Kings and Queens: Length of Reign

This page gained relevance in the last years of the reign of Elizabeth II, as she broke every previous British record.

No.		Name	Reign	AAS	YOR	AAD	Cause of death
1		Elizabeth II	1952 – 2022	25	70	96	Old age
2		Victoria	1837 – 1901	18	64	81.243	Old age
3		George III	1760 – 1820	22	59.96	81.239	Old age
4		Henry III	1216 – 1272	9	56	65	Old age
5		Edward III	1327 – 1377	14	50	64	Old age
6		Elizabeth I	1558 – 1603	25	45	69	Tonsillar abcess
7		Henry VI	1422 – 1461	0.8	39.0	39	Murdered
8		Henry VIII	1509 – 1547	17	37.9	55	Sinusitis / periostitis
9		Henry I	1100 – 1135	32	35.4	67	Fever
10		Henry II	1154 – 1189	21	34.259	56	Fever
11		Edward I	1272 – 1307	33	34.230	68	?
12		George II	1727 – 1760	44	33	76	Coronary thrombosis
13		George V	1910 – 1936	44	26	70	Bronchitis
14		Charles II	1660 – 1685	30	24.8	54	Uraemia
15		Charles I	1625 – 1649	24	24.0	48	Beheaded
16		Henry VII	1485 – 1509	28	23.8	52	Rheumatoid arthritis / gout
17		Richard II	1377 – 1399	10	22.3	33	Neuroasthaemia
18		James I	1603 – 1625	36	22.0	58	Bright's disease
19		Edward IV	1461 – 1483	18	21.7	40	Pneumonia
20		William I	1066 – 1087	39	20.9	59	Riding injury
21		Edward II	1307 – 1327	23	19.6	43	Murdered
22		Stephen	1135 – 1154	35/39	18.5	54/48	Heart attack
23		John	1199 – 1216	31	17.5	48	Dysentry
24		George VI	1936 – 1952	40	15.2	56	Lung cancer
25		Henry IV	1399 – 1413	33	13.6	46?	Eczema / gout
26		William III	1689 – 1702	38	13.1	51	Pleuropneumonia
27		William II	1087 – 1100	27/31	12.11	40/44	Hunting accident
28		George I	1714 – 1727	54	12.10	67	Coronary thrombosis
29		Anne	1702 – 1714	37	12.5	49	Cerebral haemorrhage
30		George IV	1820 – 1830	57	10.5	67	Rupture of blood vessels in stomach
31		Richard I	1189 – 1199	32	9.8	41	Arrow wound
32		Henry V	1413 – 1422	25	9.6	34	Dysentry
33		Edward VII	1901 – 1910	59	9.4	68	Bronchitis
34		William IV	1830 – 1837	64	7.0	71	Pleuropneumonia
35		Edward VI	1547 – 1553	9	6.6	15	Pulmonary thrombosis
36		Mary II	1689 – 1694	26	5.10	32	Smallpox / pneumonia
37		Mary I	1553 – 1558	37	5.4	42	Influenza
38		James II	1685 – 1688	51	3.10	67	Cerebral haemorrhage
39		Charles III	2022 to date	30
40		Richard III	1483 – 1485	30	2.2	32	Killed in battle

No.		Name	Reign	AAS	Days	AAD	Cause of death
41		Edward VIII	20 Jan – 10 or 11 Dec 1936	41	325	77	Throat cancer
42		Matilda	7 Apr – Nov 1141	39	c. 220	65	?
43		Edward V	9 Apr – 25 Jun 1483	12	77	13/16	Murdered?
44		Jane	6 (10)–19 Jul 1553	15	9 or 13	16	Beheaded

Depositions (etc.)

Six kings and one queen did not die as monarch:

1327	Imprisoned on 16 November 1326, deposed by Parliament on 20 January 1327 (succeeded by his son Edward III) and murdered in Berkeley Castle on 21 September 1327		Edward II
1399	Grandson of Edward III: imprisoned by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke on 19 August 1399, deposed (and succeeded as Henry IV) by him on 30 September 1399, and died in prison in February 1400		Richard II
1471	Grandson of Henry IV: usurped by his cousin Edward IV on II April 1471 (for the second time) and murdered by stabbing in the Tower of London on 21 May 1471		Henry VI
1483	Son of Edward IV: usurped by his uncle Richard III on 25 June 1483 and died (murdered, according to tradition) in 1483 or 1486		Edward V
1553	Deposed on 19 July 1553, succeeded by her second cousin once removed upwards Mary I, and beheaded on 12 February 1554		Queen Jane
1688	Deemed "by legal fiction" to have ended his reign by flight on 11 December 1688. He died in France in 1701		James II
1936	Abdicated on 11 December 1936 in order to marry Bessie Wallis Simpson, a divorcee. He died in Paris in 1972, aged 77		Edward VIII

© Haydn Thompson 2017–25