Not so long to reign over us

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, the last month has been pretty hectic at work and planning for our wedding next year. Back in February I did a post to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Queen's ascension to the throne by looking at some of the other long reigning monarchs in British history. To mark the Platinum Jubilee weekend I thought I'd take a look at those British kings and queens that didn't enjoy such long reigns.

King Harold II, 1066 (282 days)

Most accounts of British monarchs tend to focus on England and those who reigned after the Norman invasion - this is due to the bias towards England in British history and the success of William the Conqueror and his successors in eradicating Anglo-Saxon culture. For the most part this blog will continue that trend, nevertheless I wanted to start by looking at the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II. When Edward the Confessor died without an heir, England was plunged into a succession crisis with several claimants to the throne; Harold, his brother Tostig, Harald Hardrada of Norway and William Duke of Normandy. Despite a Witan (Anglo-Saxon Parliament) declaring Harold king and crowning him within a day of Edward's death the other claimants quickly started planning to press their claims by force. Within England Harold was widely accepted and could have continued Anglo-Saxon rule in if Harald, Tostig and William's invasions hadn't happened simultaneously and at opposite ends of the country. Harold was able to defeat Harald and Tostig but by the time he had marched his army down from York to Hastings, William had a foothold and defeated Harold's exhausted forces. Harold himself died in the battle, legend has it from an arrow to the eye - his sons attempted to avenge their father but were defeated by the Normans and like the Anglo-Saxon culture disappeared into history.

King Edward V, 1483 (78 days)

Infamous for the being the elder of the Princes in the Tower, Edward's short and tragic reign was the prelude for the final act of the Wars of the Roses. Edward V ascended to the throne at the age of 12 upon the sudden death of his father Edward IV. Their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester became Lord Protector and guardian to the young king and his nine year old brother. As Edward made his way to London for his coronation Richard seized him and placed the king in the Tower of London, where he was joined by his brother shortly after. On 25th June 1483, the marriage of Edward V's parents was declared bigamous and the brothers illegitimate, thus barring them from the throne. Their uncle was crowned Richard III and neither Edward or his brother were seen again. Their fate remains a mystery, I did a post on their alleged murder which explores this mystery in more detail.

Lady Jane Grey, 1553 (9 days)

Known as the 'Nine Days Queen', this is a controversial entry to the list as some would argue that her reign was disputed and therefore she was not a legitimate queen. However, I've chosen to include her as our history is littered with kings and queens who made successful and unsuccessful claims to the throne - Lady Jane Grey is no different, she was just failed quickly. Lady Jane was the cousin of Edward VI, the sickly, staunch protestant and only son of Henry VIII. On his deathbed Edward VI named Jane as his successor, there is much debate as to why he did this. Although Henry VIII's other children Mary and Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate during his reign, Henry reinstated their inheritance in his will, something which Edward VI only changed in his own will. Edward VI was probably trying to secure a protestant succession by avoiding his fiercely catholic sister Mary. Some argue that Edward VI was influenced by his chief advisor and Jane's father-in-law John Dudley the Duke of Northumberland. Despite her later reputation Mary was extremely popular in a country which was still culturally catholic and as such the country rallied to her claim. Mary was proclaimed queen nine days after Jane had claimed it, she was declared a usurper and executed.

King Edward VIII, 1936 (326 days)

The vast majority of British people alive today (87% of the population) have only known Elizabeth II as monarch. For such a constant in all our lives, it's hard to imagine that Elizabeth was never meant to be queen. Elizabeth Windsor was born in 1926, the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, her uncle was the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne. When Elizabeth was 9 her grandfather George V died and her uncle was proclaimed Edward VIII. Some have argued that Edward VIII was ahead of his time, he had a modern approach and wanted to bring the monarchy out of the Victorian era. However, in many ways Edward VIII was objectively a disastrous king - he simultaneously interfered in political affairs while neglecting his constitutional duties. This caused a rift to develop between the crown and government, one which became irreconcilable when Edward declared his intention to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. At the time the notion that the king as head of the Church of England could marry a divorcee and remain monarch was inconceivable. Consequently, Edward was given a choice; the crown or Mrs Simpson - he chose Wallis. On 11th December Edward VIII abdicated and the throne passed to his brother George VI, father of Elizabeth.

Although the abdication crisis took the monarchy years to recover from, in hindsight it was probably a blessing. In the years leading to the Second World War, Edward (now Duke of Windsor) was a leading voice for appeasement with Nazi Germany, the couple were known for being sympathetic to fascism and visited Hitler in 1937. It is even thought that Hitler planned to have Edward reinstated as king following his planned invasion of Britain. As a result the couple were moved to the Bahamas in 1940 as the government feared they might act on their pro-Nazi feelings. The Americans carried out covert surveillance on them throughout the war as they were considered a security threat and is was suspected (although never decisively proven) that they leaked defence information to the Germans. After the war Edward attempted to distance himself from Nazism and the couple retired to a life of celebrity parties and luxury in France funded by illegal currency trading. Edward and Wallis never fully reconciled with the Royal Family, they blamed him and particularly Wallis for the abdication which thrust the throne onto George VI, the stress of which is believed to be a leading cause of his early death. Edward died on 28th May 1972 in France, the first monarch to die outside England in 245 years.