List of Canadian monarchs

Listed here are the monarchs who reigned over the French and British colonies of Canada, followed by the British Dominion of Canada, and finally the present-day sovereign state of Canada. The date of the first claim by a monarch over Canada varies, with most sources giving the year as 1497, when John Cabot made landfall somewhere on the North American coast (likely either modern-day Newfoundland or Nova Scotia), and claimed the land for England on behalf of King Henry VII. However, some sources instead put this date at 1534 when the word "Canada" was first used to refer to the French colony of Canada, which was founded in the name of King Francis I. Monarchical governance subsequently evolved under a continuous succession of French, British, and eventually uniquely Canadian sovereigns. Since the first claim by Henry VII, there have been 33 sovereigns of Canada, including two sets of co-sovereigns.

While Canada became a Dominion within the British Empire upon Confederation in 1867, the concept of a fully independent Canada sharing the person of the sovereign with the United Kingdom and other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, only emerged gradually over time through constitutional convention, and was officially confirmed with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Since then, the Canadian Crown has been legally distinct from those of the other Commonwealth realms, with its own separate and distinct monarch. Although the term king of Canada was used as early as the beginning of the reign of George VI, it was not until 1953 that the monarch's title was made official, with Elizabeth II being the first monarch to be separately proclaimed as Queen of Canada, as per the Royal Style and Titles Act.

Sovereigns of Canada

The French Crown (1534–1763)

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Reign		Full name	Consort
Sovereigns of the colony of Canada
1		Francis I (1497–1547) House of Valois	24 July 1534	31 March 1547	Francis	Eleanor of Austria
			Territorial changes: 1534: in Francis' name, Jacques Cartier laid claim to "Kanata" (Canada) and Acadia.
2		Henry II (1519–1559) House of Valois	31 March 1547	10 July 1559	Henry	Catherine de' Medici
3		Francis II (1544–1560) House of Valois	10 July 1559	5 December 1560	Francis	Mary, Queen of Scots
4		Charles IX (1550–1574) House of Valois	5 December 1560	30 May 1574	Charles Maximilian	Elisabeth of Austria
5		Henry III (1551–1589) House of Valois	30 May 1574	2 August 1589	Alexandre Édouard	Louise of Lorraine
6		Henry IV (1553–1610) House of Bourbon	2 August 1589	14 May 1610	Henri de Bourbon	Margaret of Valois, Marie de' Medici
7		Louis XIII (1601–1643) House of Bourbon	14 May 1610	14 May 1643	Louis	Anne of Austria
8		Louis XIV (1638–1715) House of Bourbon	14 May 1643	1 September 1715	Louis-Dieudonné	Maria Theresa of Spain, Françoise d'Aubigné
			Territorial changes: 1655: acquired concrete claim to Placentia. Note: 1713: ceded Acadia, Placentia, and Hudson Bay to Anne.
9		Louis XV (1710–1774) House of Bourbon	1 September 1715	10 February 1763	Louis	Marie Leszczyńska
			Territorial changes: 1763: ceded the Colony of Canada, along with the rest of New France, to George III.

The English and British Crowns (1497–1931)

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Reign		Full name	Consort
Sovereigns of the colony of Canada
1		Henry VII (1457–1509) House of Tudor	24 June 1497	21 April 1509	Henry	Elizabeth of York
			Territorial changes: 1497: in Henry's name, John Cabot laid claim to lands that soon came to be called "Canada". The English Crown did not concretely exercise this claim until the reign of King George III, when the colony of Canada was officially ceded from France to Great Britain.
2		Henry VIII (1491–1547) House of Tudor	21 April 1509	28 January 1547	Henry	Catherine of Aragon (1509), Anne Boleyn (1533), Jane Seymour (1536), Anne of Cleves (1540), Catherine Howard (1540), Catherine Parr (1543)
3		Edward VI (1537–1553) House of Tudor	28 January 1547	6 July 1553	Edward	None
4		Mary I (1516–1558) House of Tudor	19 July 1553	17 November 1558	Mary	Philip II of Spain (co-sovereign)
5		Elizabeth I (1533–1603) House of Tudor	17 November 1558	24 March 1603	Elizabeth	None
			Territorial changes: 1583: in Elizabeth's name, Humphrey Gilbert laid claim to the island of Newfoundland.
6		James I (1566–1625) House of Stuart	24 March 1603	27 March 1625	Charles James	Anne of Denmark
7		Charles I (1600–1649) House of Stuart	27 March 1625	30 January 1649	Charles	Henrietta Maria of France
		Cromwellian Era	30 January 1649	29 May 1660
8		Charles II (1630–1685) House of Stuart	2 May 1670	3 September 1651	Charles	Catherine of Braganza
			Note: 1670: created Rupert's Land.
9		James II (1633–1701) House of Stuart	6 February 1685	1 December 1688	James	Mary of Modena
		Vacant	1 December 1688	13 February 1689
10		William III (1650–1702) House of Orange-Nassau	13 February 1689	8 March 1702	William	Mary II of England (co-monarch)
11		Anne (1665–1714) House of Stuart	8 March 1702	1 August 1714	Anne	Prince George of Denmark
			Note: 1713: acquired Acadia, Placentia, and Hudson Bay from Louis XIV of France.
12		George I (1660–1727) House of Hanover	1 August 1714	11 June 1727	George Louis	Sophia Dorothea of Celle
13		George II (1683–1760) House of Hanover	11 June 1727 old calendar	25 October 1760 new calendar	George Augustus	Caroline of Ansbach
14		George III (1738–1820) House of Hanover	25 October 1760	29 January 1820	George William Frederick	Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
			Territorial changes: 1763: acquired Canada from Louis XV of France; changed its name to Province of Quebec. 1778: in George's name, James Cook laid claim to lands that later came to be called Vancouver Island. 1791: created the provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada out of the Province of Quebec. 1818: ceded Rupert's Land south of the 49th parallel to the United States; acquired the Louisiana Purchase north of the 49th parallel from the United States.
15		George IV (1762–1830) House of Hanover	29 January 1820	26 June 1830	George Augustus Frederick	Caroline of Brunswick
16		William IV (1765–1837) House of Hanover	26 June 1830	20 June 1837	William Henry	Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
17		Victoria (1819–1901) House of Hanover	20 June 1837	1 July 1867	Alexandrina Victoria	Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
			Territorial changes: 1840: united Lower and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada. 1846: acquired concrete claim to the Columbia District north of the 49th parallel and Vancouver Island.
Sovereigns of the Dominion of Canada
17		Victoria (1819–1901) House of Hanover	1 July 1867	22 January 1901	Alexandrina Victoria	Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
			Canadian 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
			Canadian Prime ministers: John A. Macdonald, Alexander Mackenzie, John Abbott, John Thompson, Mackenzie Bowell, Charles Tupper, Wilfrid Laurier
			Territorial changes: 1867: united the Province of Canada (and created out of it Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into the Dominion of Canada. 1870: created the province of Manitoba. Joined Rupert's Land (1870), British Columbia (1871), Prince Edward Island (1873), and the British Arctic Territories (1880) into the union.
18		Edward VII (1841–1910) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	22 January 1901	6 May 1910	Albert Edward	Alexandra of Denmark
			Canadian Governors general: The Earl of Minto, the Earl Grey
			Canadian Prime minister: Wilfrid Laurier
			Territorial changes: 1905: created the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan from part of the Northwest Territories.
19		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
			Canadian 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
			Canadian Prime ministers: Wilfrid Laurier, Robert Borden, Arthur Meighen, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Richard B. Bennett
			Territorial changes: 1931: granted Royal Assent to the Statute of Westminster 1931, thereby creating the Canadian Crown and leaving Newfoundland as the only part of Canada's current territory left under the British Crown.

The Canadian Crown (1931–present)

In 1931 the Canadian Crown emerged as an independent entity from that of the British Crown due to the Statute of Westminster 1931.

No.	Portrait	Regnal name	Reign		Full name	Consort
Sovereigns of Canada
1		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: Richard B. Bennett, William Lyon Mackenzie King
2		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
3		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
			Territorial change: 1949: merged Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) into Canada, thereby putting all of Canada's current territory under the Canadian Crown.
4		Elizabeth II (born 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, Justin Trudeau

Consorts

See also: List of titles and honours of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh § Royal and noble titles and styles

The Canadian monarchs' consort—his or her spouse—has no constitutional status or power, but is a member 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 style and title as they hold in the UK. After informal discussions among the various Commonwealth prime ministers between 1954 and 1957, it was decided that Prince Philip, husband of Elizabeth II, would not be granted the title of Prince Consort.

Since Confederation, two sovereigns have reigned over Canada without a consort: Victoria, whose husband, Albert, died before Confederation, and Edward VIII, who married Wallis Simpson after his abdication. Though Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (the current wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the throne of Canada), 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.

See also

• History of monarchy in Canada
• History of Canada
• Timeline of Canadian history
• Constitutional history of Canada
• List of Governors General of Canada
• List of current heads of state and government

External links

• Government of Canada: The Kings and Queens of Canada: The Crown in Canadian History
• Senate of Canada: Canada, A Constitutional Monarchy