Chronography of the British Royal Family from 1760
Page last
modified 24/10/2021
See also Great Britain to 31/1/1900
See also Great Britain from 1/2/1900
9/4/2021, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh,
wife of Queen
Elizabeth II of Britain, died aged 99.
8/1/2020, Harry and Markle angered and surprised the Palace by a
surprise announcement, made without first informing �the Queen, that they were to withdraw from Royal
duties.
29/4/2011, Prince William married Kate Middleton at Westminster
Abbey, to become the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge. 2 billion people around the
world watched the ceremony on TV.
16/11/2010, Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their
engagement, eight years after meeting at Edinburgh University.
8/11/2010, Queen Elizabeth
II joined Facebook. By late 2015 her page had over 2.2 million
�likes�.
7/4/2008, The six-month-long official inquest into the
deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed
in a car crash in a Paris road tunnel ended.�
The inquest had cost �10 million, and concluded that Henri Paul,
the driver, was drunk and crashed into a pillar whilst trying to avoid the
paparazzi.
21/12/2007, Queen Elizabeth II became the oldest reigning
monarch in British history.
9/4/2005, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, in a
ceremony briefly postponed after the death of the Pope.� Camilla assumed the titles of Her Royal
Highness and The Duchess of Cornwall.
30/3/2002. Queen Elizabeth the
Queen Mother died, aged 101. At 11.30am on 9/4/2002 Britain came to
a halt for two minutes to commemorate her funeral, which was at 2pm in
Westminster Abbey.
25/9/2001, Queen Elizabeth
II was given her first mobile phone.
31/8/1997. Death of Diana,
Princess of Wales, born 1961, along with Dodi Al Fayed,
born 1955, in a car �accident� in a road tunnel in Paris. See 28/8/1996.
28/8/1996. The
Prince of Wales, Charles,
and Princess, Diana Spencer,
divorced. See 31/8/1997.
28/2/1996. The
Princess of Wales, Diana,
announced that she had agreed to divorce
Prince Charles.
3/12/1993, Diana Princess
of Wales announced her retirement from public life.
6/4/1993, Queen Elizabeth became
liable for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
11/2/1993. Buckingham Palace announced the Queen would pay
income tax in April.
17/1/1993. Bookmakers cut the odds of the UK monarchy
being abolished before the year 2000 from 100-1 to 50-1.
10/1/1993. Press reports emerged that Princess Diana, already
separated from her husband Prince Charles, wanted to divorce him.
31/12/1992. The Queen described 1992 as an �annus
horibilis�,
one of the worst years for the UK monarchy since the abdication crisis of 1936.
The Duke and
Duchess of York had separated, Princess Anne had divorced, the Prince of Wales
had reportedly attempted suicide through marital difficulties, and then
separated from Diana, and Windsor
Castle had suffered a major fire, on 20/11/1992. There was extensive damage
to rooms, artwork, furniture, and other effects. There was public condemnation
when it emerged the restoration cost would be met from the public purse. Six
days after the fire the Prime Minister John Major announced that the Queen was
reconsidering the scope of the Civil List and might end her exemption from
income tax.
19/3/1992. It was announced that the Duke and Duchess of York were to
separate.
23/3/1990, Princess
Eugenie of York was born.
21/9/1986. In
the UK, Prince Charles
stated on TV that he talked to his
plants.
24/4/1986, Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, for whom a British
King abdicated, died in Paris aged 89.
19/3/1986, The engagement between Prince Andrew and Miss Sarah
Ferguson was announced.
15/9/1984, Prince Harry (Henry Charles Albert David) was
born to Diana,
Princess of Wales.
24/2/1981, Prince Charles and Lady
Diana Spencer announced their engagement.
24/5/1978, Princess Margaret obtained a divorce from Lord Snowdon.
7/6/1977, The Queen lit a bonfire in Windsor Park, starting a
week of Royal Silver Jubilee
celebrations.
6/6/1977, Derby
was designated a city, to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
14/11/1973, Princess
Anne
married Captain
Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey.
12/10/1973. Students jostled the Queen when she visited Stirling
University.
28/5/1972. The Duke of Windsor, the abdicated King Edward
VIII, died in Paris aged 77.
19/2/1970. Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Charles
would join the Royal Navy.
1/7/1969. Prince Charles was formally invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle.
This event was watched by a TV audience of some 200 million worldwide.
24/6/1969. The 20 year old Prince Charles tackled the
�awfully difficult� question of his future marriage. �You have to chose
somebody very carefully, I think� said the Prince.
10/3/1964, Prince Edward (Edward Antony Richard
Louis) was born in Buckingham Palace, the third son of Elizabeth II.
2/4/1962, Prince Charles arrived as a new pupil at
Gordonstoun School, near Elgin, Scotland, the school his father Prince Philip
attended.
1/7/1961. Lady Diana Spencer
was born, in Park
House, Sandringham.
19/2/1960, Prince Andrew (Andrew Albert Christian Edward),
third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II, was born in Buckingham Palace.
26/7/1958. Queen
Elizabeth II
created her eldest son Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.
3/7/1958. The
last debutantes were presented to the Queen. British high society mourned the
passing of this tradition; the Queen had decided this had no place in modern
society.� Presentation at Court had
been reserved for the daughters of the aristocracy and those prominent in
society.� Those who made their curtsies
to the Queen were sponsored and chaperoned by those who had been presented
themselves earlier.� But some socially
ambitious parents had fallen on hard times to finance the fees and expenses of
qualified chaperones.� Prince Philip
was reported to have suggested the move.
31/10/1955, Princess Margaret decided not to marry
divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend. Had she married, she would
have lost her Civil List income and place in line to the throne.
2/6/1953. Coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II (see 6/2/1952). Britain was still recovering from World
War Two.. Just 4% of homes had TV sets. Few had fridges or washing
machines, for commercial TV had yet to
arrive and ignite the consumer boom, much of which was to be on credit, or
�never-never�. Just one
marriage in a hundred ended in divorce.
16/4/1953. Queen Elizabeth
II launched
the Royal Yacht Britannia.
4/3/1953, The RAF made a special Coronation Dish for Queen Elizabeth II, using
lampreys � the food which allegedly killed Henry I.
6/2/1952. The accession of Queen Elizabeth II, born
21/4/1926. Her coronation was on 2/6/1953, on a dull showery day; it was the
first Coronation to be televised. The funeral of King George V was at Windsor on
15/2/1952, when over 300,000 paid their respects to his coffin at Westminster
Abbey.. King
George V had died of lung cancer from smoking, aged 56, during the
night at Sandringham, and Elizabeth I was on safari in Kenya at the
time.� King George V had had a lung
removed in September 1951 by surgeons at Buckingham Palace.
22/9/1948, Captain Mark Phillips, husband of Princess Anne,
was born in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
20/11/1947. Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant
Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in Westminster Abbey. Austerity and rationing were temporarily
forgotten.
7/6/1939,HM King George V1, along with Queen Elizabeth,� crossed the border from Canada into the USA
at Naigara Falls, on his way to visit the World Fair in New York.� He was
the first British monarch to visit the USA.�
He and Queen Elizabeth also became the
first British monarch to eat hot dogs.
17/5/1939. George VI and Queen Elizabeth began a short visit to North
America to strengthen Anglo-Saxon solidarity.
3/6/1937, The Duke of Windsor, the abdicated King Edward
VIII, married Mrs Wallis Warfield Simpson in Mondis, France.
Mrs Simpson
was an American divorcee and the marriage both upset the Royal Family and
outraged the Church of England. A constitutional solution � for King Edward
to marry Mrs
Simpson but for her not to attain the title of Queen � might have
become acceptable to the country, but was forestalled by massive media coverage
of the affair, forcing Edward to choose between romance and title.
12/5/1937. King
George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the mother of Queen
Elizabeth II) were crowned.
4/2/1937, The German
Ambassador gave King
George VI a Nazi salute.
11/12/1936. Abdication
of King Edward VIII, after a reign of
just 325 days. See 20/1/1936. Accession of his brother, Prince
Albert, the Duke of York, who became King George VI to the British throne. The
coronation of George
VI (born 14/12/1895) was on 12/5/1937. King Edward VIII had abdicated
because of his love for Mrs Simpson (who became the Duchess of
Windsor), otherwise known as Bessie Walls Warfield. She had been
born in Baltimore on 19/6/1896. Edward VIII, as the Duke of Windsor, married Mrs
Simpson on 3/6/1937 at Monts in France.
13/11/1936. King Edward VIII told Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
he intended to abdicate because of
his intention to marry twice-divorced
Mrs Simpson.
See 11/12/1936.
28/1/1936, The
funeral of King George V.� General Franco
from Spain attended.
20/1/1936. Accession of King Edward
VIII. He succeeded his late
father, George
V, who died at Sandringham this day. See 11/12/1936. George V, Grandson of Queen Victoria, had reigned for
26 years; he changed the surname of the Royal Family from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to
Windsor during World War One to distance himself from his German cousins.
29/11/1934, Marriage of George Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece.
14/2/1933, Oxford students declared that �they would not
fight for King and Country�.
4/1/1931, Princess Louise, eldest daughter of King Edward VII,
(born 20/2/1867) died.
21/8/1930, In Britain, Princess Margaret Rose was born.
21/4/1926. Queen Elizabeth II, crowned 1952, was born at 17 Bruton
Street London. She was then called Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the eldest daughter
of George VI.
10/6/1921, Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was born on
the Greek
island of Corfu.
27/12/1918, King George V and Queen Mary greeted President and
Mrs Wilson of the United States.
6/5/1910. Accession of King George V 44, to the British
throne. His coronation was on 22/6/1911. He succeeded Edward VII, who died aged 68
from pneumonia. The funeral of Edward VII was on 20/5/1910.
12/7/1905, In Britain, the Princess of Wales gave birth to a
son, Prince John.
11/8/1902, King Edward VII gave Osborne House, where Queen Victoria had died, to the nation.
24/6/1902, King Edward VII contracted appendicitis, delaying his coronation
(scheduled for 26 June), see 9/8/1902.
14/2/1901, King Edward VII, aged 59, opened his first UK
Parliament.
4/2/1901, Queen Victoria was buried at Windsor, next to Albert.
22/1/1901. Queen Victoria died, at of a cerebral haemorrhage Osborne House on the Isle of
Wight, aged 81; the longest reigning and longest lived monarch of Britain. Accession of King
Edward VII to the British throne. His coronation was on 9/8/1902. King Edward VII
was born on 9/11/1840, and was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Crowned at 60 years of age, he proved a popular monarch who gave his name to
the Edwardian era. He was made
Prince of Wales by his mother when only one month old. His free and easy social
life made him a prominent figure in society and he was involved in several scandals. His coronation was elaborate
and was a departure from the rather dour
image of the monarchy in the latter part of Queen Victoria�s reign. Edward VII
is remembered as a popular man who tried to ensure peace in Europe, touring
European capitals in a diplomatic role. An estimated 500,000 watched the funeral. procession of Queen Victoria as
it travelled through the silent streets of London, on 2/2/1901. The
funeral took place at Windsor.
19/1/1901, Queen Victoria became seriously ill.
4/8/1900. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was born in
St Pauls, Waldenbury, Hertfordshire, as Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, the 9th
of 10 children.
4/4/1900, The Prince of Wales escaped unhurt after an
attempt on his life by a 16-year old anarchist, Jean-Baptiste Sipido, in
Brussels railway station,� Belgium. The
would-be assassin said he targeted the Prince because he held him responsible
for the many deaths in the Boer War
under Lord
Kitchener.
22/6/1897. Queen Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee.
14/12/1895. The
future King George VI was born
in Sandringham, Norfolk, second son of George V and Mary, see 11/12/1936.
3/6/1865, King George V, second son of Edward VII
and Queen
Alexandra, was born at Marlborough House in London.
25/2/1883, Princess Alice Mary, later Countess of Athlone, was born.
2/3/1882. Roderick
MacLean
tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Queen Victoria, as she sat in a railway
carriage at Windsor station.
26/5/1867, Queen Mary, wife of King George V, was born in
Kensington Palace as Princess Mary of York.
10/3/1864, Prince Edward was born.
10/3/1863, King Edward VII, as the Prince of Wales, married Princess
Alexandra of Denmark. The marriage was
in St Georges Chapel, Windsor.
14/12/1861. Prince Albert
Consort of Queen
Victoria, died, of typhus in Windsor Castle.
1/12/1849, Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV, died.
19/5/1849, William
Hamilton
attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria.
30/5/1842. An attempt
was made on the life of Queen Victoria as she drove down Constitution
Hill with Prince
Albert. The would � be assassin was John Francis.
9/11/1841, King Edward VII, second child and oldest son
of Queen
Victoria, was born at St James Palace, London.
8/12/1841, Prince Albert Edward was created Prince
of Wales; he later became King Edward
VII.
10/6/1840, Edward Oxford, a servant in a pub, fire two
shots at Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert as they drove up Constitution Hill in an
open carriage. Both shots missed. Oxford was sent to a mental hospital, then
exiled.
10/2/1840. Marriage of Queen
Victoria, born 24/5/1819, to her cousin Prince
Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, born 26/8/1819 at Rosenau, near Coburg,
Germany.
They were married in the Chapel Royal at St James Palace.
15/10/1839. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became betrothed. She proposed to him,
as recorded in her diary, �it was a nervous thing to do, but Albert could not
propose to the Queen of England. He would never presume to take such a
liberty�.
20/6/1837. (1) King William IV
died at Windsor. He was born on 21/8/1765 and was known as the sailor king,
for his service in the Royal Navy. His numerous affairs included 10
illegitimate children born to the Irish actress Dorothy Jordan.
(2) Accession of William IV�s
niece Queen Victoria, born 24/5/1819;
crowned on 28/6/1838, aged 19. She was originally named Alexandrine Victoria but
instructed the Privy Council to delete her first name.
8/9/1831, Coronation of King William IV.
26/6/1830. King George IV
died, aged 67. He was England�s fattest king, and his favourite breakfast was 2
pigeons, 3 beefsteaks, a bottle of Moselle, a glass of champagne, two of port,
and one of brandy. William IV, his brother, succeeded him. With no
legitimate children to succeed him, Victoria was to be the next monarch.
29/1/1820. King George III,
longest lived and longest reigning (over 59 years) King of England, died at
Windsor aged 81. (See 26/10/1760, coronation of George III). Accession of King George IV; his long-separated wife Caroline returned form the Continent to claim
her position as Queen. Caroline was warmly welcomed by the British
public, who perceived her as having been badly treated by her husband. George IV
nevertheless persuaded his Cabinet ministers to immediately begin divorce proceedings.
26/8/1819, Prince Albert was born at Rosenau, near
Coburg, in Bavaria.
5/2/1811. King George III,
73 years old, was officially declared insane; the Prince of Wales, 49 years
old, became Prince Regent.
21/8/1765, King William IV, known as the �Sailor King�
because he joined the Royal Navy at 13, was born in Buckingham Palace.� He was the third son of King George III and Queen Charlotte.
12/8/1762, King George IV
was born in St James Palace,
London.� He was the eldest son of George
III. His lavish lifestyle and cruelty towards his wife, Caroline of Brunswick,
undermined popular support for the monarchy.
22/9/1761, Coronation of King George III, see 26/10/1760
26/10/1760. Accession of
George III. His coronation was on 22/9/1761. He was the son
of Frederick,
Prince of Wales, and Augusta. George III became one of the longest reigning
monarchs in Britain. He saw the emergence of Britain as a leading European
power after the Seven Year�s War as well as the early stages of the Industrial
Revolution. He had a devoted wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg, who bore him 15
children. But George
III faced problems at home, fighting with Parliament to recover
Royal Prerogative, and having Revolutionary France for a neighbour. He also had
the debilitating disease porphyria. He died deaf, mad, and blind at Windsor
Castle on 29/1/1820, leaving a legacy of social unrest and an outmoded
constitution.
25/10/1760, George II died suddenly at 8am, in
Kensington, London, aged 76. His successor George III was inclined to
concentrate on British, not Hanoverian, interests, and disliked William
Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who had promoted the Anglo-Prussian Alliance.
Without British help, Prussia could not continue fighting.
8/9/1650, Elizabeth, 2nd daughter of
Charles I if England, died of a chill after getting soaked in the rain upon
arriving at Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight. Born 28/12/1635, when the
English Civil War broke and Charles left London with his two elder princes,
Elizabeth was left under the care of Parliament. Cared for by various nobility,
she bid farewell to her father on 29/1/1649, the day before his execution. In
June 1650 she was entrusted to the care of the earl and countess of Leicester
at Penshurst, but when King Charles II landed in Scotland she was taken to
Carisbrooke for security.
28/12/1635, Elizabeth, 2nd daughter of Charles I, was born. See 8/9/1650.