This is the British royal family tree, from James VI and I (who united the crowns of England and Scotland) through Elizabeth II, the current monarch. Queen Elizabeth II has been the monarch of the United Kingdom for the longest time. She is the mother of four children, the grandmother of eight grandkids, and the great-grandmother of twelve great-grandchildren.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99. Princess Elizabeth married the prince in 1947, five years before she became Queen. The Queen has ruled the United Kingdom for nearly 70 years, making her the country’s longest-serving queen.
British Royal Family Tree
Line of succession
1. The Prince of Wales
Born: 1948
2. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Born: 1982
3. Prince George of Cambridge
Born: 2013
4. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge
Born: 2015
5. Prince Louis of Cambridge
Born: 2018
6. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Born: 1984
7. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor
Born: 2019
8. Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor
Born: 2021
9. The Duke of York
Born: 1960
10. Princess Beatrice
Born: 1988
12. Princess Eugenie
Born: 1990
Princess Elizabeth was born in 1926 and became queen after her father, King George VI, died in 1952. In 1947, she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and they had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
Prince Philip, a former prince of Denmark and Greece, was born in 1921 and served in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during World War II. He retired from royal duties in 2017 after at than 22,000 solo engagements, making him the longest-serving consort of any British monarch.
Her father, King George VI, was the second-born son of King George V, and Elizabeth was his firstborn child. Her father, known as Prince Albert in his early life, was not anticipated to become king as the second-born son. However, less than a year into his reign, Elizabeth’s uncle, King Edward VIII, decided he no longer intended to rule. In December 1936, King Edward abdicated the throne in what would become one of the most infamous royal family scandals in history, and her father was anointed King George VI.
The “heir presumptive” was then Princess Elizabeth of York, as she was known at the time. Unlike the “heir apparent,” whose position as second in line is absolute, the heir presumptive’s position is subject to displacement if a male heir is born later, which never happened in Elizabeth’s case, as can be seen by glancing at the royal family tree. Elizabeth was crowned Queen after her father died in 1952.
Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Queen Elizabeth’s and Prince Philip’s first child, was born on November 14, 1948. The next in line to the throne is Prince Charles. Charles was invested as Prince of Wales in a grandiose ceremony in August 1969, the year he turned 21. The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, making her Princess of Wales. Their first son, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, was born in 1982, and their second, Prince Henry Charles Albert David (Prince Harry), was born in 1984. Prince Charles will succeed Queen Elizabeth as King when she dies.
The Act of Succession to the Crown
The Succession to the Crown Act, which abolished male primogeniture, went into force in March 2015. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, the fourth in line to the throne, was born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Catherine Middleton) less than two months later. Charlotte’s place in the line of succession was kept three years later, when Prince Louis of Cambridge was born, marking the first time a female member of the royal family tree has retained her place in the line of succession even after the birth of a male sibling.
