Why the Queen was not Queen of England

She held the throne longer than any British monarch before – 70 years and 214 days, to be exact – and was the longest reigning head of state in the world. And now she’s not supposed to have been Queen of England? No, she was not, per se, because royal titles are complex. Their origins often go back centuries, have political and geographical influences, and are still changed now and then.

To understand the present title of the British monarch, we must look back over 400 years to the then Queen of England. Elizabeth I, who also goes down in history as the Virgin Queen and gives her name to an entire age, remains unmarried and without descendants. After her death in March 1603, the crown passes to her closest relative, the Scottish King James VI, who is the first Stuart ruler to rule both countries – Scotland and England – in personal union. He bears the title King of Scotland as James VI and the title King of England and Ireland as James I. In May 1707, the Act of Union united the two kingdoms to form the Kingdom of Great Britain and replaces the English and Scottish parliaments with the British Parliament. The then reigning Queen Anne is henceforth given the title Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. About 100 years later, Ireland is admitted to political union with Great Britain in 1801, with a large part – except for northern counties – regaining its independence in 1920 under George V. The title of Queen of Great Britain was changed to Queen of Scots. The then changed title, has remained the same to this day and is King/Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The full title of the British monarch in office since September 8, 2022, is:

Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

The ordinal numbers following the title take into account rulers since the Norman invasion in 1066. If there is only one monarch bearing a particular name, the ordinal number is omitted. Since the Act of Union 1707, the ordinal numbers have been based exclusively on former English kings, not Scottish kings. In the year of the coronation, Scottish nationalists sued for the right of the new queen to call herself Elizabeth II because there had never been an Elizabeth I in Scotland. However, Scotland’s highest civil court, the Court of Session, dismissed the suit, saying that the choice of name was in accordance with the sovereign rights.

The monarch’s signature traditionally consists of his royal name without the ordinal number, followed by an R. This letter stands for rex or regina and indicates the authority of the sovereign. Thus, the Queen used to sign her name with Elizabeth R. In her private letters to family members and close friends, she sometimes signed with her nickname “Lilibet. The queen has worn this nickname since childhood. Prince Philip also called her simply “Lilibet.” He himself usually signed only with his first name.

We are fortunate to offer in our October auction a set of three Christmas cards with original signatures from Queen Mum, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana.