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

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

Athelstan1 Saxon 925–939

Edmund I Saxon 939–946

Eadred (Edred) Szxon 939-955

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 HarefootDanish 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 Plantagenet: Lancaster 1470-1471

Edward IV Plantagenet: York 1471–83

Edward V Plantagenet: York 1483

Richard III 1483–85

Henry VII Tudor 1485–1509

Henry VIII Tudor 1509–47

Edward VI Tudor 1547–53

Mary I.

Mary I Tudor 1553–58

Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I Tudor 1558–1603

Sovereigns of Great Britain and the United Kingdom

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 IHanover 1714–1727

George II Hanover 1727–1760

George III3 Hanover 1760–1820

George IV6 Hanover 1820–1937

William IV Hanover 1830–37

Victoria Hanover 1837–1901

Edward VII Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 1901–1910

George V7 Windsor 1910–1936

Edward VIII8 Windsor 1936

George VI Windsor 1936–1952

Elizabeth II Windsor 1952–2022

Charles III Windsor 2022he monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British
monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of
the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The current monarch is
King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

King of the United Kingdom

Royal coats of arms used in Scotland (right) and

elsewhere (left)

Incumbent

Charles III
since 8 September 2022

Details

Style His Majesty

 Heir apparent William, Prince of Wales

Residence See list

Website royal.uk

The monarch and their immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representational
duties. The monarchy is 'constitutional', meaning that, although formally the monarch still has authority over
the government—which is known as "His/Her Majesty's Government"—this power may only be used according to
laws enacted in Parliament and within constraints of convention and precedent. Thus in practice the monarch's role,
including that of Head of the British Armed Forces, is limited to functions such as
bestowing honours and appointing the prime minister, which are performed in a non-partisan manner. The UK
Government has called the monarchy "a unique soft power and diplomatic asset". The Crown also occupies a unique
cultural role, serving as an unofficial brand ambassador for British interests and values abroad, increasing tourism at
home, and promoting charities throughout civil society.

The British monarchy traces its origins from the petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and early medieval
Scotland, which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century. England
was conquered by the Normans in 1066, after which Wales also gradually came under the control of Anglo-
Normans. The process was completed in the 13th century when the Principality of Wales became a client state of the
English kingdom. The Anglo-Normans also established the Lordship of Ireland. Meanwhile, Magna Carta began the
process of reducing the English monarch's political powers. In the 16th century, English and Scottish monarchs
played a central role in what became the religious English Reformation and Scottish Reformation, and the English
king became King of Ireland. Beginning in 1603, the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single
sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England,
which followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Following the installation of William III and Mary II as co-
monarchs in the Glorious Revolution, the Bill of Rights 1689, and its Scottish counterpart the Claim of Right Act
1689, further curtailed the power of the monarchy and excluded Roman Catholics from succession to the throne. In
1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801,
the Kingdom of Ireland joined to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Beginning in the 16th century, the monarch was the nominal head of what came to be the vast British Empire, which
covered a quarter of the world's land area at its greatest extent in 1921. The title Emperor of India was added to the
British monarch's titles between 1876 and 1948. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the evolution of
the Dominions of the Empire into separate, self-governing countries within a Commonwealth of Nations. Also in
this period, the monarchy in Ireland eventually became limited to Northern Ireland. In the years after the Second
World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, effectively bringing the Empire
to an end. George VI and his successors, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free
association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fourteen other independent sovereign states
that share the same person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. Although the monarch is shared, each
country is sovereign and independent of the others, and the monarch has a different, specific, and official
national title and style for each realm. Although the term is rarely used today, the fifteen Commonwealth realms are,
with respect to their monarch, in personal union.

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