Before 1603, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were independent states with different monarchs. Upon James VI of Scotland inheriting the monarchy of England from his cousin Elizabeth I, however, the two independent countries began sharing a monarch in a personal union known as the Union of the Crowns. Between November 1606 and July 1607 unification between the two countries was discussed in Parliament. While the English Parliament agreed to certain concessions to the Scots, it refused union. In October 1604, James VI and I declared himself to be the 'King of Great Britain'.[1] The style was used on coins, stamps, and elsewhere, but the Parliament of England did not use it officially, nor did they consider him the King of a single unified country.[2][3]
Anne ascended both thrones on 8 March 1702, upon the death of her brother-in-law and cousin William III, becoming Queen of England and Queen of Scotland.[4][5] In November that year, Anne began negotiations with the Parliament of Scotland about a possible union of the two countries, but by 1704 they had ended without a deal. In 1706, a new proposal was debated that involved the merger of Scotland and England into a new country called 'Great Britain'. A final version of the proposal was presented to Anne in July that year. In January and March 1707, the Treaty of Union was passed by the Scottish and English parliaments respectively, with the union beginning from May.[5]
Despite having eighteen pregnancies, Anne did not produce an heir that survived her or to adulthood.[6] Before union, England had passed the Act of Settlement 1701 which defined Anne's cousin Sophia of Hanover and her heirs as Anne's successor in England and Ireland and disqualified Catholics from becoming monarch.[7] However, Scotland had passed its own law, the Act of Security 1704, which allowed its parliament to choose an heir upon Anne's death.[8] On union, Great Britain adopted the English succession and the Act of Security was repealed. When Anne died in 1714, she was succeeded by George I, Sophia of Hanover's eldest son.[7]
Statistics
The thirteen monarchs consist of ten kings and three queens. Only two monarchs were born outside of the United Kingdom; these were George I and George II, who were both born in Germany.[9] All but two monarchs died in the United Kingdom: George I died while he was still King, during a trip to his birthplace;[10]Edward VIII (by then Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor) died in Villa Windsor, Paris, while living in exile in France having abdicated over 35 years beforehand.[11] The longest reigning monarch was Elizabeth II, who reigned for 70 years and 214 days between 1952 and 2022;[12] the shortest reigning monarch was Edward VIII, who reigned for 326 days between January and December 1936. Only two of the thirteen monarchs have not been crowned as a monarch of Great Britain or the United Kingdom: Anne was crowned in 1702 before the Treaty of Union;[13] and Edward VIII abdicated before he could be crowned.[14]
Other titles
Between George I and William IV, all monarchs had the additional office of Elector of Hanover (later King of Hanover). Hanover was a separate kingdom with its own government and army. When Victoria acceded to the throne in 1837, she could not become the Queen of Hanover suo jure as it followed Salic law, meaning that it could only be inherited by men through the male-line. Instead, her uncle Ernest Augustus became King of Hanover.[15]
↑All information is sourced from the provided pages of Alison Weir's Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy unless other sources are referenced in a cell.
↑George V changed the name of the British royal house from 'Saxe-Coburg and Gotha' to 'Windsor' on 17 July 1917 because of anti-German sentiment caused by World War I. The change was designed to abandon any reference to the royal family's German descent, and replace it with 'Windsor' after the castle of the same name.[35]
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