86, a remarkable survey of land and livestock in England — still consulted by historians today. He divided ownership of the country among Norman barons, which is why so many English place-names have French roots and why Westminster Abbey looks the way it does.

• William I (1066–1087) — “the Conqueror”. Defeated Harold at Hastings and commissioned the Domesday Book.
• William II (1087–1100) — known as “Rufus” for his red complexion. Killed in a hunting accident in the New Forest.
• Henry I (1100–1135) — youngest son of the Conqueror. His only legitimate son drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, throwing the succession into chaos.
• Stephen (1135–1154) — Henry I's nephew. His disputed claim against Henry's daughter Matilda triggered a 19-year civil war known as The Anarchy.

House of Plantagenet (1154–1485)

The Plantagenets ruled for more than three hundred years — the longest of any royal house in English history. The dynasty is usually subdivided into the early Angevin kings, the main Plantagenet line, then the rival branches of Lancaster and York that fought the Wars of the Roses.

The early Plantagenets (1154–1216)

• Henry II (1154–1189) — founder of the dynasty. Famous for his quarrel with Archbishop Thomas Becket, who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.
• Richard I (1189–1199) — “the Lionheart”. Spent most of his reign on the Third Crusade and as a captive in Austria, leaving England largely to others.
• John (1199–1216) — Richard's brother. Lost most of England's French possessions, fell out with his barons, and was forced to seal Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215.

Magna Carta is one of the most-tested topics in Chapter 3. For the full story — why it was written, what rights it granted, and why it still matters — see our companion article on Magna Carta and King John.

The main Plantagenet line (1216–1399)

• Henry III (1216–1272) — rebuilt Westminster Abbey in its modern form. The first English parliament, convened by Simon de Montfort in 1265, met during his reign.
• Edward I (1272–1307) — “Longshanks”. Conquered Wales, built a ring of castles including Caernarfon and Conwy, and waged long wars in Scotland that earned him the nickname “Hammer of the Scots”.
• Edward II (1307–1327) — defeated by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Deposed and probably murdered in 1327.
• Edward III (1327–1377) — started the Hundred Years War with France and won the Battle of Crécy in 1346. His reign also saw the Black Death sweep through England in 1348–49.
• Richard II (1377–1399) — came to the throne aged ten and faced the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. Deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke and died in captivity.

The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485): Lancaster and York

The deposition of Richard II in 1399 split the Plantagenet family into two rival branches. The House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose) fought a series of civil wars between 1455 and 1485 known as the Wars of the Roses, with the crown changing hands several times.

• Henry IV (1399–1413) — Lancastrian. Seized the throne from Richard II and spent his reign defending it from rebellion.
• Henry V (1413–1422) — Lancastrian. Won the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and briefly made the English king heir to the French throne. Died of dysentery aged 35.
• Henry VI (1422–1461, 1470–1471) — Lancastrian. Came to the throne aged nine months. Suffered bouts of mental illness; the Wars of the Roses began under his rule.
• Edward IV (1461–1470, 1471–1483) — Yorkist. Seized the throne from Henry VI, briefly lost it, then took it back. Died unexpectedly in 1483.
• Edward V (April–June 1483) — Yorkist. One of the “Princes in the Tower”. Never crowned, and disappeared with his younger brother under his uncle Richard's protection.
• Richard III (1483–1485) — last Yorkist king. Killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485, ending both the Wars of the Roses and Plantagenet rule. His remains were rediscovered in a Leicester car park in 2012.

House of Tudor (1485–1603)

Henry Tudor's victory at Bosworth united the warring houses — his wife Elizabeth of York joined the two rose emblems into the now-familiar red-and-white Tudor rose. The Tudors dragged England through the Reformation, built a Royal Navy capable of fighting Spain, and produced two of the most recognisable monarchs in British history.

• Henry VII (1485–1509) — first Tudor king. Restored royal finances, suppressed rebellions, and married his children into the royal houses of Spain and Scotland.
• Henry VIII (1509–1547) — broke with the Pope to form the Church of England in the 1530s so he could divorce Catherine of Aragon. Best known for his six wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived). For the full story see Henry VIII and his six wives.
• Edward VI (1547–1553) — Henry's only legitimate son. Became king aged nine, advanced Protestant reform, and died of illness at fifteen.
• Mary I (1553–1558) — “Bloody Mary”. Tried to restore Catholicism and burned around 280 Protestants at the stake.
• Elizabeth I (1558–1603) — the “Virgin Queen”. Defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, presided over a golden age of literature (Shakespeare, Marlowe) and exploration (Drake, Raleigh), and died unmarried — ending the Tudor line.

House of Stuart (1603–1714)

Elizabeth I's closest Protestant relative was James VI of Scotland, who inherited the English throne as James I — uniting the crowns of England and Scotland under one monarch for the first time, though the two countries remained separate kingdoms until 1707. The Stuart century was the most turbulent in modern British history: civil war, regicide, a republic, a restoration, and a revolution.

• James I (1603–1625) — the first king of both England and Scotland. Survived the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament — still commemorated every 5 November.
• Charles I (1625–1649) — clashed with Parliament over taxation and religion. The English Civil War followed; Charles was tried for treason and beheaded outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall on 30 January 1649.
• The Commonwealth (1649–1660) — England was a republic. Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. He is the only commoner ever to have led the country as head of state.
• Charles II (1660–1685) — son of Charles I. Invited back from exile in 1660; his reign saw the Great Plague (1665) and the Great Fire of London (1666).
• James II (1685–1688) — Charles II's Catholic brother. Deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when Parliament invited his Protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William of Orange to take the throne jointly.
• William III and Mary II (1689–1702) — ruled jointly. Their accession was conditional on the Bill of Rights 1689, which set out limits on royal power that still underpin the British constitution. Mary died in 1694; William ruled alone until 1702.
• Anne (1702–1714) — last Stuart monarch. The Acts of Union 1707 joined England and Scotland into a single Kingdom of Great Britain during her reign. All seventeen of her children died in infancy or childhood.

House of Hanover (1714–1901)

Anne's death without surviving children triggered the Act of Settlement 1701, which had ruled that the crown could not pass to a Catholic. Parliament looked past more than fifty closer Catholic claimants and handed the throne to her distant German Protestant cousin, the Elector of Hanover. He became George I — and could barely speak English.

• George I (1714–1727) — first Hanoverian. Relied heavily on his ministers, which is why the role of Prime Minister began to emerge under Sir Robert Walpole, generally considered the first PM.
• George II (1727–1760) — last British monarch to lead troops in battle, at Dettingen in 1743. The Jacobite Rising of 1745, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, was crushed at Culloden in 1746.
• George III (1760–1820) — lost the American colonies after the American Revolution (1775–83). The Acts of Union 1800 joined Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801. Later in life he suffered prolonged illness and a regency was declared.
• George IV (1820–1830) — already Prince Regent from 1811 due to his father's illness. Lavish, unpopular, and a patron of the arts and architecture (the Royal Pavilion at Brighton).
• William IV (1830–1837) — “the Sailor King”. The Great Reform Act 1832 passed during his reign, expanding the franchise and reshaping the constituency map.
• Victoria (1837–1901) — Britain's second-longest-reigning monarch at 63 years. Her reign saw the Industrial Revolution mature, the expansion of the British Empire, and major social reforms. She became Empress of India in 1877 and was the last monarch of the House of Hanover.

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and House of Windsor (1901–today)

When Victoria died in 1901, her son Edward VII took the surname of his German father, Prince Albert: Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During the First World War, with anti-German feeling running high, his son George V renamed the royal house Windsor on 17 July 1917. Every monarch since has been a Windsor.

• Edward VII (1901–1910) — Victoria's eldest son. Gave his name to the Edwardian era and helped negotiate the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904.
• George V (1910–1936) — reigned through the First World War, the Easter Rising in Ireland, and the Great Depression. Changed the royal house name to Windsor in 1917.
• Edward VIII (1936) — reigned for only 326 days. Abdicated in December 1936 so he could marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson, who was not considered acceptable as queen.
• George VI (1936–1952) — Edward's younger brother. Reluctant king who led the country through the Second World War as a quiet, steadying figure alongside Winston Churchill.
• Elizabeth II (1952–2022) — Britain's longest-reigning monarch at 70 years and 214 days. Acceded on 6 February 1952 and died at Balmoral on 8 September 2022.
• Charles III (2022–present) — Elizabeth II's eldest son. Acceded on 8 September 2022 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023. The current British monarch.

Monarchs on the Life in the UK Test — what to know

You don't need to memorise every single monarch on this page for the test. Chapter 3 is the largest topic — typically the biggest share of your 24-question mock — but the handbook focuses on a smaller core list of monarchs whose reigns changed the country. Those are the ones to learn properly:

• William the Conqueror — 1066, Battle of Hastings, Norman conquest.
• King John — Magna Carta in 1215.
• Henry VIII — six wives and the break from Rome creating the Church of England.
• Elizabeth I — defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the “Elizabethan age”.
• Charles I — civil war, executed in 1649; the only English king to be tried and beheaded.
• Charles II — the Restoration in 1660; Great Plague and Great Fire of London.
• William III and Mary II — the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Bill of Rights 1689.
• Queen Anne — Acts of Union 1707, joining England and Scotland.
• George III — loss of the American colonies; Acts of Union with Ireland (1801).
• Queen Victoria — Industrial Revolution, expansion of the Empire, a 63-year reign.
• Queen Elizabeth II — the longest reign in British history, 1952–2022.
• King Charles III — the current monarch since September 2022.

For the structured walkthrough of every history topic in the handbook, see our Chapter 3 study guide. To practise questions in this exact area, sign up for a free account and use the chapter filter on the practice page.

Frequently asked questions

How many British monarchs have there been since 1066?

Forty-one different monarchs have held the throne of England (and from 1707 Great Britain, and from 1801 the United Kingdom) since William the Conqueror in 1066. The figure does not count Lady Jane Grey, who was proclaimed queen in 1553 but never crowned and reigned for only nine days before Mary I took the throne. If you include English monarchs before 1066, the count goes up significantly.

Who is the current British monarch in 2026?

The current British monarch is King Charles III. He acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, immediately on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023. His heir is his elder son Prince William, the Prince of Wales.

What was the longest royal dynasty in British history?

The House of Plantagenet ruled the longest, from Henry II in 1154 to the death of Richard III in 1485 — over 330 years, including the Lancastrian and Yorkist branches that fought the Wars of the Roses. The House of Hanover ruled for 187 years (1714–1901) and the House of Windsor, including its Saxe-Coburg predecessor, has now ruled for over 125 years.

Why does the timeline start in 1066?

England had kings long before 1066 — Anglo-Saxon rulers like Alfred the Great, Æthelred the Unready and Edward the Confessor. But the Norman Conquest of 1066 is treated as a fresh start in most timelines because William I imposed an entirely new ruling class, a new language at court (Norman French), a new system of land-holding (feudalism), and a new approach to royal administration that all later English monarchs built on.

Has the line of succession ever been broken?

The throne has been disputed many times — through deposition (Edward II, Richard II, Henry VI, Edward V, Richard III, James II, Edward VIII), civil war (Henry VI vs Edward IV; Charles I vs Parliament), and the abolition of the monarchy altogether during the Commonwealth (1649–1660). But the legal line of succession has always been re-established. Charles III today descends, by blood, from William the Conqueror.

Who was the longest-reigning British monarch?

Queen Elizabeth II at 70 years and 214 days (6 February 1952 to 8 September 2022). She overtook her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria (63 years and 216 days) in September 2015. For the rest of the top 10 see our companion piece on the longest-reigning British monarchs.

Who was the shortest-reigning British monarch?

Edward VIII reigned for just 326 days in 1936 before abdicating to marry Wallis Simpson. He was never crowned. (Edward V, in 1483, reigned for around 78 days but was never crowned either and his fate remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of English history.)