List of regnal numerals of future British monarchs

This is a list of the regnal numerals which may in time be used by future British monarchs.

Background

During the reign of the current monarch of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, there was some controversy in Scotland over whether it was appropriate to refer to her as "the Second of that name" since no Elizabeth had previously reigned in Scotland. Most supporters of Scottish independence, and many other pro-union Scots, believed the title to be an example of establishment bias favouring England (the Scottish courts declined to rule on the matter in MacCormick v. Lord Advocate). But affirming the Queen's intention to continue as "the Second" throughout the UK, a policy was announced [ Winston Churchill, House of Commons Official Report cols 199-201, 15 April 1953 ] that all future UK monarchs would be numbered uniformly according either to an English or Scottish reckoning, whichever was higher. (The policy announcement, coming from the UK government, naturally could not apply to the various other Commonwealth realms which share a monarch with the UK; but since the current queen is known as "Elizabeth II" in all those realms as well, the convention appears to be accepted universally.)

Accordingly, when assigning a regnal numeral to any future UK monarch, it will be necessary to consult the list of monarchs of Scotland and the list of monarchs of England, as well as the list of British monarchs for monarchs since the 1707 Acts of Union. (Checking back at all regnal names since that event, incidentally, it will be found that none of them violates this policy.)

The regnal name of a new monarch is a matter of personal choice when he or she ascends the throne. The first forename of the current queen's father, for example, was "Albert" and he was known as "Bertie"; yet he reigned as George VI. So far, however, no UK monarch has chosen to reign under a name which was not one of his or her various baptismal names.

For the purposes of this table, it is assumed that the reckoning of English monarchs started with a blank slate from the Norman Conquest of 1066. This approach is undeniably conventional with respect to the name "Edward": although there had been three Edwards (Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor) prior to the Conquest, the thirteenth-century Plantagenet is always referred to as Edward I, and other Edwards are always reckoned from him. However, while the Edward precedent is by now set in stone, there is a possibility that a future Harold or Alfred might choose to number himself "III" or "II", respectively, to take into account pre-Norman kings of those names.Fact|date=September 2007

Regarding the other constituent countries, Wales has never been an independent kingdom; Ireland's monarchs have only ever been the monarch of England and therefore have always been reckoned by their English regnal names.

If the two immediate heirs to the throne, Charles, Prince of Wales and Prince William of Wales use the respective first Christian names as monarchs, they would be "Charles III" and "William V" (taking the convention as defined above) respectively. It has been suggested that due to unfavourable associations with the regnal name Charles, The Prince of Wales may choose to adopt one of his middle names upon succession, becoming "Philip", "Arthur" or "George VII" — the latter is the more likely by far, due to its association with his grandfather and forebears.

Hypothetically, there are three people in the top 20 of the line of succession who would take the next number from the Scottish sequence if they came to the throne and used their given name as their regnal name.

List

Names which have been used more than once

:

Names which have been used once in both England and Scotland

*Anne (same person: Anne, Queen of pre-unification England and Scotland, and later of Great Britain)
*John (different people: John of England and John Balliol)
*Victoria (same person: Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)

Names which have been used once in Scotland but not ( post-1066) in England

*Áed
*Amlaíb
*Cuilén
*Dub
*Edgar*
*Eochaid
*Giric
*Indulf
*Lulach
*Macbeth
*Margaret

"*Note: prior to the Norman Conquest of 1066, England did have one Edgar (two if the uncrowned reign of Edgar Ætheling in 1066 is counted, as sometimes is the case).'

Names which have been used once in England (post-1066) but not in Scotland

*Stephen

Uncertain cases:

*Jane: Lady Jane Grey was designated as his heir by Edward VI of England, and upon his death proclaimed queen. The official website of the British Monarchy states that "Jane reigned for only nine days ... " (10-19 July 1553). [ [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page44.asp History of the Monarchy > The Tudors > Jane ] ] However she is not always counted as a monarch as the legitimacy of her succession is disputed (and eventually resulted in her conviction for treason).

*Mathilda: Mathilda (often known as "Empress Mathilda" or "Maud"), daughter of Henry I of England, was Henry's designated heir; but the English Barons declared her cousin Stephen to be King instead, leading to the civil war known as the Anarchy. She claimed the kingdom 1135-1153, for parts of which time she was in effective control. Lists of English monarchs differ as to whether she is included, some declaring her monarch for some of the period (as in the Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Brittania [ [http://britannia.com/history/h6f.html British Monarchs: Kings and Queens of England, Scotland and Wales ] ] List of Monarchs of England), others marking the whole of the Anarchy as being disputed by Stephen and Mathilda, [ [http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/normans_4.htm English Monarchs - Kings and Queens of England - Stephen and Matilda ] ] [ [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page56.asp History of the Monarchy > The Normans > Stephen ] ] , and others ignoring her entirely [ [http://www.londononline.co.uk/monarchs/ List of Monarchs of England - from London Online ] ] .

There are a few other cases still more doubtful. Among these are "Louis" and "Philip":

*Prince Louis (Lewis), later King Louis VIII of France, was proclaimed King of England in London in May 1216 during the First Barons' War against the unpopular King John and claimed the kingdom 1215–1216. However he later signed the Treaty of Lambeth, the effect of which was that he agreed he had never been the legitimate king of England, the proclamation notwithstanding.

*Philip II of Spain was styled "King of England" during his marriage to Mary I of England, making him the only king consort in English history; but a queen consort is never considered in reckoning regnal numerals and the same may probably be assumed for a king consort, making any future king Philip the first of that name.

ee also

*English monarchs family tree
*Scottish monarchs' family tree
*List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England
*List of monarchs of Scotland
*List of monarchs in the British Isles
*Descent of Elizabeth II from William I

Notes