List of Canadian monarchs

This page lists those monarchs who have reigned over what is now Canada. In the history of monarchy in Canada, three different crowns have ruled over the country. The first two were the crowns of France and the crown of the United Kingdom (and previously, the united crowns of England and Scotland). The third is the independent crown of Canada, which since Confederation 1867 has been deemed to have become a kingdom in its own right.^[1][2]

While Canada became self-governing Dominion within the British Empire in 1867, the concept of the state being fully independent, and sharing a sovereign with the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, did not emerge until the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Since that time,^[3] the Canadian Crown has been recognized as legally distinct from the crowns of the other Commonwealth realms, meaning that Canada is a kingdom in its own right with a distinct national monarch.^{[N 1][5][6]} Still, though the term King of Canada was used as early as the beginning of the reign of George VI,^[7] it was not until 1953 that the style was made official; Elizabeth II was the first monarch to be separately proclaimed as Queen of Canada, by the Royal Style and Titles Act.

Pre-Confederation monarchs [edit]

Monarchs of New France (1534-1763) [edit]

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Reign		Full name	Consort
1		Francis I of France (1494–1547) House of Valois	24 July 1534	31 March 1547	Francis	Eleanor of Austria
			Territorial changes: Established French colonies in Acadia and Canada, 1534.
2		Henry II of France (1519–1559) House of Valois	31 March 1547	10 July 1559	Henry	Catherine de' Medici
3		Francis II of France (1544–1560) House of Valois	10 July 1559	5 December 1560	Francis	Mary, Queen of Scots
4		Charles IX of France (1550–1574) House of Valois	5 December 1560	30 May 1574	Charles Maximilian	Elisabeth of Austria
5		Henry III of France (1551–1589) House of Valois	30 May 1574	2 August 1589	Alexandre Édouard	Louise of Lorraine
6		Henry IV of France (1553–1610) House of Bourbon	2 August 1589	14 May 1610	Henri de Bourbon	Margaret of Valois, Marie de' Medici
7		Louis XIII of France (1601–1643) House of Bourbon	14 May 1610	14 May 1643	Louis	Anne of Austria
8		Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) House of Bourbon	14 May 1643	1 September 1715	Louis-Dieudonné	Maria Theresa of Spain, Françoise d'Aubigné
			Territorial changes: Ceded Acadia, Placentia, and Hudson Bay to Anne, 1713.
9		Louis XV of France (1710–1774) House of Bourbon	1 September 1715	10 February 1763	Louis	Marie Leszczyńska
			Territorial changes: Ceded New France to George III, 1763.

Monarchs of British North America (1670-1907) [edit]

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Reign		Full name	Consort
1		Charles II of England and Scotland (1630–1685) House of Stuart	2 May 1670	3 September 1651	Charles	Catherine of Braganza
			Territorial changes: Created Rupert's Land through Royal Warrant for the Hudson's Bay Company.
2		James II of England and VII of Scotland (1633–1701) House of Stuart	6 February 1685	1 December 1688	James	Mary of Modena
		Vacant	1 December 1688	13 February 1689
3		William III of England and II of Scotland (1650–1702) House of Orange-Nassau	13 February 1689	8 March 1702	William	Mary II of England (also served as co-monarch)
4		Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1665–1714) House of Stuart	8 March 1702	1 August 1714	Anne	Prince George of Denmark
			Territorial changes: Acquired Acadia, Placentia, and Hudson Bay from Louis XIV of France, 1713.
5		George I of Great Britain (1660–1727) House of Hanover	1 August 1714	11 June 1727	George Louis	Sophia Dorothea of Celle
6		George II of Great Britain (1683–1760) House of Hanover	11 June 1727 old calendar	25 October 1760 new calendar	George Augustus	Caroline of Ansbach
7		George III of Great Britain (1738–1820) House of Hanover	25 October 1760	29 January 1820	George William Frederick	Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
			Territorial changes: Acquired New France from Louis XV of France, 1763. Created provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1790.
8		George IV of the United Kingdom (1762–1830) House of Hanover	29 January 1820	26 June 1830	George Augustus Frederick	Caroline of Brunswick
9		William IV of the United Kingdom (1765–1837) House of Hanover	26 Jnue 1830	20 June 1837	William Henry	Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
10		Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819–1901) House of Hanover	20 June 1837	22 January 1901	Alexandrina Victoria	Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
			Territorial changes: United Upper Canada and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, 1841. United the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into the Dominion Canada under a new Canadian crown, 1867. Later joined Rupert's Land, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island into Canada.
11		Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841–1910) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	22 January 1901	26 September 1907	Albert Edward	Alexandra of Denmark
			Territorial changes: Newfoundland granted status as an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.

Monarchs of the Dominon of Newfoundland (1907-1949) [edit]

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Reign		Full name	Consort
1		Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841–1910) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	26 September 1907	6 May 1910	Albert Edward	Alexandra of Denmark
			Territorial changes: Newfoundland granted status as an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.
2		George V of the United Kingdom (1865–1936) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (until 1917) House of Windsor (after 1917)	6 May 1910	20 January 1936	George Frederick Ernest Albert	Mary of Teck
3		Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (1894–1972) House of Windsor	20 January 1936	11 December 1936	Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David	none
4		George VI (1895–1952) House of Windsor	11 December 1936	31 March 1949	Albert Frederick Arthur George	Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
			Territorial change: Joined Newfoundland into Canada, 1949, thereby putting all of modern Canada under the Canadian Crown.

Monarchs of the Canadian confederation (1867-present) [edit]

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Reign		Full name	Consort
Canada as a dominion of the British Empire
1		Victoria (1819–1901) House of Hanover	1 July 1867[N 2]	22 January 1901	Alexandrina Victoria	none[N 3]
			Governors general:The Viscount Monck, the Lord Lisgar, the Earl of Dufferin, the Marquess of Lorne, the Marquess of Lansdowne, the Lord Stanley of Preston, the Earl of Aberdeen, the Earl of Minto
			Prime ministers: John A. Macdonald, Alexander Mackenzie, John Abbott, John Thompson, Mackenzie Bowell, Charles Tupper, Wilfrid Laurier
			Initial provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
			New provinces and territories: Manitoba, North-Western Territory (now Northwest Territories), British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Yukon Territory (now Yukon)
2		Edward VII (1841–1910) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	22 January 1901	6 May 1910	Albert Edward	Alexandra of Denmark
			Governors general: The Earl of Minto, the Earl Grey
			Prime minister: Wilfrid Laurier
			New provinces: Saskatchewan, Alberta
3		George V (1865–1936) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (until 1917) House of Windsor (after 1917)	6 May 1910	11 December 1931	George Frederick Ernest Albert	Mary of Teck
			Governors general: The Earl Grey, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the Duke of Devonshire, the Lord Byng of Vimy, the Marquess of Willingdon, the Earl of Bessborough
			Prime ministers: Wilfrid Laurier, Robert Borden, Arthur Meighen, William Lyon Mackenzie King, R. B. Bennett
Canada as a sovereign state, sharing a monarch with other realms of the Commonwealth
…		George V (1865–1936) House of Windsor	11 December 1931	20 January 1936	George Frederick Ernest Albert	Mary of Teck
			Governors general: The Earl of Bessborough, the Lord Tweedsmuir
			Prime ministers: R. B. Bennett, William Lyon Mackenzie King
4		Edward VIII (1894–1972) House of Windsor	20 January 1936	11 December 1936	Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David	none
			Governor general: The Lord Tweedsmuir
			Prime minister: William Lyon Mackenzie King
5		George VI (1895–1952) House of Windsor	11 December 1936	6 February 1952	Albert Frederick Arthur George	Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
			Governors general: The Lord Tweedsmuir, the Earl of Athlone, the Viscount Alexander of Tunis
			Prime ministers: William Lyon Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent
			New province: Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador)
6		Elizabeth II (b. 1926) House of Windsor	6 February 1952	Present	Elizabeth Alexandra Mary	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
			Governors general: The Viscount Alexander of Tunis, Vincent Massey, Georges Vanier, Roland Michener, Jules Léger, Edward Schreyer, Jeanne Sauvé, Ray Hnatyshyn, Roméo LeBlanc, Adrienne Clarkson, Michaëlle Jean, David Johnston
			Prime ministers: Louis St. Laurent, John Diefenbaker, Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper
			New territory: Nunavut

List of royal consorts of Canada [edit]

A royal consort is the spouse of a ruling king or queen. Consorts of Canadian monarchs have no constitutional status or power, but are members of the Canadian Royal Family. In the United Kingdom, all female consorts have had the right to and have held the title of Queen Consort; as Canada does not have laws or letters patent under the Great Seal of Canada laying out the styles of any Royal Family members besides the monarch, royal consorts are addressed in Canada using the title as they hold in the UK. After informal discussions amongst the various Commonwealth prime ministers, between 1954 and 1957, it was decided that Prince Philip, husband of Elizabeth II, not be granted the title of Prince Consort.^[9][10]

Two sovereigns reigned over Canada without a consort: Victoria's husband, Albert, died before Confederation and, as Wallis Warfield Simpson married the Duke of Windsor after his abdication, she was never queen consort of Canada. Though Camilla Parker-Bowles will technically become Queen Consort in the United Kingdom, Clarence House has stated that, due to public opinion regarding her relationship with the Prince of Wales, she will be styled there as Princess Consort.^[11][12][13]

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Time as consort		Full name	Pre-marriage title	Marriage date
		Vacant Reign of Victoria[N 3]	1 July 1867	22 January 1901
1		Queen Alexandra (1844–1925) Wife of Edward VII	22 January 1901 Husband's ascension	6 May 1910 Husband's death	Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia of Denmark	Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark	10 March 1863
2		Queen Mary (1867–1953) Wife of George V	6 May 1910 Husband's ascension	20 January 1936 Husband's death	Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes of Teck	Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Mary of Teck	6 July 1893
		Vacant Reign of Edward VIII	20 January 1936	11 December 1936
3		Queen Elizabeth (1900–2002) Wife of George VI	11 December 1936 Husband's ascension	6 February 1952 Husband's death	Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon	The Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon	26 April 1923
4		Prince Philip (b. 1921) Husband of Elizabeth II	6 February 1952 Wife's ascension	Incumbent	Philip Mountbatten	His Royal Highness Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (Two days before his wedding, Philip abandoned his royal titles and married as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.)	20 November 1947

See also [edit]

Canadian politics portal

• List of Governors General of Canada
• History of monarchy in Canada
• List of current heads of state and government

Notes [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Department of Canadian Heritage: Sovereigns since Confederation (1867)
• Senate of Canada: Canada, A Constitutional Monarchy

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