Descent of Elizabeth II from Cerdic

This table shows the descent of Elizabeth II from Egbert, traditionally regarded as first King of England, and before that from Cerdic, founder of the House of Wessex. Some of the links between Cerdic and Egbert are a little uncertain, and there is some doubt that Egbert was a descendant of Cerdic, or that Cerdic existed at all. There are 39 generations between Egbert and Elizabeth, and a further 12 between Cerdic and Egbert.

For Elizabeth's descent in the male line, see her patrilineal descent, which can be traced back to Conrad the Great.

There are several breaks in the line of descent, but the hereditary succession has never been entirely broken. When William the Conqueror, who had no hereditary claim, seized the English throne in 1066, the House of Wessex in the male line became extinct, but continuity was re-established when Henry I married Matilda, a great-granddaughter of Edmund II.

In 1485 the throne was seized by Henry VII, who was a great-great-grandson of Edward III through an illegitimate descent, and whose family had been specifically excluded from the throne. Henry re-established the legitimate royal descent by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, so that his son Henry VIII had a sound hereditary claim.

The line of descent, however, travels through the descendants of Lionel of Antwerp, who was the oldest son of Edward III. The line of descent returned to the throne when James I ascended the throne of England, uniting England with Scotland, where he was known as "James VI".

In 1603 the Tudor line became extinct when Elizabeth I died childless. But the throne passed to James I, a great-great-grandson of Henry VII. Again, in 1714 the Protestant Stuart line became extinct with the death of Queen Anne, but the throne passed to George I, a great-grandson of James I.

The Queen rules by virtue of her descent from the Electress Sophia of Hanover (shown as the final generations below) by the Act of Settlement, 1701, rather than by reason of her descent from any earlier Kings of England.

In all, the descent from Cerdic to Elizabeth II encompasses fifty-one generations, making the line one of the longest recorded in the world.

The reason that the line of descent follows the monarchs of Scotland is that the male line is always followed first. Therefore, the son of St. Margaret, David I of Scotland, is followed as opposed to David's sister, who married Henry I of England. The line of David I is therefore a more senior line.

Table of descent from Cerdic to Elizabeth

Cerdic (c470-534) Saxon Ealdorman, arrived in England c495 1st King of Wessex

Creoda (c500-c560)

Cynric (c530-c560) King of Wessex

Ceawlin (c550-593) King of Wessex

Cuthwine

Cutha Cathwulf (born c592)

Ceolwald of Wessex

Coenred of Wessex (born c640)

Ingild of Wessex (672 - 718)

Eoppa born c. 706

Eafa born c. 730

Ealhmund of Kent (c750-c794)

Egbert (775-839) King of Wessex 802-27 King of England 827-39 = Raedburh

Aethelwulf (died 858) King of England 839-58 = Osburh

Alfred (the Great) King of England 871-99 = Ealswith

Edward (the Elder) (875-924) King of England 899-924 = Eadgifu
Edmund (920-46) King of England 939-46 = Aelgifu

Edgar (943-75) King of England 959-75 = Elfrida

Aethelred II (The Unready) (968-1016) King of England 979-1016 = Aelgifu

Edmund II (Ironside) (989-1016) King of England 1016 = Ealgyth

Edward (1016-57) = Agatha

Saint Margaret (1045-93) = Malcolm III, King of Scots

David I King of Scots 1124-53 (1084-1153) = Matilda

Henry of Scotland Earl of Huntingdon (1114-1152) = Ada de Warenne

David (c1144-1219) = Maud of Chester

Isobel of Huntingdon (1199-1251) = Robert Bruce

Robert de Brus Lord of Annandale (c1220-1295) = Isabella of Clare

Robert de Brus Earl of Carrick (c1250-1306) = Marjorie of Carrick

Robert I (1274-1329) King of Scots 1306-29 = Isabella of Mar

Marjorie Bruce (1296-1316) = Walter Stewart

Robert II (1316-1390) King of Scots 1371-90 = Elizabeth of Rowallan

Robert III (1340-1406) King of Scots 1390-1406 = Anabella Drummond

James I (1394-1437) King of Scots 1406-37 = Joan Beaufort

James II (1430-1460) King of Scots 1437-60 = Mary of Gueldres

James III (1451-1488) King of Scots 1460-88 = Margaret of Denmark

James IV (1473-1513) King of Scots 1488-1513 = Margaret Tudor

James V, King of Scots 1513-42 (1512-42) = Mary of Guise

Mary I Queen of Scots 1542-67 (1542-87) = Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

James VI (1566-1625) King of Scots 1567-1625 "James I" King of England 1603-25 = Anne of Denmark

Elizabeth (1596-1662) = Frederick V, Elector Palatine, King of Bohemia

Sophia (1630-1714) = Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover

George I King of Great Britain 1714-27 (1660-1727) = Sophia Dorothea of Celle

George II King of Great Britain 1727-60 (1683-1760) = Caroline Wilhelmina of Anspach

Frederick Prince of Wales (1707-51) = Augusta of Saxe-Coburg

George III King of Great Britain and Ireland 1760-1801 King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1820 (1738-1820) = Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820) = Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1837-1901 (1819-1901) = Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Edward VII King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1901-10 (1841-1910) = Alexandra of Denmark

George V King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1910-22 King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1922-36 (1865-1936) = Mary of Teck

George VI King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and his Dominions beyond the Seas 1936-52 (1895-1952) = Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bermuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis 1952-present (1926- ) = Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh