Kings and Queens of England and Britain

• Born: c.1056, Normandy, France. Died: 02 August 1100, New Forest, Hampshire.
• Successor: Henry I (brother)

William II was about twenty seven years old when he became King in 1087. Nicknamed ‘Rufus’ (Latin for ‘the red’) either because of his bright blonde hair or ruddy complexion, he was the third son of William the Conqueror. William II had a ferocious temper and a younger son’s greed for glory and riches. His elder brother Robert had been given Normandy but saw England as his by right and tried to seize it by force in 1088. William successfully crushed his rebellion and in 1096 succeeded in taking Normandy from his brother. 

The mysterious death of a hated king

William soon experienced the same challenges of ruling a cross-Channel empire that his father had battled with. After taking control of Normandy, he spent more than half of his time on the continent and courted widespread resentment in England by levying heavy taxes to pay for his overseas wars. One contemporary lamented: ‘He was always harassing this nation with military service and excessive taxes, for in his days all justice was in abeyance.’ When out hunting on 2 August 1100 in the New Forest, the King was shot in the heart by an arrow. Who fired it and whether it was an accident or murder is not known. Few mourned the passing of a ‘wicked’ and ‘terrible’ king who was said to be ‘hated by well-nigh all his nation’.  

• Matilda: born: 7 February 1102, Winchester, Hampshire or Oxfordshire. Died: 10 September 1167, Rouen, Normandy, France
• Spouse: Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (m. 1114 - 1125), Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (m. 1128-1167)

Although Matilda was the only surviving legitimate child of Henry I, female sovereignty was both unprecedented and abhorrent to the people of England. The fact that she had quarrelled with her father shortly before his death further weakened her position and allowed others – notably her cousin, Stephen of Blois – to take advantage. When Henry I died, Stephen was in Boulogne and therefore within easier reach of England than Matilda, who was living in Anjou. Spying his chance, he immediately crossed the Channel, hurried to London and laid claim to the English throne.

• Stephen: Born: c. 1092 or 1096, Blois, France (son of Adela of Normandy, William I’s daughter. Died: 25 October 1154, Dover, England
• Spouse: Matilda of Boulogne
• Successor: Henry II (Matilda’s son)

As well as being the right gender, Stephen had spent more time in England than Matilda and Henry I had showed favour towards him. He therefore enjoyed considerable support. On 22 December 1135, Stephen was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Four years later, Matilda launched an invasion to claim back her throne, plunging the kingdom into civil war. Two years later, she and her forces took Stephen prisoner and plans were made for her coronation. But Matilda’s haughty manner and ‘unbearable fury’ soon lost her support and Stephen was able to regain the initiative. He held onto the throne until his death in 1154, by which time he had pledged to name Matilda’s son Henry his heir, bringing the ‘anarchy’ to an end.

• Born: 5 March 1133 at Le Mans, France. Died: 6 July 1189, Anjou, France
• Spouse: Eleanor of Aquitaine (m. 1152)
• Successor: Richard I (son)

When Henry II became King of England in 1154 at the age of twenty-one, he inherited a vast empire that stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. As well as the Anglo-Norman kingdom established by his great-grandfather William the Conqueror, he wielded control over Anjou and Aquitaine. ‘In all parts of his realm the king won the renown of a monarch who ruled over a wider empire than all who had hitherto reigned in England’, recounted a contemporary. By 1175, it included Ireland, which made Henry the first English king to claim authority there.  'The whole world was too small a prize for a single courageous and powerful ruler,' Henry once declared. 

A ruthless King

Henry had a restless energy and travelled about his sprawling empire like a ‘human chariot dragging all after him.’ Genial and approachable, when crossed, Henry’s temper was ferocious – as his influential adviser and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket found to his cost. Becket grew so powerful that he flouted the King’s authority and was assassinated in 1070 by a group of knights in Henry’s service. The King was similarly ruthless towards his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, when she supported her sons in rebellion against him in 1173. He kept her prisoner for the rest of his reign. Henry died in 1189 whilst on campaign against Philip II of France, who had allied with Henry’s son and heir Richard.

• Born: 8 September 1157, Oxford. Died: 6 April 1199 in France
• Spouse: Berengaria of Navarre (m. 1191)
• Successor: John I (brother)

Richard I’s crusading zeal would define his reign and shape his monarchy, earning him the sobriquet ‘Lionheart’. But it also depleted England of its resources and its King. For almost the entirety of his reign, Richard was absence on crusades to the Holy Land and wars to defend his French lands. His mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, wielded power on his behalf. If Richard could not entirely trust his younger brother, there was another family member upon whom he could rely utterly: his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Ruling England in Richard’s name, she went from 'city to city and castle to castle', holding 'queenly courts' and defending the crown as fiercely as if it had been her own.

A reign spent on crusades, as a prisoner and at war

On the way back from a successful crusade in 1192, Richard was taken prisoner and spent a year in captivity. In his absence, his younger brother John schemed to seize power with help from Philip II of France. Upon Richard’s return to England, support for his treacherous brother soon collapsed. Just two months later, Richard left to wage war with France and spent the rest of his reign battling to defend his territories there. He died in April 1199, having spent less time in England than any other king. Yet he has been hailed as one of its greatest monarchs and had what one contemporary described as ‘courage carried to excess'.

• Born: c. 1166 and 1167 England. Died: 19 October 1216, Newark, Nottinghamshire
• Spouse: Isabella of Gloucester (m. 1189, annulled in 1199). Isabella of Angouleme (m. 1200)  
• Successor: Henry III (son)

Described by one contemporary as ‘a very bad man, cruel and lecherous’, John was the youngest of Henry II’s five sons so had little hope of ever inheriting the crown. His father had given him the nickname ‘Lackland’, but as he grew to maturity John schemed endlessly for power. He became King at the age of thirty two, upon the death of his eldest brother Richard. The treacherous actions that had defined him for the past two decades were not easily overlooked by his new subjects. From the moment of his accession,  John was beset with troubles in France, where his erstwhile ally Philip II was attempting to seize John’s lands.

Introduction of the Magna Carta agreement

In 1204, John lost Normandy to the French King, a humiliating defeat that seriously destabilised his rule. Determined to regain his lands, he imposed a series of crippling taxes on his people, sparking widespread resentment and a crisis in the King’s relations with his powerful barons. In June 1215, the barons forced John to agree Magna Carta (‘Great Charter’), hailed at the beginning of civil liberties in England. Never again would a sovereign be able to ride roughshod over the rights of his subjects. John soon flouted its terms and his kingdom descended into civil war. Upon the King’s death in October 1216, the chronicler Matthew Paris opined: ‘Foul as it is, Hell itself is made fouler by the presence of John'.

• Born: 1 October 1207, Winchester, Hampshire. Died: 16 November 1272, Westminster Palace, London
• Spouse: Eleanor of Provence (m. 1236)
• Successor: Edward I (son)

The eldest son of England’s most unpopular king, Henry came to the throne in 1216 at the age of nine, plunging his kingdom into the uncertainty of a minority rule. Yet, against the odds, he would become the longest-reigning monarch, a record that stood for more than 500 years. His 56-year reign, the social and political landscape of England changed dramatically, with the implementation of Magna Carta and the rise of Parliament. Of a naturally reserved and timorous nature, Henry was merciful and pious. Shortly after taking the reins of power in 1227, he launched a futile campaign to reclaim the crown’s French lands.

Henry's extravagant building projects

More concerned with the trappings of monarchy than its practical application, Henry embarked on a number of building projects, notably at the Tower of London and Westminster Palace. The high cost of these sparked growing resentment. In 1258, a group of barons that included Henry’s brother-in-law Simon de Montfort swept to power and wrested control of government. It needed a strong ruler to reunite the kingdom, but Henry fell woefully short. Civil war ensued, during which Henry was held captive for a time by Montfort. He died at Westminster, heavily in debt and almost universally scorned, in November 1272.

• Born: 17-18 June 1239, Palace of Westminster, London. Died: 7 July 1307 at Burgh on Sands, Cumberland 
• Spouse: Eleanor of Castile (m.1254, died in 1290), Margaret of France (m. 1299)
• Successor: Edward II (son)

Known as the ‘Hammer of the Scots’, Edward I was a fearsome warrior king, brutal and uncompromising. There is an account that tells of how at his coronation the new king removed his crown and swore that he would never wear it again until he had won back everything his father had lost. He started with Wales, where he crushed a rebellion and made the principality entirely subject to English rule. He then turned his attention to Scotland, which he invaded in 1296 and conquered in the space of just five months. At the same time, Edward kept a tight rein on his government and became more actively involved in legislation than any monarch before him.  

Scottish rebellion against English rule

Edward’s wars were expensive and heightened the tensions between him and his people. In 1295, the so-called Model Parliament forced Edward to agree that no further taxation could be raised without the ‘good will and assent’ of Parliament – a pivotal moment in the history of the crown’s relationship with Parliament. Then in 1297 the Scots, led by Robert Bruce with support from the charismatic William Wallace, rebelled against English rule. The war raged on for the next ten years and it was while leading another army north in 1307 that Edward died.

• Born: 25 April 1284 at Caernarfon, Wales. Died: 21 September 1327, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire
• Spouse: Isabella of France (m. 1308)
• Successor: Forced to abdicate in favour of his son Edward III (January 1327)

In stark contrast to his war-mongering father, Edward II showed little interest in military affairs and preferred to spend his time with close favourites. Chief among them was Piers Gaveston, whom he met when he was sixteen years old. ‘Upon looking on him the son of the king immediately felt such love for him that he…bound himself with him before all other mortals,’ recorded a chronicler. Edward was the first English heir to the throne to be created Prince of Wales but, as king, he proved incapable of asserting English rule there or elsewhere. 

Betrayal by his wife and abdication

Edward’s favour towards Gaveston soon courted dangerous resentment. In 1312 a group of powerful nobles seized and executed the royal favourite. Undaunted, the grief-stricken king enlisted a new favourite: Hugh Despenser, a bitter enemy of Edward’s cousin Thomas of Lancaster. Tensions quickly escalated into all-out civil war, culminating in Lancaster’s capture and execution in 1322. ‘The harshness of the king has today increased so much that no one however great and wise dares to cross his will’, a contemporary reflected. Edward also made an enemy of his wife, Isabella of France. In 1326, she and her lover Roger Mortimer raised an army in France and invaded England. Edward was captured and forced to abdicate in favour of his young son, who was crowned Edward III in February 1327. The former king died at Berkeley Castle in September that year. He had likely been murdered.

• Born: 12 November 1312 at Windsor. Died: 21 June 1377 Sheen Palace, Richmond
• Spouse: Philippa of Hainault (m. 1328)
• Successor: Richard II (grandson)

Having ascended the throne at the age of just fourteen during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of England’s monarchy, Edward III quickly won the loyalty of his subjects and established a harmonious and effective government. His long reign marks one of the most prolonged periods of domestic peace enjoyed by England throughout the entire Middle Ages. Determined to win back England’s former territories, he declared hostilities on the French King, Philip IV, thus beginning the long-running conflict known as the Hundred Years War. After drawing first blood with a crushing victory at the Battle of Crécy, Edward went on to capture Calais, which remained in English hands for the next 200 years.

Founding of the Order of the Garter 

Upon returning home, Edward founded the Order of the Garter which remains the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system today. A darker chapter of his reign came in 1348 when the bubonic plague (or Black Death) swept across the kingdom, wiping out a third of England’s population. Edward’s decisive response to the epidemic confirmed his status as one of England’s greatest monarchs. His highly successful marriage to Philippa of Hainault strengthened his dynasty, producing thirteen children. By the time of Edward’s death in 1377, his reputation was secured: ‘Among all other kings and princes of the world [he] had been glorious, graceful, merciful and magnificent.’

• Born: 6 January 1367 Bordeaux, France, Died: 14 February 1399, Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire, England
• Spouse: Anne of Bohemia, (m. 1382 - 1394); Isabella of Valois, (m.1396)
• Successor: Henry Bolingbroke,(grandson of Edward III)

When he became king in 1377, Richard II had big shoes to fill with his ten-year old feet. His predecessor and grandfather Edward III was celebrated for his victories in the Hundred Years’ War against France, as was his father, the Black Prince. Young though he was, from the moment of his accession, Richard exercised all the powers of kingship. He personally secured a truce with the rebels who had marched on London during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, sparked by an unpopular new tax. A great patron of the arts, he rebuilt Westminster Hall and patronised the likes of Chaucer. But Richard’s authoritarian approach and his reliance on favourites soon courted dangerous opposition. 

Things came to a head with the ‘Merciless Parliament’ of 1388, led by a group of powerful nobles hostile to Richard. They sentenced many of the King’s favourites to death and forced Richard to renew his coronation oath. The death of his queen, Anne of Bohemia, six years later left him even more isolated. In 1397, Richard took revenge by arresting and banishing many of his enemies, including his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, son of Edward III’s fourth son, John of Gaunt. Two years later, Bolingbroke returned with an army and deposed Richard. He died in February 1400, either by murder or self-starvation.

• Born: c. April 1367, Bolingbroke castle, Lincolnshire. Died: 20 March 1413, Westminster Abbey, London, England
• Spouse: Mary Bohun (m. c.1380, died in1394); Joan of Navarre (m.1403)
• Successor: Son, Henry V

Upon claiming the throne, Henry IV, England’s first Lancastrian king, was quick to justify his deposition of Richard II. He insisted that ‘the realm was on the point of being undone’ and had himself crowned just two weeks after becoming king. But Henry’s usurpation had introduced a dangerously destabilising element to the royal succession and he would never feel secure on his throne. Early in his reign, a major revolt against English rule broke out in Wales, led by Owain Glyn Dŵr. Henry’s erstwhile supporters, the Percys of Northumberland, supported the Welsh rebels but were defeated at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.

Charles VI of France refused to recognise Henry as king and in 1403 he launched a series of naval attacks on the south coast of England. Two years later, he sent 2,500 to reinforce Glyn Dŵr. With the English king suffering increasing bouts of ill health, it was left to his son (the future Henry V) to contain the Welsh rebels. Prince Henry also played a prominent role in government, sometimes in opposition to his father. Henry IV appeared in Parliament for the last time in February 1413 and died the following month. His will hints at the regret he felt over deposing his cousin Richard II. He referred to himself as ‘sinful wretch’ and lamented the ‘life I have misspent’.

• Born: 16 September 1386, Monmouth Castle, Wales. Died: 31 August 1422, Vincennes near Paris, France
• Spouse: Catherine of Valois (m.1420)
• Successor:  Henry VI (son)

Henry V is one of the most celebrated monarchs in English history. Even before he inherited the throne from his father Henry IV in 1413, he had demonstrated his prowess on the battlefield and his skill in government. He quickly took control of a kingdom that had been beset by civil strife, as one chronicler observed: ‘He began to keep his laws and justice, and therefore he was beloved.’ Taking advantage of the French King Charles VI’s incapacity, he pressed England’s claim to territories granted to Edward III the previous century. In 1415, Henry sailed across the Channel with a 10,000 strong army and on 15 October he won a crushing defeat over a superior French force at Agincourt. The English longbows that were decisive in securing the victory came from the Tower of London arsenal.

Becoming heir to the French throne

Henry returned to France two years later and conquered Caen and Rouen in Normandy. In May 1420, he concluded the Treaty of Troyes, by the terms of which it was agreed that Henry would marry Charles VI’s daughter Catherine of Valois and be recognised as heir to the French throne, followed by their children. Henry died, possibly of dysentery, whilst on another French campaign in 1422. He was deeply mourned on both sides of the Channel as ‘the mighty and puissant conqueror’ and was later immortalised by Shakespeare.

• Born: 6 December 1421, Windsor Castle. Died: 21 May 1471, Tower of London 
• Spouse: Margaret of Anjou (m. 1445)
• Successor: Edward IV

Henry VI was only nine months when his celebrated father Henry V died, making him the youngest monarch ever to ascend the English throne. His inheritance included the crowns of both England and France. Although Henry VI was crowned King of France in Paris in 1431, he was subsequently ousted from the throne by Charles VII and lost virtually all English territories in France. He fared little better in England, where he struggled to hold onto power. Pope Pius II described the young king as ‘more timorous than a woman, utterly devoid of wit or spirit.'

Wars of the Roses

Passionate about learning, Henry VI founded Eton College in Windsor and King’s College in Cambridge. In 1445 he married Margaret of Anjou. By the time that their only child, Edward, was born in 1453, Henry was suffering from a complete mental collapse. His rule was challenged by Richard, Duke of York, great-grandson of Edward III, a powerful force in government. In May 1455, Richard’s army clashed with the royal forces at St Alban’s. This marks the beginning of the so-called Wars of the Roses, a prolonged and bloody tussle for the throne between the houses of Lancaster and York. In 1461, Henry was deposed by Richard’s eldest son, who took the throne as Edward IV. He was restored by Richard Neville (‘Warwick the Kingmaker’) in 1470, but only held onto power for a few months before Edward retook the throne. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower for a second time and died there in May 1471, possibly killed on the orders of his Yorkist rival.

• Born: 28 April 1442, Rouen, Normandy. Died: 9 April 1483, Palace of Westminster, London.
• Spouse: Elizabeth Woodville (m.1464) 
• Successor: Edward V

Edward inherited the Yorkist claim to the throne in 1460, aged eighteen, when his father Richard, Duke of York, was killed in battle. The following year, he seized the throne from the Lancastrian king, Henry VI, the following year. When Edward secretly married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464, it led to conflict with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who led a revolt in 1470 that briefly restored Henry VI to the throne. Edward regained his crown after winning the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Both Warwick and Henry VI’s only child, Edward, were killed. When Henry VI died in the Tower shortly afterwards, Edward IV’s only Lancastrian rival was Henry Tudor, who had fled to exile in Brittany. 

A charismatic and popular ruler

Edward proved a capable and popular ruler, focused on settling old differences by diplomacy rather than the sword. Tall, athletic and charismatic, Edward won praise from those who visited his magnificent court. But he was also criticised for being ‘addicted to conviviality, vanity, drunkenness, extravagance and passion.’ Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville produced ten children, firmly establishing the York dynasty. Despite his prowess on the battlefield, Edward enjoyed little military success overseas. He died suddenly, having contracted a fever, in April 1483, leaving his throne to his twelve year-old son Edward.

• Born: 2 November 1470, Westminster. Died: July 1483, Tower of London.
• Successor: Richard III (uncle)

Edward V and his younger brother Richard of York are better known as the Princes in the Tower. Aged twelve at the time of his accession, Edward was too young to rule so his uncle Richard of Gloucester became Lord Protector. He seized the young King from the custody of his maternal relatives and lodged him in the Tower of London, ostensibly to prepare for his coronation. But as soon as Prince Richard joined his brother in the Tower, their uncle postponed the coronation. On 22 June, the day that Edward V should have been crowned, Gloucester had his nephews declared illegitimate and was crowned Richard III on 6 July. 

Disappearance of Edward and his brother Richard

The last recorded sighting of Edward and his brother was on 16 June when they were ‘seen shooting [arrows] and playing in the garden of the Tower sundry times.’  Soon afterwards, they were ‘withdrawn to the inner apartments of the Tower proper, and day by day began to be seen more rarely behind the bars and windows.’ What happened next forms one of the darkest chapters in the history of the English monarchy.  It is likely that the princes were quietly murdered, but at whose hands will probably never be known. In 1674, a chest containing the skeletons of two children was discovered during demolition works at the Tower. Charles II believed they were the missing princes and ordered that they be buried in Westminster Abbey.

• Born: 2 October 1452, Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire. Died: 22 August 1485, Bosworth, Leicestershire
• Spouse: Anne Neville (m. c. 1472, died 1485) 
• Successor: Henry VII 

Richard III divides opinion more than any other monarch in English history and his brief reign has been the subject of intense debate for more than 500 years. Richard never enjoyed the luxury of feeling secure on his throne. After seizing power from his young nephew, Edward V, Richard embarked on a progress to his northern powerbase of Yorkshire. Whilst there, he learned of a plot to rescue his nephews from the Tower. Shortly afterwards, an uprising broke out in the south west, aimed at putting Richard’s Lancastrian rival Henry Tudor on the throne. 

Defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth

The sudden death of Richard’s only son and heir, Edward, in April 1484, made his position even more unstable. Following the death of his wife, Anne Neville, in March 1485, it was rumoured that Richard would marry his niece Elizabeth, whom Henry Tudor had pledged to marry if he succeeded in taking the English throne. That summer, Henry began assembling an invasion fleet and on 7 August he landed with a small army off the Pembrokeshire coast. He clashed with Richard’s superior forces at Bosworth on 22 August and the King was slain. According to legend, the crown that Richard had worn over his helmet was found in a hawthorn bush and handed to the Lancastrian victor. 

• Born: 28 January 1457, Pembroke Castle, Wales. Died: 21 April 1509, Richmond Palace, London
• Spouse: Elizabeth of York (m.1486, died 1503)
• Successor:  Henry VIII (son)

England’s first Tudor monarch won the crown from Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. His right to that crown was questionable, which made him vulnerable to rival claimants. To strengthen his position, in January 1486 he married Edward IV’s eldest daughter Elizabeth, thus uniting the warring houses of Lancaster and York, symbolised by the Tudor rose emblem. A contemporary praised the new king: ‘His wisdom in governance, was singular, his wit always quick and ready…his person goodly and amiable…his dealings in time of perils and dangers was cold and sober with great hardiness.’

Diplomacy rather than war

Henry was soon challenged by pretenders to his throne. Lambert Simnel claimed to be Edward, Earl of Warwick, nephew of Edward IV, while Perkin Warbeck masqueraded as Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower. Both won considerable support but were ultimately defeated. Diplomacy rather than war dominated Henry’s foreign policy and he concluded a prestigious alliance with Spain, sealed by a marriage between his eldest son Arthur and Catherine of Aragon in 1501. By the end of his reign, the first Tudor monarch had transformed the royal finances and ‘accumulated so much gold that he is supposed to have more than well nigh all the other Kings of Christendom.’ This ensured he would forever be remembered as ‘a very great miser’. 

• Born: 28 June 1491, Greenwich Palace, London. Died: 28 January 1547, Whitehall Palace, London
• Spouse: Katherine of Aragon, (m. 1509), Anne Boleyn (m.1533), Jane Seymour (m. May 1536), Anne of Cleves (m. 1540), Katherine Howard (m. 1540), Katherine Parr (m. 1543)
• Successor:  Edward VI (son)

The most famous king in English history, Henry VIII inherited the throne in 1509 at the age of seventeen. Six feet two inches tall, handsome and athletic, he was described as an ‘adonis’ by contemporaries. But his gregarious nature masked a darker side that would find full and terrifying expression in later years. In contrast to his late father, Henry VIII had little patience for state affairs and was content for them to be managed by able ministers such as Thomas Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell.

Breaking with the Catholic Church and six queens

Henry is defined by his turbulent marital history. Just a few weeks after his accession, he married his late brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. Their only surviving child was the Princess Mary. Desperate for a son, in 1533 he had the marriage annulled and took Anne Boleyn as his second wife. She, too, only produced a daughter (the future Elizabeth I) and was executed on trumped-up charges of adultery. Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour, gave him a son (the future Edward VI) but died shortly afterwards. Three further wives followed, making Henry the most married monarch in British history. Along the way, he sparked a seismic religious reformation by breaking with Rome, making himself Supreme Head of a new Church of England and destroying the monasteries. He also oversaw a revolution in government and pursued an aggressive foreign policy, waging war with France and Scotland. Following a jousting accident, Henry’s health declined sharply and he gained a colossal amount of weight, becoming the bloated tyrant of legend. 

• Born: 12 October 1537, Hampton Court Palace, Surrey. Died: 6 July 1553, Greenwich Palace, London 
• Successor: Lady Jane Grey, (cousin)

Henry VIII’s ‘precious jewel’ was just nine years old when he became king. As he was too young to rule, his uncle Edward Seymour became Lord Protector, followed by John Dudley. Praise rang in the boy king’s ears. Polydore Vergil described him as: ‘A youth who most assuredly was destined for rule, for virtue and for wisdom. He is endowed with the highest talents.’ The new king was certainly accomplished and his court was splendid and refined. Edward had been raised a Protestant and was determined to firmly embed that religion in England. 

Act of Uniformity and the Book of Common Prayer

‘In the court there is no bishop, and no man of learning so ready to argue in support of the new doctrine as the king’, reported an ambassador. In January 1549 Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity, which established the Book of Common Prayer as the only legal form of worship in England. Opposition to the religious reforms combined with discontent at the rise of enclosures, depriving peasants of their common land. This found expression in the Prayer Book rebellion, closely followed by Kett’s rebellion. In spring 1553, Edward fell dangerously ill. As he lay dying, he drafted a ‘Devise’ for the succession, depriving his sisters of the throne and leaving it to his cousin, Lady Jane Grey.

• Born: Autumn 1537, Bradgate, Leicestershire. Died: 22 February 1554, Tower Hill, London
• Successor: Mary I (cousin)

On 10 July, four days after Edward VI’s death, the sixteen year-old Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen. The bishop of London preached a sermon declaring her right to the throne and denouncing the princesses Mary and Elizabeth as bastards. Shortly afterwards, Jane and her husband Guildford entered the Tower of London amidst great ceremony. But there was a notable lack of rejoicing among her new subjects. Jane herself harboured grave doubts about the justice of her accession, which had been orchestrated by her ambitious father-in-law John Dudley. Upon hearing that she was queen, she was 'stupefied and troubled', and fell to the ground weeping and declaring her 'insufficiency'.  

Imprisoned after nine days as Queen

It soon became clear that Jane was not prepared to simply act as Dudley’s puppet. She refused to make his son Guildford king, reputedly saying that 'the crown was not a plaything for boys and girls'. The person whom most people viewed as the rightful heir to Edward VI was his elder half-sister, Mary. Alarmed by rumours of the forces that were gathering in ever greater numbers to support her, on 19 July the council capitulated and abandoned Jane. The ‘nine days queen’ now resided at the Tower not as a monarch, but as a prisoner.

• Born: 18 February 1516, Greenwich Palace, London. Died: 17 November 1558, St James Palace, London
• Spouse: Phillip II of Spain (m.1554)
• Successor: Elizabeth I (sister)

Lady Jane Grey aside, Mary Tudor was England’s first queen regnant for almost 400 years. The last incumbent, the Empress Matilda, had held onto power for only a few months before the kingdom was plunged into civil war. The year after Mary’s accession, new legislation was introduced confirming that a ‘sole queen should rule as absolutely as a king.’ Early in her reign, Mary declared her intention to marry Philip of Spain. Her choice was heavily influenced by her mother’s homeland but it was deeply unpopular and sparked a rebellion led by Thomas Wyatt in 1554. 

Determined to return England to the Catholic church

Mary had what one eyewitness described as ‘a terrible and obstinate nature’. This was expressed most forcefully in her unbending resolve to return England to the Roman Catholic fold. Mary’s unflinching pursuit of Protestants overshadowed every other aspect of her reign, earning her the sobriquet ‘Bloody Mary’. During her short reign, she ordered the burning of 290 heretics, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. The horrific manner of their deaths excited sympathy even among England’s Catholics. The loss of Calais, England’s last outpost in France, made Mary even more unpopular. Her marriage to Philip did not produce the necessary heirs, only two phantom pregnancies. She died, abandoned by her husband, in November 1558, aged forty two.

• Born: 19 June 1566, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland. Died: 27 March 1625, Theobalds, Hertfordshire
• Spouse: Anne of Denmark (m.1589)
• Successor: Charles I (son)

The accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne in 1603 united the two kingdoms for the first time in their history and established the Stuart dynasty in England. He inherited the Scottish throne from his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been forced to abdicate when James was just thirteen months old – a ‘cradle king’, as he called himself. His rule in Scotland was shaped by his firm belief in the divine right of kings. But this jarred with the English Parliament and relations between the two became testy after James inherited Elizabeth I’s throne. When the new king confidently proposed a formal union between his two kingdoms, Parliament rejected it outright.

Persecution of Catholics and The Gunpower Plot

In 1604 James ended the long-running war with Spain and held a conference at Hampton Court to try to settle the vexed issue of religion. In the same year, he introduced a harsh new Witchcraft Act. His persecution of England’s Catholics also sparked resistance, most notably the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Increasingly, James neglected state business in preference for hunting and spending time with his male favourites. A Venetian envoy reported: ‘He seems to have forgotten that he is a King, except in his kingly pursuit of stags, to which he is quite foolishly devoted.’ By 1620, James was described as ‘being grown in years [and] weary of controversies’. He died in 1625, aged fifty seven.

• Born: 19 November 1600, Dunfermline Castle, Scotland. Died: 30 January 1649 outside Banqueting House, London
• Spouse: Henrietta Maria (m. 1625 - 1649)
• Successor: Charles II (son)

Charles, who inherited the throne in March 1625, followed his father James VI and I’s style of monarchy. He stood rigidly by the principle of the Divine Right of Kings and once declared: ‘A subject and a sovereign are clean different things’. One of his first acts as king was to marry Henrietta Maria, the French king’s sister and a Roman Catholic, which went against the wishes of his people. Charles soon clashed with Parliament and imposed a forced loan on his subjects to pay for an unpopular war with Spain. The Venetian ambassador predicted ‘some great upheaval’.

A King condemned

Charles took refuge in his passion for art and would do more than any other monarch to shape what became known as the Royal Collection. But before long, his dogged refusal to work with Parliament and his uncompromising religious stance plunged the kingdom into turmoil. On 23 April 1642, Charles was refused entry to Hull by the city’s parliamentary governor, Sir John Hotham – an event that is traditionally viewed as the beginning of the Civil War. In 1646, the King was taken prisoner but stubbornly refused to come to terms with the Parliamentarians. At the beginning of 1649, Charles was put on trial by Oliver Cromwell and his supporters and swiftly condemned. He was beheaded outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall on 30 January.

Oliver Cromwell

• Born: 25 April 1599 Huntingdon, Oxford. Died: 3 September 1658, Palace of Whitehall, London.

A month after the execution of Charles I in January 1649, an Act was passed that formally abolished the office of king as being: ‘unnecessary, burdensome, and dangerous to the liberty, safety and public interest of the people of this nation.’ In the absence of the monarchy, executive power was vested in Parliament, together with a council of state. But a single, strong leader was required and in 1653 Oliver Cromwell, who had played a leading role in the Civil War, was appointed Lord Protector. One of the late king’s advisers observed that he was ‘without the name of king, but with a greater power and authority than had been ever exercised or claimed by any king.’

Lord Protector

Cromwell became, in effect, a king without a crown. He styled himself ‘Oliver P’ for ‘Protector’, just as monarchs used an R after their name for Rex’ or ‘Regina. He was often addressed as ‘Your Highness’ and his daughters were styled ‘princess’. He also took up residence at the royal palaces of Whitehall and Hampton Court. When Cromwell died in 1658, he was succeeded by his son, Richard]. But the younger Cromwell was woefully ill-prepared, with little experience in either the military or political arena. Contemporaries scorned him as ‘Tumbledown Dick’. Richard resigned the following year and in May 1660, Parliament invited Charles I’s son to return from exile and restore the monarchy.

• Born: 29 May 1630, St James Palace, London. Died: 06 February 1685, Palace of Whitehall, London
• Spouse: Catherine of Braganza (m.1662 - 1685)
• Successor: James II (brother)

The son of the executed King Charles I, Charles II arrived in England from exile in May 1660 and restored the monarchy. There were strings attached: he agreed to rule in partnership with Parliament, rather than attempting to impose the royal will upon it as his father had done. Privately, the new king lamented: ‘A king who might be checked…by a parliament was but a king in name.' But Charles hunted down the regicides and ordered that Oliver Cromwell’s body be exhumed and executed. In April 1661, he was crowned amidst one of the most sumptuous ceremonies in royal history. He had commissioned a dazzling new set of Crown Jewels to replace those melted down on Oliver Cromwell’s orders. The centrepiece was St Edward’s Crown, which is still used to crown new monarchs today.

A decadent lifestyle

This brutal episode aside, the so-called ‘Merry Monarch’ was intent on pleasure, decadence and display. He revived a number of prominent royal ceremonies, such as touching for the King’s Evil and royal dining in public, as well as the Order of the Garter ceremony. He had numerous mistresses and illegitimate children but fathered no heir by his wife, Catherine of Braganza. A devastating plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London the following year were viewed by some as a punishment from God of the King’s sinful lifestyle. 

• Born: 14 October 1633, St James's Palace, London. Died: 16 September 1701, France
• Spouse: Anne Hyde (m.1660, died 1671), Mary of Modena, (m. 1673-1701)
• Successor: William and Mary (daughter and son-in-law)

Aged fifty one, James II was one of the oldest monarchs to ascend the British throne of Britain when he succeeded his brother Charles II in 1685. He was also one of the least popular. Firmly committed to Roman Catholicism, he was determined to establish that faith in Britain and to restore full monarchical power, unfettered by Parliament. James soon faced serious challenges to his rule. Charles II’s illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth led a rebellion in June 1685 with the stated aim of ‘delivering the Kingdom from the usurpation and tyranny of us by the name of James, Duke of York’. It was swiftly crushed and the King did not flinch from having his nephew executed on Tower Hill.

'Glorious Revolution'

In June 1688 the King’s Catholic wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son. Until now, the heir presumptive had been James’s eldest daughter Mary, a staunch Protestant. The prospect of a Catholic dynasty stretching far into the future prompted a group of influential Protestants (known as the ‘Immortal Seven’) to spread a rumour that the child was an imposter who had been smuggled into the queen’s bedchamber in a warming pan to replace a stillborn child.  They proceeded to make secret overtures to the King’s son-in-law William of Orange, inviting him to invade in the name of the Protestant faith. The so-called ‘Glorious Revolution’ swept James from power and established his daughter Mary and her husband William as joint monarchs.

William

• Born: 4 November 1650, Binnenhof Palace in The Hague. Died: 8 March 1702 at Kensington Palace, London,
• Spouse: Mary II (m.1677)
• Successor: Anne (Mary's sister and William’s cousin) 

Mary 

• Born: 30 April 1662, St James's Palace, London. Died: 28 December 1694, Kensington Palace, London.
• Spouse: William III (m.1677)

William of Orange and his wife Mary were invited to take the throne during the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, which ousted Mary’s father James II from power. Mary’s Stuart blood made her more acceptable to the British people than her Dutch husband, but the fact that she had betrayed her father attracted fierce criticism. The monarchs soon realised that there were conditions attached to Parliament’s offer of the crown. A year after their accession, the Bill of Rights was passed, whereby royal power was severely restricted by Parliament. This marked a turning point in the history of the British crown as monarchs reigned rather than ruled.

A constitutional monarchy

This key concession safeguarded the future of the British monarchy. Elsewhere, monarchies that continued to insist on absolute powers fell prey to revolution, notably in France. William and Mary’s more modest style reflected the shift to a constitutional monarchy. The decadence and display of the Stuart court gave way to greater privacy, which the joint monarchs sought at their newly-built palaces of Kensington and Hampton Court. When Mary died from smallpox in 1694, William ruled alone but was increasingly unpopular. The year before his death in 1702, the rise of support for the ‘Jacobites’ (the supporters of James II) prompted Parliament to pass the Act of Settlement in 1701, barring any Roman Catholic from inheriting the throne. It remains in place today.

• Born: 06 February 1665, St James’ Palace, London. Died: 01 August 1714, Kensington Palace, London
• Spouse: George of Denmark (m.1683)
• Successor: George I (great-grandchild of James I and VI)

‘I know my own heart to be entirely English,’ Queen Anne told the first parliament of her reign. This was exactly what her xenophobic people wanted to hear after being ruled by her Dutch predecessor and brother-in-law, William of Orange. Anne’s popular touch would be a keynote of her reign. She revived some of the ancient royal ceremonies that her modernising predecessors had eschewed, notably touching for the King’s Evil, and achieved a formal union between England and Scotland for the first time since James VI of Scotland had inherited Elizabeth Tudor’s crown in 1603.

Anne was only thirty-seven at the time of her accession numerous ill-fated pregnancies had taken their toll and she was crippled with rheumatism. She had to be carried in a sedan chair to her coronation in April 1702. Naturally reserved, the Queen preferred the company of a few cherished favourites, foremost among whom was Sarah Churchill, duchess of Marlborough. Her overbearing nature eventually became too much for Anne to bear and she was dismissed. Tragically, despite her seventeen pregnancies, the Queen had no surviving heir when she came to the throne so she would be the last Stuart monarch. When she died at Kensington Palace on 1 August 1714, the throne passed to her closest Protestant relative, George, Elector of Hanover. 

• Born: 28 May 1660, Hanover, Germany. Died: 11 June 1727, Osnabrück, Hanover, Germany
• Spouse: Sophia Dorothea of Celle (m. 1682, imprisoned 1694)
• Successor: George II

The first monarch of the House of Hanover, George I inherited the British throne thanks to the Act of Settlement (1701), which barred the Catholic descendants of James II in favour of Protestant heirs. At fifty-four, he was the oldest monarch to succeed in England and seemed reluctant to leave his native Hanover (today part of north-west Germany). The new king spoke no English and rejected the public ceremonies beloved of the British monarchy. His court lacked a queen, since he had imprisoned his adulterous wife, Sophia Dorothea, many years earlier. His growing unpopularity was reflected by Jacobite uprisings, aimed at restoring the exiled Stuarts to the throne. 

An absent King

George’s lack of English prevented his playing an active role in government, which paved the way for ambitious politicians such as the influential Sir Robert Walpole to dominate. As his reign progressed, the king began to make regular and increasingly prolonged visits to Hanover. George, Prince of Wales and his wife Caroline took advantage of these absences by setting up a rival court, which worsened relations between father and son. Then in 1720, the King became a scapegoat for the financial crisis of 1720 known as the ‘South Sea Bubble’. George increasingly ceded authority to Walpole while he made prolonged visits to his homeland. He died there in June 1727.

• Born: 10 November 1683 at Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover. Died: 25 October 1760, Kensington Palace, London
• Spouse: Caroline of Ansbach (m. 1705)
• Successor: George III (son)

‘Dunce the second reigns like Dunce the first’, sneered the poet Alexander Pope soon after George II’s coronation in October 1727. The new king was prone to ‘sudden passions’ and had an obsessive attention to detail. His days moved with clockwork regularity. ‘No mill-horses ever went in a more constant, true or a more unchanging circle’, complained Lord Hervey. George II’s subjects soon began to resent the sizeable allowance that parliament had granted him and scoffed that the new king was dominated by his wife: ‘You may strut, dapper George, but ‘twill all be in vain: We know ‘tis Queen Caroline, not you, that reign.’ 

A decline in the monarch's power

King George was content to let Sir Robert Walpole manage the day-to-day business of government as de facto prime minister, but he took a close interest in military affairs. In 1743 he became the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle when he took part in a conflict at Dettingen, part of the War of the Austrian Succession. Two years later, the Jacobites launched a major rebellion in the Scottish Highlands, led by James II’s grandson Charles (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’), but a crushing defeat at Culloden in April 1746 signalled an end to their cause. The remainder of George II’s reign saw the steady decline of the monarchy’s power. He died at Kensington on 25 October 1760. Within a month, it was reported that he ‘seems already to be almost forgotten’.

• Born: 04 June 1738 in Norfolk House, St James's Square, London. Died: 29 January 1820, Windsor Castle
• Spouse: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (m. 1761, died 1818)
• Successor: George IV

George III was the first Hanoverian monarch to be born in England and showed little interest in ‘the horrid Electorate’ of Hanover. Within a year of his accession, he married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They met for the first time on their wedding day, 8 September 1761, and were crowned a fortnight later. It was a successful marriage, resulting in fifteen children. The same year, George purchased Buckingham House and transformed it into a royal palace fit to be the monarch’s main residence in London. George III’s ill-informed meddling in government prompted political turmoil and a deterioration in his mental health. In 1765 he fell ill with an ‘ulcer’d mind’. 

War of independence in America and war with France

In 1775, a war of independence broke out in Britain’s American colonies. Six years later, George lamented: ‘America is lost!’ He drafted an abdication speech but his popularity in Britain was undiminished. He was morally upstanding, put Britain’s interests ahead of Hanover’s and was the first British monarch to embrace charitable works. But from the 1780s he was incapacitated by bouts of severe mental illness and retreated to Kew Palace. The remainder of his long reign was marked by the outbreak of war with Napoleonic France and numerous scandals sparked by his profligate sons. On 25 October 1810, the King appeared in public for the last time at a reception to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his accession. The following year, parliament passed The Regency Act, conferring royal authority upon his eldest son and heir. George III died in January 1820, aged eighty one.

• Born: 12 August 1762, St James's Palace, London. Died: 26 June 1830, Windsor, England
• Spouse: Maria Anne Fitzherbert (m.1785, not legally recognised), Caroline of Brunswick (m.1795)
• Successor: William IV

By the time he became king in 1820, aged fifty seven, George IV already had more than eight years’ experience as Regent. But he had wasted the time spent ‘playing at King’, the British public were tired of his profligacy and licentiousness, and the popularity of the crown had sunk to an all-time low. His disastrous marriage to Caroline of Brunswick had produced only one child, Charlotte, who died in 1817 and the couple were permanently estranged. Determined to assert his sovereignty, George IV planned the most extravagant coronation in the history of the British monarchy at a cost £243,000 (around £14 million today).

Patron of architecture and the arts

More than any of his Hanoverian predecessors, George appreciated the importance of royal pomp and ceremony, and during his reign the court regained some much-needed glamour. The new king was a passionate patron of architecture and set about transforming his father’s modest home, Buckingham House, into a magnificent palace. He was also an active patron of the arts and encouraged the works of Walter Scott and Jane Austen. But he failed to exert any influence over government and retired to Brighton, where he lived out his days steeped in alcohol, laudanum and women. Morbidly obese, his health rapidly deteriorated. Upon his death in June 1830 The Times newspaper declared: ‘There never was an individual less regretted by his fellow-creatures than this deceased King.’

• Born: 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House, London. Died: 20 June 1837 at Windsor Castle, England
• Spouse: Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, (m. 1818)
• Successor: Queen Victoria

At sixty four years old, William IV became the oldest king to a ascend the British throne. His distinguished naval career, which included service in the American War of Independence, earned him the nickname ‘Sailor King’. In stark contrast to his elder brother, William had a modest lifestyle and a harmonious (and childless) marriage, to Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. His style of monarchy was much more informal than his predecessor’s and he continued to live at Clarence House, his elegant but modest London residence. Upon hearing that he was king, he drove about London in his carriage for hours, doffing his cap and offering lifts to startled passers-by. 

Demise of the crown's political authority

William IV was more conscientious than his late brother, who had left the monarchy in a perilous state. Prime Minister Wellington claimed he had done more business with the new king in ten minutes than he had with George IV in as many days. The Reform Act of 1832, which removed the monarchy’s power over the appointment of prime ministers, led to tensions between king and government. But towards the end of his reign William became reconciled to the demise of the crown’s political authority. ‘He was not a man of talent or of much refinement’, reflected The Times upon the King’s death in June 1837. ‘But he had a warm heart, and it was an English heart.’

• Born: 24 May 1819, Kensington Palace, London. Died: 22 January 1901, Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England
• Spouse: Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (m. 1840, died 1861)
• Successor: Edward VII (son)

On 20 June 1837, the eighteen year-old Victoria was at Kensington Palace, her birthplace, when she learned that she was queen. She presided over her first privy council meeting there that day. The Duke of Wellington was impressed by the way she conducted herself with ‘ease and…self-possession…as if she had been performing the part for years.’ The young queen enjoyed instant popularity. ‘It is no exaggeration to say that the accession of Princess Victoria reinstated the English monarchy in the affections of the people’, enthused The Times newspaper. She went on to establish many of the royal traditions that are still in place today. 

A devoted marriage with nine children

In 1840, Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The devoted couple had nine children and became in effect a dual monarchy. Albert’s sudden death in 1861 plunged Victoria into deep mourning and she retreated from public life for a decade. Growing public resentment prompted the Queen to resume her public duties. She became a figurehead for Britain’s growing empire and industrial advances. The marriages of her offspring into royal families overseas earned her the nickname ‘Grandmother of Europe’. In 1896 she became Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign and celebrated her Diamond Jubilee three years later. On the eve of her death in January 1901, a contemporary remarked: ‘It appeared as if some monstrous reversal of the course of nature was about to take place. The vast majority of her subjects had never known a time when Queen Victoria had not been reigning over them.’

• Born: 23 June 1894, White Lodge, Richmond Park. Died: 28 May 1972, 4 rue du Champ d'Entraînement, Paris, France
• Spouse: Wallis Simpson (m.1937)
• Successor: George VI (brother)

‘After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself within 12 months.’ George V’s gloomy prediction about his eldest son and heir David, who took the regnal name Edward VIII, would prove accurate. Soon after his accession, Edward confided to the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin: ‘I know there is nothing kingly in me.’ Visibly bored by his royal duties, Edward channelled his energies into his social life. He refused to give up his mistress, the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, and declared his intention to make her his wife. At the time, the Church of England forbade marriage to a divorcee. As supreme governor, this was something that the new king could hardly ignore. 

Abdication

Edward soon realised he must choose between the throne and the woman he loved. On the morning of 10 December, he signed the instrument of abdication then turned to his younger brother Bertie, who was now king, and said: ‘God bless you, Sir. I hope you will be happier than your predecessor.’ ‘We woke in the reign of Edward VIII and went to bed in that of George VI’, remarked the politician and diarist Sir Henry ‘Chips’ Channon. Edward’s 327-day reign was the shortest of any recognised monarch since Edward V and his abdication plunged the monarchy into crisis.

• Born: 21 April 1926, Mayfair, London Sandringham, Norfolk . Died: 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle, Scotland
• Spouse: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (m.1947)
• Successor: Charles III (son)

‘She loves her duty and means to be a Queen,’ the future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan said of Elizabeth II when she came to the throne. Duty would be the hallmark of her long reign. Elizabeth’s coronation in June 1953 was the first in royal history to be televised and an estimated 20 million people tuned in across the globe. It sparked an unprecedented interest in the royal family that endured throughout her reign. The Queen was given the title Head of the Commonwealth and undertook numerous visits to the countries it encompassed, making her the most widely travelled head of state in the world.

Longest reigning British sovereign and much loved Queen

The Queen’s unflinching duty and constant, steadying presence brought stability to the monarchy. In September 2015, she became the longest reigning sovereign in British history and two years later celebrated sixty years of marriage to Prince Philip. She was instrumental in the introduction of The Succession to the Crown Act of 2013, which gave equal pre-eminence to female heirs in the British line of succession for the first time in the monarchy’s history. Alongside her official duties, Elizabeth II was patron of more than 600 charities. In September 2022, three months after celebrating her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen died at Balmoral Castle, aged ninety six.