verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government. The reigning king or queen is the country’s head of state. All political power rests with the prime minister (the head of government) and the cabinet, and the monarch must act on their advice.
The table provides a chronological list of the sovereigns of Britain.
| Kings of Wessex (West Saxons) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| name | dynasty or house | reign | |
| 1Athelstan was king of Wessex and the first king of all England. | |||
| 2James VI of Scotland became also James I of England in 1603. Upon accession to the English throne, he styled himself "King of Great Britain" and was so proclaimed. Legally, however, he and his successors held separate English and Scottish kingships until the Act of Union of 1707, when the two kingdoms were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain. | |||
| 3The United Kingdom was formed on January 1, 1801, with the union of Great Britain and Ireland. After 1801 George III was styled "King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland." | |||
| 4Oliver and Richard Cromwell served as lords protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland during the republican Commonwealth. | |||
| 5William and Mary, as husband and wife, reigned jointly until Mary's death in 1694. William then reigned alone until his own death in 1702. | |||
| 6George IV was regent from February 5, 1811. | |||
| 7In 1917, during World War I, George V changed the name of his house from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. | |||
| 8Edward VIII succeeded upon the death of his father, George V, on January 20, 1936, but abdicated on December 11, 1936, before coronation. | |||
| | Egbert | Saxon | 802–839 |
| | Aethelwulf (Ethelwulf) | Saxon | 839–856/858 |
| | Aethelbald (Ethelbald) | Saxon | 855/856–860 |
| | Aethelberht (Ethelbert) | Saxon | 860–865/866 |
| | Aethelred I (Ethelred) | Saxon | 865/866–871 |
| | Alfred the Great | Saxon | 871–899 |
| | Edward the Elder | Saxon | 899–924 |
| Sovereigns of England | |||
| name | dynasty or house | reign | |
| | Athelstan1 | Saxon | 925–939 |
| | Edmund I | Saxon | 939–946 |
| | Eadred (Edred) | Saxon | 946–955 |
| | Eadwig (Edwy) | Saxon | 955–959 |
| | Edgar | Saxon | 959–975 |
| | Edward the Martyr | Saxon | 975–978 |
| | Ethelred II the Unready (Aethelred) | Saxon | 978–1013 |
| | Sweyn Forkbeard | Danish | 1013–14 |
| | Ethelred II the Unready (restored) | Saxon | 1014–16 |
| | Edmund II Ironside | Saxon | 1016 |
| | Canute | Danish | 1016–35 |
| | Harold I Harefoot | Danish | 1035–40 |
| | Hardecanute | Danish | 1040–42 |
| | Edward the Confessor | Saxon | 1042–66 |
| | Harold II | Saxon | 1066 |
| | William I the Conqueror | Norman | 1066–87 |
| | William II | Norman | 1087–1100 |
| | Henry I | Norman | 1100–35 |
| | Stephen | Blois | 1135–54 |
| | Henry II | Plantagenet | 1154–89 |
| | Richard I | Plantagenet | 1189–99 |
| | John | Plantagenet | 1199–1216 |
| | Henry III | Plantagenet | 1216–72 |
| | Edward I | Plantagenet | 1272–1307 |
| | Edward II | Plantagenet | 1307–27 |
| | Edward III | Plantagenet | 1327–77 |
| | Richard II | Plantagenet | 1377–99 |
| | Henry IV | Plantagenet: Lancaster | 1399–1413 |
| | Henry V | Plantagenet: Lancaster | 1413–22 |
| | Henry VI | Plantagenet: Lancaster | 1422–61 |
| | Edward IV | Plantagenet: York | 1461–70 |
| | Henry VI (restored) | Plantagenet: Lancaster | 1470–71 |
| | Edward IV (restored) | Plantagenet: York | 1471–83 |
| | Edward V | Plantagenet: York | 1483 |
| | Richard III | Plantagenet: York | 1483–85 |
| | Henry VII | Tudor | 1485–1509 |
| | Henry VIII | Tudor | 1509–47 |
| | Edward VI | Tudor | 1547–53 |
| | Mary I | Tudor | 1553–58 |
| | Elizabeth I | Tudor | 1558–1603 |
| Sovereigns of Great Britain and the United Kingdom2, 3 | |||
| name | dynasty or house | reign | |
| | James I (VI of Scotland)2 | Stuart | 1603–25 |
| | Charles I | Stuart | 1625–49 |
| Commonwealth (1653–59) | |||
| | Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector4 | 1653–58 | |
| | Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector4 | 1658–59 | |
| | Charles II | Stuart | 1660–85 |
| | James II | Stuart | 1685–88 |
| | William III and Mary II5 | Orange/Stuart | 1689–1702 |
| | Anne | Stuart | 1702–14 |
| | George I | Hanover | 1714–27 |
| | George II | Hanover | 1727–60 |
| | George III3 | Hanover | 1760–1820 |
| | George IV6 | Hanover | 1820–30 |
| | William IV | Hanover | 1830–37 |
| | Victoria | Hanover | 1837–1901 |
| | Edward VII | Saxe-Coburg-Gotha | 1901–10 |
| | George V7 | Windsor | 1910–36 |
| | Edward VIII8 | Windsor | 1936 |
| | George VI | Windsor | 1936–52 |
| | Elizabeth II | Windsor | 1952–2022 |
| | Charles III | Windsor | 2022– |
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
