The Monarchs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom

The Kingdom of Great Britain came about on May 1, 1707 with the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. This came on the back of a 104 year personal union in which the two countries shared a monarch but were not officially merged.

Queen Anne

In 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland was merged with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom. Since the formation of Britain, there have been 12 monarchs. This began with Anne, the last of the Scottish house of Stuart. The house of Start had ruled both England and Scotland since James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne as James I of England in 1603, following his distant cousin Elizabeth I.

King George I

In 1714, Georg Ludwig of Hanover ascended the British throne as George I of Great Britain after the death of his distant cousin, Queen Anne. This came about because a Roman Catholic was not allowed to ascend the throne, making George the next king. Over fifty potential heirs were passed over. He spoke mostly German and this started a personal union between Great Britain and the Duchy of Hanover that lasted until Queen Victoria, George's great-great-great granddaughter, ascended the throne. In Hanover, women were not allowed to ascend the throne so one of Victoria's uncles succeeded his brother.

Queen Victoria

When Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the rulinge Hanoverian family became the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. This name was changed by Victoria's grandson, George V, to the much more British sounding Windsor. 

House of Stuart

1) Anne (1707-1714) 

House of Hanover

2) George I (1714-1727)

3) George II (1727-1760)

4) George III (1760-1820)

5) George IV (1820-1830)

6) William IV (1830-1837)

7) Victoria (1837-1901)

House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha/Windsor

8) Edward VII (1901-1910)

9) George V (1910-1936)

10) Edward VIII (1936-1936)

11) George VI (1936-1952)

12) Elizabeth II (1952-present)

The monarch of the United Kingdom still carries over the numbers designated to them from previous monarchs who ruled England and Scotland. That is why Elizabeth II is given the title of "II" even though Elizabeth I never ruled over Great Britain. In the event that a monarch assumes the throne with different numerical designations given separate English and Scottish dynasties, they would carry both. For example, if another James assumed the throne, he would be titled James III and VIII. However, he would be mainly addressed as James III.