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List of British monarchs

There have been 13 British monarchs since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. England and Scotland had been in personal union since 24 March 1603. On 1 January 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged, which resulted in the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the secession of southern Ireland in the 1920s.

Union and succession

Queen Anne became monarch of the Kingdom of Great Britain after the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. She had ruled England, Scotland, and the Kingdom of Ireland since 8 March 1702. She continued as queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death. Her total reign lasted 12 years and 147 days. Although Anne's great grandfather, James VI and I (r. 1603–1625), the monarch of the Union of the Crowns, proclaimed himself "King of Great Britain", and used it on coinage, stamps and elsewhere, the Parliament of England had refused to use that style in statutory law or address.

During Anne's reign, Parliament settled the rules of succession in the Act of Settlement 1701, defining Sophia of Hanover (granddaughter of James VI and I) and her non-Catholic descendants as the future royal heirs. The Crown passed from Queen Anne to Sophia's son, King George I, as Sophia had already died. Queen Anne and King George I were second cousins, as both were great-grandchildren of James VI and I. For a family tree that shows George I's relationship to Anne, see George I of Great Britain § Family tree.