How long has the monarchy been in britain for

Since this time there have been twelve Heads of State from three different families. The first of these was Queen Anne of the House of Stuart , who ruled for a total of 7 years and 92 days, from to although she had been the Queen of England since House of Hannover As Anne had no children, her cousin George I came to power; thus began the Hanoverian dynasty , which lasted from until This house included George III and Victoria arguably the most famous British monarch in history , who served for over 59 and 63 years respectively, making them two of the longest serving British monarchs ever.

The House of Hannover also oversaw a huge expansion of the British Empire, which continued into the reign of the House of Windsor.

The original name was changed in , due to the anti-German feelings among the general public during the First World War. This house has included the shortest reigning monarch on this list, Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne after days as his proposed marriage to Walls Simpson who had already been married twice was opposed by parliament.

He was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI, who ruled for just over 15 years. George VI's daughter, Elizabeth II, is the current reigning monarch and longest serving monarch in British history, who has been the British Head of State for almost 70 years. Loading statistic Show source. Download for free You need to log in to download this statistic Register for free Already a member? Log in. Show detailed source information? Register for free Already a member?

With the conquest of the kingdoms Mercia in , King Egbert of Wessex became the first ruler of the Anglo-Saxon people. Since this time, there have been 68 rulers of England and since Great Britain. The majority of these rulers have inherited their title and crown from their mother or father, or as a result of their family ties, although some of the people on this list obtained their title through marriage or conquest, while others simply made a claim to the throne that was not always acknowledged by their subjects.

The longest serving of these rulers is the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who has been the British monarch for over 69 years.

The shortest reign on this list belongs to Lady Jane Grey in , who had been named Edward VI's successor in his will, however, Jane was deposed after just nine days by Edward's half-sister Mary I Bloody Mary , and she was subsequently executed for treason at the age of Early Ruling Houses Egbert of Wessex was the first ruler to be named "Bretwalda" Britain-ruler in CE, although his grandson, Alfred the Great, is regarded by historians to be the first widely-accepted ruler of England following his defeat of the Vikings in the late 9th century.

Norman rule ushered in a new era of French influence in the British monarchy, and vice-versa. The next three centuries were dominated by the House of Plantagenet including the Houses of Lancaster and York, most commonly associated with the Wars of the Roses; Britain's bloodiest civil war.

The Houses of Tudor and Stuart Among the most famous royal houses is the House of Tudor , which came into power in , at the beginning of what we now call modern history. This house included Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I, whose lives have been widely publicized in popular culture, and it oversaw a period of heavy reform and anti-reform. Following the Tudors was the House of Stuart , which oversaw most of the seventeenth century, however it was interrupted for a brief period in the s.

This interruption came as a result of Charles I's execution, where control passed from the monarchy to parliament, with 'Lord Protector' Oliver Cromwell and later his son at its head. The monarchy was re-established with the appointment of Charles II in Until this point the monarchy of Scotland and England had a complicated history, with many monarchs acting as the heads of both states, however this act now brought these monarchies together.

During the 18th and nineteenth centuries the monarchy gradually transformed into the more ceremonial role that it has today. The British Empire also expanded to all corners of the world during the reigns of the Hanoverians and Windsors, and the heads of state eventually became the king or queen of all of these dominions. The final Hanoverian was Queen Victoria, whose reign of 63 years and days is the second longest on this list, and this time is commonly known as the Victorian period.

In the event of a threat to the common profit — increasingly identified with war — the king, it was said, could demand the financial assistance of his subjects for which, since the danger touched the whole realm, the consent of a representative assembly was required. The granting of taxation took place in the framework of the Roman law doctrine of necessity.

This meant that once a necessity — a threat to the realm — had been recognised, complete refusal of taxation could not be admitted; bargaining could take place only about the size of the grant.

Through the development in parallel of a doctrine of national representation, those elected to the lower house of parliament were given the power to speak for those they represented.

Electors and elected were bound together. In France the demands of war finance were no less regular or intense, and the ideas of the theorists no less developed, yet the institutional means for the securing of assent to public taxation were a good deal less sophisticated.

There was no omnicompetent national assembly on the lines of the English parliament. The Estates General, a body which met only irregularly, might assent to a grant of taxation to the king; if that grant were to be made locally effective, however, the king would have to bargain with local assemblies in addition.

Because the French state preserved within its shell the fabric of older regional identities, it was at the local level that the process of negotiation was most crucial. By the 15th century this ramshackle and inefficient structure was found to be incapable of responding to the needs of the moment. With the kingdom threatened with conquest by the English, Charles VII —61 began collecting taxes without consent. Citing the common danger as his justification, he presented himself as the personification of French identity, claiming a loyalty which in the past had often been seen in regional terms.

The estates and assemblies of the kingdom offered him no resistance. Jealous in defence of local liberties, they found it difficult, if not impossible, to co-operate to resist royal assertiveness. In the absence of any doctrine of public representation, moreover, they lacked the direct links with those they claimed to speak for which made the English parliamentary Commons so effective.

By the late 15th and 16th centuries the French king was, to all intents and purposes, ruling without popular consent. In the short term, it could be said that this made the monarchy stronger. In the longer run, however, it contributed to its weakness, and ultimately to its demise. The only remedy was to remove the monarchy altogether.

So began the Angevin line. He was slippery, cruel and capricious. By his rule had provoked a massive rebellion which led to the making of Magna Carta.

By the time of his death the struggle between the two sides had been renewed. Only his death saved the country from prolonged civil war.

What would have happened had he lived? Would he have become the first post-Conquest king to be deposed? However, he was more sinned against than sinning; he was actually a well-meaning man, whose main fault was undue generosity to his friends.

In Simon de Montfort he faced an implacable and self-righteous opponent. De Montfort was killed at Evesham in , and the reign ended in peace. He was deposed in by the Yorkist Edward IV, who claimed a superior legitimacy. Challenges to kings in the Wars of the Roses took the form of challenges to their title, not challenges to the institution of the monarchy. His defeat and death at Bosworth provided a fitting indictment of his rule.

In this way, Henry Tudor was given enough of a power-base to pitch a bid for the crown himself. The absence of plausible alternative claimants after helped Henry to restore political stability.

He had been a poor king, but made a good martyr, with churches dedicated to him. Paradoxically the years of Interregnum which followed showed the popular appetite for monarchy.

This permission was not always granted. To create a sense of distance between the British throne and their overseas relations, the family name was replaced with a more modern, English surname: Windsor. The name was inspired by Windsor Castle , which was founded by William the Conqueror. British royals were marrying commoners as early as the 15 th century, though in a family where bloodlines determine power, the pairings were always controversial.

As societal rules around marriage, divorce, and partnership shifted, so did royal marriages. Both children of Prince Charles and Princess Diana were permitted to marry commoners: Prince William married Kate Middleton , the daughter of parents who own a party supplies company, in and his brother, Harry, married American actress Meghan Markle in