A Note on the Sovereign's Title

Authors and Contributors this page: T.F. Mills

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Page created 10 August 2001. Corrected and updated 11.07.2004

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A Note on the Sovereign's Title


Royals: Introduction & Links Note on H.M. Title	Index of Royal Colonels Index of Reigns & Peerages

For reasons of economy of space and readability, the title of the Sovereign is normally given in abbreviated form on this website. That form is usually modified AACR2, the qualifier to the regnant name being elaborated only as far as needed to adequately identify and distinguish two monarchs of the same name. For those interested in the full legal title and its evolution, we offer the following list.

Since this website is concerned generally with the military history of the British Empire from the founding of the modern British Army in 1660, this list begins with the 1603 Union of England Scotland in the person of James VI of Scotland as James I of England upon his succession to Elizabeth I. (Substitute "Queen" for "King" where appropriate since this in itself is not a significant title change.)

The evolution of the Empire into sovereign states in the 20th century has required a modification of the Sovereign's title in nations where H.M. remains the Head of State. For example, in Canada Elizabeth II's title is "By the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her Other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith," and in abbreviated form "Queen of Canada".


1603	James I, Charles I, Charles II, and James II King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith. [Charles II legally commenced his reign upon the death of his father in 1649, but was in exile until 1660.]
1688	William III and Mary II, reigning jointly King and Queen of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith. [Mary died 1694, and William reverted to the earlier title]
1702	Anne Queen of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith.
1707	Anne Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith. [The 1707 Act of Union formally joined England and Scotland as Great Britain, made necessary by the 1701 Act of Settlement which had omitted Scotland from the succession.]
1714	George I, George II, and George III King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, Elector of Hanover, Defender of the Faith.
1801	George III, George IV, William IV, and Victoria By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, Elector of Hanover. [The 1801 Act of Union joined Great Britain and Ireland as the "United Kingdom", and George III took the opportunity to relinquish the title "King of France" 250 years after Britain had lost its last holdings in France. In 1814 "Elector" changed to King of Hanover.]
1877	Victoria By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India. [Prime Minister Disraeli created the title "Empress of India" for the Queen, and widespread opposition to the idea was allayed by the promise that she would not use it in Britain]
1901	Edward VII and George V By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.
1917.07.17	family name (for members of the royal family who used it) changed to Windsor, despite the existence of the Earldom of Windsor as one of the subsidiary titles of the Marquess of Bute, and the Viscountcy of Windsor and the Barony of Windsor, the latter both subsidiary titles of the Earls of Plymouth, whose family name had been Windsor till 1833, after which it became Windsor-Clive; House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha changed to House of Windsor
1927	George V, Edward VIII, and George VI By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.
1948	George VI By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith. [George VI omitted "Emperor of India" by royal proclamation in June 1948, ten months after the independence of India and Pakistan.]
1953.03.26	Elizabeth II By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. [Elizabeth actually held the same title as her father from her accession in Feb. 1952 to 26 March 1953, when it changed to the above style.]