The
British Monarchy
Miscellany
A Collection of
Royal Facts, Lists and Trivia
By Alex David
© 2017, 2018, 2019 Alex David.
First Edition Published Independently through Amazon KDP 2017.
This Updated Edition Published Independently through Amazon KDP 2019.
London, United Kingdom
Author’s contacts and web presence:
Website: www.alex-david.com
Twitter: @alexdavidwriter
Email: alexdavidwriter@yahoo.co.uk
Cover image: ‘ Charles II’ by John Michael Wright, c.1676.
Reproduced by kind permission of Royal Collection Trust.
© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017.
2
This book is respectfully
and humbly dedicated
to His Royal Highness
The Prince of Wales.
3
CONTENTS
Introduction
13
MONARCHS
17
The First King of England
18
Royal Dynasties
21
The Monarchs of Anglo-Saxon England From
Alfred the Great to 1066
28
The Monarchs of Scotland From
Kenneth MacAlpin to 1707
31
The Monarchs of England/Great Britain/
United Kingdom Since 1066
39
Monarchs Fact Sheets
46
William I
47
William II
51
Henry I
54
4
Stephen
57
Henry II
60
Richard I
63
John
65
Henry III
68
Edward I
71
Edward II
74
Edward III
77
Richard II
80
Henry IV
84
Henry V
87
Henry VI
90
Edward IV
94
Edward V
97
Richard III
99
Henry VII
102
105
Edward VI
109
Jane Grey: Monarch or Not?
111
Mary I
119
Elizabeth I
122
James I
126
Charles I
129
The Interregnum
133
Charles II
134
James II
138
William III and Mary II
141
Anne
146
George I
149
5
George II
152
George III
155
George IV
159
William IV
163
Victoria
166
Edward VII
170
George V
173
Edward VIII
176
George VI
179
Elizabeth II
182
The 5 Longest Reigns
186
The 5 Shortest Reigns
187
The 5 Longest-Lived Monarchs
188
The 5 Shortest-Lived Monarchs
190
The 5 Oldest Monarchs at Accession
191
The 5 Youngest Monarchs at Accession
192
Breakdown of Male-to-Female Monarchs
in England/Britain Since 1066
193
English/British Monarchs Born
Outside England
195
6
English/British Monarchs Born in
the Modern Greater London Area
198
Causes of Death of Monarchs
201
Burial Places of Monarchs
212
FAMILY
219
Queens and Royal Consorts Since 1066
220
The 5 Longest-Lived Royal Consorts
269
The 5 Shortest-Lived Royal Consorts
271
The 5 Longest-Serving Royal Consorts
273
The 5 Shortest-Serving Royal Consorts
275
The 5 Longest Marriages of
Monarchs and Consorts
277
The 5 Shortest Marriages of
Monarchs and Consorts
278
Monarchs Who Never Married
279
7
Some Monarchs Who Married their Cousins
281
Royal Children
284
Monarchs With the Most Children
323
Monarchs Who Died Childless
326
Monarchs With Confirmed
Illegitimate Children
328
Royal Mistresses
333
Royal Illegitimate Children
345
Kings Who Married With No Record
of Mistresses or Illegitimate Children
361
English/British Princesses Who
Became Foreign Queens
363
Queen Victoria’s Forty Grandchildren
376
Haemophilia in the Royal Family
393
Current Blood Relations of the British Royal
Family to Other European Royal Families
402
8
Queen Elizabeth II’s Descent From William
the Conqueror and From Alfred the Great
407
The Current Line of Succession
412
The Current Royal Family
420
CEREMONY AND CONSTITUTION
426
Royal Family Titles
427
British Honours and Decorations
437
The Sovereign’s Guard
447
Royal Gun Salutes
468
Some Royal Ceremonies and
Events Throughout the Year
471
The National Anthem: God Save the Queen
481
The Royal Residences
488
Walter Bagehot on Monarchy
517
The Monarchy and Government
521
9
Most Prime Ministers for a Monarch
530
The Oath of Allegiance
535
The Monarchy and the Law
539
The Monarchy and the Church
543
The Monarchy and the Armed Forces
549
Royal Honorary Positions in the Armed Forces 555
ARTS AND TREASURES
567
568
Artists Represented in the Royal Collection
574
Royal Patrons of the Arts
577
Great Treasures Owned by the Monarchy
585
Lost Royal Treasures
591
The Crown Jewels
599
10
The Personal Jewels of the Royal Family
626
The Royal Philatelic Collection
648
Notable Royal Music
652
Notable Royal Artists
659
Royal Writers
665
William Shakespeare’s Royal Plays
674
MISCELLANEA
685
Royal Towns and Settlements
686
London’s Royal Parks
699
London’s Royal Statues
710
Royal Coaches
720
Countries Officially Visited by
Queen Elizabeth II, 1952-2018
728
Notable Films on Royal History
735
11
Some Notable Royal Pets
750
Some Rules to Follow When
Meeting the British Monarch
760
How to Write to Members
of the Royal Family
764
Sources
768
About the Author
798
More British Monarchy Miscellany!
799
12
Introduction
This book was written for two reasons. The first one is that I am an insatiably curious person. Who was the first king of England? Which monarch and consort had the
longest marriage? What happened to illegitimate children of kings? How many royal statues are in London? As I kept exploring the subject of the British monarchy, questions like these arose in my mind, and for each of them I was often forced to look up the answer in
different places, or sometimes research the answer from scratch myself when it was not clearly available
anywhere. I certainly could not find any single reference work containing answers to all my curious questions, so, to paraphrase politician and writer Benjamin Disraeli (a monarchy expert himself), since I could not find the book I needed, I wrote it.
The second reason is a matter of conviction. My interest in the British monarchy is not superficial or arbitrary. I do believe in constitutional monarchy as a political and social system, and in the benefits that it brings to the UK.
One of my purposes in writing this work was to show the many ways in which the monarchy is inextricably
connected to the political, social and cultural life of this 13
country. The Monarchs Facts Sheets illustrate how the lives of individual monarchs affected the history of England and then Britain. Chapters on royal ceremonies and on the National Anthem show how the monarchy has shaped the formation of national traditions. The sections on the monarchy and government, the monarchy and the church, and the monarchy and the Armed Forces were
created to show how these social and political
institutions are all chained together through the
monarch, the almost invisible but ever-present link bringing the whole state together under one crown. Even chapters on royal writers, artists and patrons of the arts are meant to spotlight the individual contributions of Royal Family members to British cultural life. The
monarchy is not just members of the Royal Family waving from a balcony on important occasions. It is an institution with roots and branches reaching into every part of life in the UK, which is one of the reasons why this book has been structured into different sections highlighting different areas.
This however is not a manual. To write a complete
manual or encyclopaedia on all the subjects associated with the British monarchy would take an extremely
lengthy and superhuman effort. I know. The research I undertook initially to write a British monarchy manual produced a rough first draft of over 200,000 words (over 700 pages) before even completing half the project!
Hence, this is instead a miscellany, a collection of the 14
most valuable and interesting information on the British Monarchy. Even with a miscellany however I found it difficult to fit all interesting and valuable information in one single work, so, in the interest of publishing a book and presenting this information before I was old and grey, I decided to publish this initial collection of facts and trivia. Any royal topic that is not found in this book was by no means considered unworthy of inclusion, it was only omitted this time around. A further collection of royal facts, lists and trivia will be published in a second book later (see More British Monarchy Miscellany! at the end of the book).
Do not let the words ‘miscellany’ and ‘trivia’ mislead you on the quality of the information contained here
however. All the information in this book has been
scrupulously researched and checked for accuracy: a full list of sources can be found at the end. Because of the many areas covered, I have tried to be accurate, yes, but also as concise as possible, so that what is written in here might serve not as a complete account of things but as a basic guide, a springboard to learn more. I have also, for the sake of conciseness and a strict focus, concentrated solely on the English/British monarchy starting at the Norman Conquest of 1066. More information on the
Anglo-Saxon monarchy and Scottish monarchy will be
included in the second book. I have striven to be fair and objective in compiling lists and presenting information, though in some cases I found it necessary to be guided by 15
my personal judgement where it mattered. For example, few historians consider Eadred to be a candidate for the first king of England, but I do; I do not consider Lady Jane Grey to have a been a legitimate monarch (see my