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In Britain the Queen is the Head of State , but in fact she doesn’t rule the country as she has no power. The Queen is the symbol of the country, its traditions. She is very rich. She travels about the United Kingdom, meets different people and visits schools, hospitals and other special places. The real power in the country belongs to the British Parliament and to the British Government. The British Parliament has two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
James III (r. 1460-1488)
James IV (r.1488-1513)
James V (r.1513-1542)
Mary, Queen of Scots (r.1542-1567)
James VI and I (r. 1567-1625)
Charles II (r. 1660-1685)
James VII and II (r.1685-1689)
William II and III (r. 1689-1702) and Mary II (r.1689-1694)
Anne (r.1702-1714)
The Jacobite Claimants
The Accession of William and Mary was not uncontested, and the Roman Catholic descendants of ousted King James II and VII made efforts to regain the throne throughout the next century, with varying levels of success. The cause of the Jacobites met support in Scotland and the North of England in particular but, despite early successes, the rebellions were firmly quashed by the ruling House of Hanover.
Prince James Francis Edward
Prince Charles Edward
Prince Henry Benedict
United Kingdom Monarchs (1603 - present)
The Stuarts
The Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom. King James I of England who began the period was also King James VI of Scotland, thus combining the two thrones for the first time. The Stuart dynasty reigned in England and Scotland from 1603 to 1714, a period which saw a flourishing Court culture but also much upheaval and instability, of plague, fire and war. It was an age of intense religious debate and radical politics. Both contributed to a bloody civil war in the mid-seventeenth century between Crown and Parliament (the Cavaliers and the Roundheads), resulting in a parliamentary victory for Oliver Cromwell and the dramatic execution of King Charles I. There was a short-lived republic, the first time that the country had experienced such an event. The Restoration of the Crown was soon followed by another 'Glorious' Revolution. William and Mary of Orange ascended the throne as joint monarchs and defenders of Protestantism, followed by Queen Anne, the second of James II's daughters. The end of the Stuart line with the death of Queen Anne led to the drawing up of the Act of Settlement in 1701, which provided that only Protestants could hold the throne. The next in line according to the provisions of this act was George of Hanover, yet Stuart princes remained in the wings. The Stuart legacy was to linger on in the form of claimants to the Crown for another century.
James I (r. 1603-1625)
Charles I (r. 1625-1649)
Interregnum (1649-1660)
Charles II (r.1660 -1685)
James II (r.1685-1688)
Mary II, William III and The Act of Settlement
Anne (r.1702-1714)
The Hanoverians
The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set to undermine the stability of British society. The first of their Kings, George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but the nearest Protestant according to the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of James II, the deposed Stuart king, threatened to take the throne, and were supported by a number of 'Jacobites' throughout the realm. For all that, the Hanoverian period was remarkably stable, not least because of the longevity of its kings. From 1714 through to 1837, there were only five monarchs, one of whom, George III, remains the longest reigning king in British History. The period was also one of political stability, and the development of constitutional monarchy. For vast tracts of the eighteenth century, great Whig families dominated politics, while the early nineteenth century saw Tory domination. Britain's first 'Prime' Minister, Robert Walpole, dates from this period, and income tax was introduced. Towards the end of the Hanoverian period, the Great Reform Act was passed, which amongst other things widened the electorate. It was also in this period that Britain came to acquire much of her overseas empire, despite the loss of the American colonies, largely through foreign conquest in the various wars of the century. By the end of the Hanoverian period, the British Empire covered a third of the globe. The theme of longevity was set to continue, as the longest reigning monarch in British history, Queen Victoria, prepared to take the throne.
George I (r. 1714-1727)
George II (r. 1727-1760)
George III (r. 1760-1820)
George IV (r. 1820-1830)
William IV (r. 1830-1837)
Victoria (r. 1837-1901)
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha came to the British Royal Family in 1840 with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, son of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. Queen Victoria herself remained a member of the House of Hanover. The only British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was King Edward VII, who reigned for nine years at the beginning of the modern age in the early years of the twentieth century. King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor during the First World War. The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha survived in other European monarchies, including the current Belgian Royal Family and the former monarchies of Portugal and Bulgaria.
Edward VII (r.1901-1910)
The House of Windsor
The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the name was adopted as the British Royal Family's official name by a proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It remains the family name of the current Royal Family. The present Queen has familial ties with most of the monarchs in Europe. Download a family tree showing the relationships of The Queen to European monarchies. During the twentieth century, kings and queens of the United Kingdom have fulfilled the varied duties of constitutional monarchy. One of their most important roles has been acting as national figureheads lifting public morale during the devastating wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45. The period saw the modernisation of the monarchy in tandem with many social changes which have taken place over the past 90 years. One such modernisation has been the use of mass communication technologies to make the Royal Family accessible to a broader public all over the world. George V adopted the new relatively new medium of radio to broadcast across the Empire at Christmas; the Coronation ceremony was broadcast on television for the first time in 1953, at The Queen's insistence; and the World Wide Web has been used for the past seven years to provide a global audience with information about the Royal Family. During this period, British monarchs have also played a vital part in promoting international relations. The Queen retains close links with former colonies in her role as Head of the Commonwealth.
George V (r. 1910-1936)
Edward VIII (Jan-Dec 1936)
George VI (r.1936-1952)
The House of Windsor from 1952
This section looks at the lives and work of members of the Royal Family who have passed away since The Queen's Accession in 1952: Diana, Princess of Wales, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Alice.
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
25 December 1901 - 29 October 2004
Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester died peacefully in her sleep on the evening of 29 October 2004, at Kensington Palace, London. Princess Alice was the widow of the late Duke of Gloucester, third son of George V; the mother of the present Duke of Gloucester; and the aunt of The Queen. Passing away two months short of her 103rd birthday, she had a long, adventurous and eventful life. In her Royal duties, she served the nation for many decades, working for the benefit of numerous charities and supporting the Armed Forces in peace and war.
The Princess Margaret
21 August 1930 - 9 February 2002
Princess Margaret was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and sister to The Queen. She was born on 21 August 1930. During her rich and varied life, The Princess played an active role in the Royal Family's public work, supporting The Queen. Her particular interests were in the broad field of welfare work, and in the arts. She was patron or president of over 80 organisations, ranging from children's charities to ballet companies. Princess Margaret was also a devoted mother. Two children from her marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones survive her: Lord Linley, born on 3 November 1961, and Lady Sarah Chatto, born on 1 May 1964.
Queen Elizabeth II and The Queen Mother
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, the present British sovereign, and the widow of King George VI. She was born the Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon on 4 August 1900 (fourth daughter of Lord Glamis, later 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne) and spent her early childhood at St Paul's Waldenbury in Hertfordshire, north of the capital. This was the country home of her parents. The Bowes-Lyon family is descended from the Royal House of Scotland. One of The Queen Mother's 14th-century ancestors, Sir John Lyon, became Thane of Glamis, home of Macbeth 300 years before, and Glamis Castle is the family seat.
Diana, Princess of Wales
The late Diana, Princess of Wales was born Lady Diana Frances Spencer on 1 July 1961 in Norfolk. Lady Diana Spencer married The Prince of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981. During her marriage the Princess undertook a wide range of royal duties. Family was very important to the Princess, who had two sons: Prince William and Prince Henry (Harry). After her divorce from The Prince of Wales, the Princess continued to be regarded as a member of the Royal Family. Diana, Princess of Wales died on Sunday, 31 August 1997 following a car crash in Paris. There was widespread public mourning at the death of this popular figure, culminating with her funeral at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6 September 1997. Even after her death, the Princess's work lives on in the form of commemorative charities and projects set up to help those in need.