List of British monarchs by longevity

This is a list of British monarchs by longevity since the Union of the Crowns

Union of the Crowns

The Union of the Crowns was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England, and the consequential unification of Scotland and England under one monarch. The Union of Crowns followed the death of James' unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I of...

of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

in 1603.

The longest-lived ruler of Great Britain and Ireland was Richard Cromwell

Richard Cromwell

At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...

who, although he only reigned as Lord Protector for nine months (1658–1659), lived for ( days).

To maintain consistency within the table, the dates of birth and death for each monarch are given in New Style
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...

.

Two measures of the longevity are given - this is to allow for the differing number of leap days occurring within the life of each monarch. The first column is the number of days between date of birth and date of death, allowing for leap days; the second column breaks this number down into years, and days, with the years being the number of whole years the monarch lived, and then days after his or her last birthday.

Rank	Monarch	Date of birth	Date of death	Longevity
Rank	Monarch	Date of birth	Date of death	days	years/days
1	*Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom*	21 April 1926	present
2	Victoria of the United Kingdom	24 May 1819	22 January 1901
3	George III of the United Kingdom George III of the United Kingdom George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...	4 June 1738	29 January 1820
4	Edward VIII of the United Kingdom Edward VIII of the United Kingdom Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...	23 June 1894	28 May 1972
5	George II of Great Britain George II of Great Britain George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...	30 October 1683	25 October 1760
6	William IV of the United Kingdom William IV of the United Kingdom William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...	21 August 1765	20 June 1837
7	George V of the United Kingdom George V of the United Kingdom George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....	3 June 1865	20 January 1936
8	Edward VII of the United Kingdom Edward VII of the United Kingdom Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...	9 November 1841	6 May 1910
9	James II of England James II of England James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...	24 October 1633	16 September 1701
10	George IV of the United Kingdom George IV of the United Kingdom George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...	12 August 1762	26 June 1830
11	George I of Great Britain George I of Great Britain George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....	7 June 1660	22 June 1727
12	James VI of Scotland James I of England James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...	19 June 1566	6 April 1625
13	George VI of the United Kingdom George VI of the United Kingdom George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...	14 December 1895	6 February 1952
14	Charles II of England Charles II of England Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...	8 June 1630	16 February 1685
15	William III of England William III of England William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...	14 November 1650	19 March 1702
16	Anne of Great Britain	16 February 1665	12 August 1714
17	Charles I of England Charles I of England Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...	29 November 1600	9 February 1649
18	Mary II of England Mary II of England Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...	10 May 1662	7 January 1695

*As of .

Should HRH The Prince of Wales

Charles, Prince of Wales

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

accede to the throne before 28 November 2015, he would immediately be ranked 12th.

The current monarch

Elizabeth II surpassed Victoria as oldest reigning monarch on 21 December 2007, having surpassed George III

George III of the United Kingdom

George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

five days earlier. Should she be alive on

29 January 2012, she would surpass Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell
At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...

as the longest-lived British ruler. At that point she would be old.
6 February 2012, she would celebrate her Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...

marking 60 years on the throne. At that point she would be old.
10 September 2015, she would surpass Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning British Monarch. At that point she would be old.
26 June 2017, she would have outlived Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
Albrecht Luitpold Ferdinand Michael, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine , was the son of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and his first wife, Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria. He was the one surviving child from that marriage...

, the longest-lived Jacobite pretender to the throne. At this point she would be old.
6 February 2022, she would celebrate her Platinum Jubilee
Platinum Jubilee
A Platinum Jubilee is a celebration held to mark an anniversary:* 70th in Commonwealth realms usage. For example, on 6 February 2022, Queen Elizabeth II could celebrate her Platinum Jubilee in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and rest of the Commonwealth realms. She would...

marking 70 years on the throne. At that point she would be old.
28 September 2033, she would surpass Bernhard VII
Principality of Lippe
Lippe was a historical state in Germany. It was located between the Weser River and the southeast part of the Teutoburg forest.-History:...

of the Principality of Lippe
Principality of Lippe
Lippe was a historical state in Germany. It was located between the Weser River and the southeast part of the Teutoburg forest.-History:...

as the longest reigning monarch in European history. At that point she would be old.
18 October 2034, at the age of 108, she would surpass Sobhuza II of Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...

as the longest documented reigning monarch (male or female) in world history, unless the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (King Rama IX) of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

surpasses 82 years, 254 days. He ascended 5 years, 242 days before her, and is one year 228 days younger than she.

The current monarch

See also