Kings and Queens of England and the United Kingdom

Within the time limit and using the clues provided, name all the Monarchs from the 880s to the present.
Quiz by RDJ123
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Last updated: October 14, 2022
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First submittedApril 23, 2014
Times taken8,547
Average score72.6%
Rating4.33
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Hint
Answer
King of Wessex, burned cakes
Alfred the Great
Second King of the Anglo Saxons, Royal court at Winchester
Edward the Elder
First recognised King of England
Athelstan
The Magnificent, revival of monasteries, stabbed to death
Edmund I
Battled Eric "Bloodaxe"
Eadred
Theological conflicts with St Dunstan
Eadwig
The Peaceful, St Dunstan as advisor
Edgar
Murdered at Corfe Castle, modern-day cult following in the Catholic Church
Edward the Martyr
Poorly advised, famously "unprepared" for Kinghood
Ethelred the Unready
First Danish King of England
Sweyn Forkbeard
Resisted Danish Invasion, King for six months
Edmund II (Ironside)
Tried to stop the tide, Danegeld
Canute
Skilled hunter, briefly shared rule with his half-brother, died aged 24
Harold I
King for two years, last Danish King of England
Harthacanute
Canonised by Pope Alexander III, famously pious, last King of Wessex
Edward the Confessor
Killed at the Battle of Hastings, last King of the Anglo-Saxons
Harold II
Proclaimed King but never crowned, exiled after Norman Invasion
Edgar II
The Conqueror, Battle of Hastings victor, Domesday Book
William I
Red-faced King, killed while hunting in the New Forest
William II (Rufus)
Beauclerc, created Royal Exchequer, dispute with St Anselm
Henry I
The Anarchy, disputed throne with his female cousin
Stephen
Hint
Answer
The Anarchy, disputed Queen, styled as Empress
Matilda
First Angevin King, murder of Thomas Becket
Henry II
Co-ruler with his father (above), junior King
Henry the Young King
Crusader, spent only six months in England as King, Melek-Ric
Richard I
Lackland, Magna Carta, youngest son of Eleanor of Aquitaine
John
Became King aged 9, Simon de Montfort, fourth longest reigning monarch
Henry III
Longshanks, "Hammer of the Scots", expelled Jews from England
Edward I
Possible gay relationship with Piers Gaveston, rumoured death by red hot poker
Edward II
Order of the Garter, start of the Hundred Year's War, Battle of Crecy, Battle of Poitiers
Edward III
King aged 4, regency of John of Gaunt, Peasant's Revolt, deposed
Richard II
Bolingbroke, Owen Glyndwr, Battle of Shrewsbury, buried in Canterbury Cathedral
Henry IV
Battle of Agincourt, featured in three Shakespeare plays
Henry V
Weak willed, occasionally insane, deposed and returned as King
Henry VI
Wars of the Roses, Battle of Tewkesbury, married Elizabeth Woodville
Edward IV
Murdered in the Tower of London aged around 13, King for 86 days
Edward V
Supposed murderer of the above, hunchbacked, died during Battle of Bosworth
Richard III
First Tudor King
Henry VII
Six wives, Dissolution of the Monasteries, had two wives beheaded
Henry VIII
Boy King, 'The Prince and the Pauper', named his young cousin as successor
Edward VI
Disputed claimant to the throne, Queen for nine days, executed aged 16
Lady Jane Grey
Nicknamed "Bloody", burned Protestant martyrs, married Philip II of Spain
Mary I
Hint
Answer
Golden Age Queen, Virgin Queen, Spanish Armada, daughter of Anne Boleyn
Elizabeth I
First Stuart King, wisest fool in Christendom, Gunpowder Plot
James I
Executed in 1649, English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell
Charles I
Restored monarchy in 1660, famously "Merry", Great Fire of London, Titus Oates
Charles II
Last Catholic monarch, Battle of the Boyne, deposed
James II
Glorious Revolution, reigned jointly with her husband
Mary II
Glorious Revolution, husband of the above, member of the House of Orange
William III
Reigned as the first monarch of Great Britain and Ireland, Act of Union
Anne
First Hanoverian King
George I
Last British monarch born outside Great Britain, Bonnie Prince Charlie
George II
Famously suffered from a mental illness, American War of Independence, Napoleonic Wars
George III
Commissioned Nash to build Brighton Pavilion, disliked by his subjects, wasteful spending
George IV
The Sailor King, Reform Riots
William IV
Second-longest reigning Monarch, Industrial Revolution, 19th century era named after her
Victoria
Longest serving Prince of Wales, Uncle of Europe, "Peacemaker"
Edward VII
First World War, cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas, first Labour government
George V
Abdicated to marry an American divorcee after 11 months as King
Edward VIII
Second World War, last Emperor of India, first head of the Commonwealth
George VI
Our longest reigning Monarch, she reigned for 70 years
Elizabeth II
The present Monarch, the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history
Charles III
+1
Level 43
Apr 24, 2014
I like this quiz :) thank you for including the Saxon kings
+1
Level 43
Apr 26, 2014
Hope you enjoyed it. Strange there aren't many of these types of quizzes that include the Saxons, Danes and so on.
+1
Level 38
Dec 7, 2016
Very good quiz!
+1
Level 20
May 27, 2014
Lady Jane Grey?
+1
Level 43
May 28, 2014
Shoogle, thanks for your comment. While Edward VI named Lady Jane Grey as his successor, she was only ever a de facto monarch (ie: in practice, but not in law). Another disputed claimant, Matilda, appears on this list because most historians consider her to have been an actual ruling Monarch in the uncertain years of the Anarchy which lasted for nearly 20 years. However, I take your point as Jane was proclaimed Queen (but never recognised as such in law) and this list will be updated to include her. :-)
+1
Level 51
May 29, 2014
Henry the Young King?
+1
Level 43
May 29, 2014
Nanook, Henry the Young King was an officially sanctioned monarch. He co-ruled as King with his father Henry II and was crowned aged 15. The practice of the eldest son of a ruling monarch co-ruling as a sort of "Junior King" had been going on for years in France and was adopted by Henry II. Unfortunately for Henry the Young King, he died before his father aged around 28.
+2
Level 28
May 30, 2020
Can you please accept 'Henry the Young'
+1
Level 68
Nov 5, 2014
Please accept Aethel- as well as Ethel- and Athel- for Ethelstan and Ethelred, etc.
+1
Level 43
Nov 23, 2014
Done! :-)
+1
Level 10
May 21, 2015
England is part of the UK, The real name is 'The united Kingdom of Great Britain, and northern Ireland.' England is the third part of Great Britain (The other two are Wales and Scotland). There are no Kings and Queens of England, only Great Britain and northern Ireland.
+2
Level 43
May 30, 2015
Ash, thanks for your comment. England has existed since the Anglo Saxons and medieval monarchs conquered much of what we know as Wales and Ireland and annexed those countries into one single entity. Scotland, however, remained it's own seperate country and resisted the threat of English invasion. Only when James I came to the English throne in 1603 were the thrones of England and Scotland united because James was also King of Scotland - however they remained seperate countries. They became united into one country when the Act of Union was ratified in 1707 to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The 1800 Act of Union added Ireland to this agreement to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After Ireland became its own country in 1922, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was created - the title by which we know our country today. Within that country, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland remain constituent members but are not "countries".
+1
Level 56
Aug 6, 2016
Thank you for this quiz.

I like the idea of clues rather than just lists of dates (although the dates would be useful also, after the answer is entered, for those of us using this as a learning tool).

Can I ask that it be made a 'yellow box' quiz? I wanted to start by putting the ones I knew, eg Henry VIII and William IV - but it is not possible to do this without getting 10 others for 'free'.

I was also going to mention that 'waves' clue, but I see that others have been there before me. How about a more subtle clue - 'demonstrated to his sycophantic advisers the he had no God-like powers' - or something like that?

Thank you again.

+1
Level 41
Aug 20, 2016
I can't believe i missed the Charlses and the Edwards.
+1
Level 32
Mar 24, 2018
The Prince and the Pauper story originated from the story of the Edward V, the story of him and his little brother Richard who got locked in the tower of London by their Uncle Richard. Their Uncle supposedly had them deposed and placed himself of the throne as Richard III.
+3
Level 44
Nov 15, 2019
henry the young KING???? im sorry ur probably correct on this one but i watched cgp grey's video on youtube and i remember him just saying Henry the Young not Henry the Young King so plz accept Henry the young as an answer and maybe as like an easter egg or something make Henry II.V a thing :)
+1
Level 87
Aug 20, 2021
Great quiz, nominated
+1
Level 27
Oct 1, 2023
I was gonna say that Henry VI, not Henry V, was featured in three Shakespeare plays, until I remembered that Henry V was also in the two Henry IV plays...