List of British monarchy records

Reign

• Full article: List of longest reigning Monarchs of the UK

Longest

The longest reign of a British monarch is the 63 years, 216 days 63 years 7 months and 3 days of Queen Victoria between 1837 and 1901.

The king who had the longest reign was George III who ruled for 59 years, 96 days 59 years 96 days between 1760 and 1820.

James Stuart, the Old Pretender, was a pretender to the throne from 16 September 1701 until his death on 1 January 1766, making 64 years 109 days.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has been the monarch's spouse (prince consort) since 6 February 1952, for a total of 72 years, 156 days, making him the longest-serving consort overall.

The Queen consort with the longest tenure was Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who was George III's consort for 57 years, 70 days, between 1761 and 1818.

When Prince Edward acceded as Edward VII, he was the longest-serving Prince of Wales, with a tenure of 59 years, 45 days.

Prince Charles, is the longest serving heir-apparent and Duke of Rothesay Who Held the title on 21 April 2011, Queen Elizabeth II's 85th Birthday with a current tenure of 72 years, 156 days.

The heiress-apparent with the longest tenure was Queen Anne (heiress to William III & II for 7 years, 70 days).

Margaret of Scotland, Countess of Kent was heiress-presumptive to William I of Scotland, Alexander II and Alexander III for a total of about 43 years, 14 days (her tenure as heiress to Alexander II was also the longest single tenure at 26 years, 274 days).

The longest-serving heir-presumptive (of either sex) was Robert II, who was heir toRobert I and then David II for a total of 46 years, 353 days; he also served the longest single tenure (41 years, 260 days as heir to David II).

Shortest

The shortest-reigning British monarch was Lady Jane Grey who ruled for 13 days from 6 July until 19 July 1553 (although she was only proclaimed queen by the Lords of the Council on 10 July).

The king with the shortest definitively known reign was Edgar the Atheling who ruled for 2 months, 12 days in 1066 before submitting toWilliam the Conqueror. Some records indicate that Sweyn Forkbeard reigned for only 40 days in 1013-4.

The Queen consort with the shortest tenure was Yolande de Dreux second wife of Alexander III queen for 154 days between 1285 and 1286. The living heir-apparent with the shortest tenure was the unnamed first son of James II of Scotland, who lived for less than a day; the shortest tenure for a Prince of Wales was that of James Francis Edward Stuart (160 days) and the shortest tenure for a Duke of Rothesay was Alexander Stewart (son of James I of Scotland; for less than 77 days). Elizabeth I holds the records for the shortest tenure of an heiress-apparent (almost 2 years as heir toHenry VIII) and the longest-serving heiress-presumptive (and heir-presumptive of either sex) was Lady Jane Grey's sister, The Lady Herbert of Cardiff. The longest single tenure for a male heir-presumptive was Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, heir to James II for 5 years, 144 days; the longest total tenure as a male heir-presumptive was George I (54 days).

Longevity

• Full article: List of British monarchs by longevity

Longest-lived

The longest-lived British monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, the current monarch, who is aged 98 years, 81 days. She equaled the second longest, Queen Victoria's, record on 20 December 2007. (Queen Victoria died at the age of 81 years, 243 days 81 years, 7 months and 29 days in 1901.) The longest-lived male British monarch was George III, who died at the age of 81 years, 239 days in 1820.

The longest-lived British head of state was Richard Cromwell who lived until the age of 85 years, 282 days.

The longest-lived Queen Consort was Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, consort to George VI, and mother of the current longest-lived British monarch, who was 101 years, 238 days 101 years 238 days at the time of her death on 30 March 2002.

Shortest-lived

The youngest monarch to die was Margaret, Maid of Norway who died at the age of 7 years, 124 days 7 years, five months, and 18 days in 1290.

The youngest English Monarch to die was Edward V, who was most likely murdered after he was deposed, when he was 12.

Age of accession

Oldest

The oldest monarch at the start of his reign was William IV who succeeded to the throne in 1830 when he was 64 years, 309 days 64 years 10 months — The current Prince of Wales would surpass this age on 18 September 2013. The oldest queen at the time of her accession was Mary I, aged 37 years, 151 days 37 years 5 months when she became queen in 1553.

The oldest Queen Consort was Alexandra of Denmark, queen to Edward VII, who was aged 56 years, 52 days 56 years 53 days when she became queen in 1901.

Youngest

The youngest British monarch at the start her reign was Mary, Queen of Scots, who became queen aged just 6 days in 1542. The youngest king was Henry VI, who was 8 months and 25 days old at the time of his accession.

The youngest Queen Consort was Isabella of Valois, second wife of Richard II, aged 6 years 11 months and 25 days when she became queen in 1396.

Marriage

Most marriages

Henry VIII was married six times, making him Britain's most-married monarch. The Queen who was married the most times was Mary, Queen of Scots, who had three husbands.

Never married

William II, Edward V, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I all lived and died unmarried.

Youngest

The youngest monarch to marry was David II, who married Joan, daughter of Edward II when he was 4 years, 134 days old in 1328. The youngest queen at the time of her marriage was Mary II, who was 15 years, 188 days old when she married William III in 1677.

The youngest Queen Consort was Isabella of Valois, who married Richard II when she was 6 years, 358 days old in 1396.

Oldest

The oldest monarch at the time of his first marriage was William IV, who was 52 years, 324 days old when he married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in 1818.

Mary I was the oldest queen at the time of her first marriage, aged 38 years, 157 days when she married Prince Philip of Spain in 1554.

When second or subsequent marriages are included the oldest monarch at the time of his marriage was Edward I, whose second marriage was to Marguerite of France in 1299 when he was 60 years, 83 days old and she was only 19.

The oldest Queen Consort at the time of her marriage was Maud, Countess of Huntingdon who married David I when she was around 40 years old.

Longest

The longest marriage of a British sovereign is between Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who have been married since 20 November 1947, making their marriage 76 years, 234 days old.

Shortest

The shortest marriage is between Alexander III of Scotland and Yolande, who were married for 4 months and 19 days from 1285-1286.

Children

Most

The British monarch with the most children was Henry I, who had 29 children (5 legitimate).
The British monarch with the most legitimate children was James II/VII who had 20 children, 8 by his first wife, and 12 by his second. The Queen Regnant with the most children was Queen Anne, who had 18 children (6 of whom survived infancy).

Age of Parents

The youngest Queen Consort to give birth was Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV. In April 1382, at the age of 12, she gave birth to their first child, Edward, who lived only four days. At only 15, Henry is the youngest King to father a child.
The youngest Queen Regnant to give birth is Mary II, who gave birth to a stillborn child in 1678, when she was just 16.

The oldest parent was Edward I, who fathered his last child, Eleanor, in 1306, when he was 66, almost 67 years old.

The oldest mother was Eleanor of Aquitaine, who gave birth to John, in 1166, when she was 44.

Physical attributes

Tallest

By far the tallest British monarch was Edward IV, whose skeleton measures 6'4½" (1.94 m). Records indicate that when fully clad in armour he would have been about 6'7" (2 metres), an exceptional height for any man in the 15th century.

Both Edward Longshanks and Richard the Lionheart were also considered unusually tall for the Medieval period - although contrary to popular belief, 'Longshanks' was not called that due to the length of his legs, but his arms; they were over a yard long (91 cm), though there is no evidence to suggest they were particularly disproportionate to the rest of his body.

Shortest

The shortest British monarch (not counting those who ascended as minors) was most likely Queen Victoria, who stood only 5' (1.52 m) when in her 30s, and would have more than likely been an inch or two shorter towards the end of her life.

See also

• List of monarchs in the British Isles
• Records of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom