The House of Saxe - Coburg Gotha

King Edward VII 1901 - 1910

• Age 60-69
• Son of Victoria
• Married Alexandra (Danish)
• Six Children
• Buried at Windsor

The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Edward was created Prince of Wales almost immediately after his birth.

At an age when many men are about to retire from work, Edward at last got the job of being king.

He married Alexandra of Denmark and kept Europe at peace during his life. He was known as Edward the Peacemaker. He enjoyed fine food and horse racing.

The House of Windsor
Name changed in 1917

• King George V 1910 - 1936
• King Edward VIII June 1936
• King George VI 1936 - 1952
• Queen Elizabeth II 1952 - present day

King George V 1910 - 1936

• Age 45-70
• Second son of Edward VII
• Married Mary (German)
• Six children
• Buried at Windsor

Ruled Britain during First World War 1914 - 1918.
During his reign women were allowed to vote for the first time.
Sinn Fein Easter Rising in 1916 led to independent Parliament in Ireland in 1918.

King Edward VIII June 1936

Edward's genuine concern for the underprivileged and his official overseas tours on behalf of his father made him popular in Britain and abroad. But his choice of bride would spark a constitutional crisis. He had fallen in love with a married American woman, Wallis Simpson. When she obtained a divorce in October 1936, it opened the way for her to marry Edward.

• Age 42
• Eldest son of George V
• Married Mrs Wllis Simpson (American)
• No children
• Abdicated

Ruled for just 325 days - abdicating December 1936

Abdicated to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson, as he was not able to marry a divorced woman and become King. Mrs. Simpson was an American, a divorcee and had two husbands still living.

King George VI 1936 - 1952

Edward VIII's younger brother, the Duke of York, was crowned George VI. He and his wife Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), became inspirational figures for Britain during World War Two. The monarch visited his armies on several battle fronts and founded the George Cross for 'acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'.

• Age 41-57
• Second son of George V
• Shy brother of Edward VIII
• Married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Scottish)
• Two children
• Buried at Windsor

He didn't expect to become King. Ruled during World War Two and refused to leave London during the blitz. The two Princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, spent the war years at Windsor Castle.

The post-war years of his reign were ones of great social change and saw the start of the National Health Service. The whole country flocked to the Festival of Britain held in London in 1951

Queen Elizabeth II 1952 - present day

• Age 26 -
• Elder daughter of George VI
• Married Philip (Greek-born British-naturalized)
• Four children

On Nov. 20, 1947, Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, duke of Edinburgh.

They were in Kenya (en route for a tour of Australia and New Zealand) when the King George VI died (Feb. 6, 1952) and Elizabeth succeeded to the throne.

Her coronation, on June 2, 1953, was the first to be televised.

Find out more about Queen Elizabeth II

The British Royal Family Tree from Elizabeth

Hanoverian

Royal Family Today

1066 - 1154 The Normans

1154 - 1216 The Angevins (The first Plantagenet kings)

1216 - 1399 Plantagenets

1399 - 1461 The House of Lancaster

1461 - 1485 The House of York

1485 -1603 The Tudors

1603 - 1649 and 1660 - 1714 The Stuarts

1714 -1901 The House of Hanoverians

1901 -1910 and 1910 - Today Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and The Windsors