Descent of Elizabeth II
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This table shows the descent of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom from Egbert, traditionally regarded as first King of England, and before that from Cerdic, founder of the House of Wessex. Some of the links between Cerdic and Egbert are a little uncertain, but there is no doubt that Egbert was a descendant of Cerdic. There are 39 generations between Egbert and Elizabeth, and a further 12 between Cerdic and Egbert.
There are several breaks in the line of descent, but the hereditary succession has never been entirely broken. When William the Conqueror, who had no hereditary claim, seized the English throne in 1066, the House of Wessex in the male line became extinct, but continuity was re-established when Henry I married Matilda, a great-granddaughter of Edmund II.
In 1485 the throne was seized by Henry VII, who was a great-great-grandson of Edward III through an illegitimate descent, and whose family had been specifically excluded from the throne. Henry re-established the legitimate royal descent by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, so that his son Henry VIII had a sound hereditary claim.
In 1603 the Tudor line became extinct when Elizabeth I died childless. But the throne passed to James I, a great-great-grandson of Henry VII. Again, in 1714 the Protestant Stuart line became extinct with the death of Queen Anne, but the throne passed to George I, a great-grandson of James I.
The Queen rules by virtue of her descent from the Electress Sophia of Hanover (shown as the final generations below) by the Act of Settlement, 1701, rather than by reason of her descent from any earlier Kings of England.
Table of descent from Cerdic to Elizabeth
CERDIC (c470-534) Saxon Eorlderman, arrived in England c495 1st King of Wessex | | Creoda (c500-c560) | | Cynric (c530-c560) King of Wessex | | Ceawlin (c550-593) King of Wessex | | Cuthwine (died c580) | | Cutha (c600-c634) | | Ceolwald | | Cenred | | Ingeld (died 718) | | Eoppa | | Eafa (c760-c840) | | Ealhmund (c780-c870) | | Egbert (775-839) King of Wessex 802-27 King of England 827-39 = Raedburh | | Aethelwulf (died 858) King of England 839-58 = Osburh | | Alfred (the Great) King of England 871-99 = Ealswith | | Edward (the Elder) (875-924) King of England 899-924 = Eadgifu | | Edmund (920-46) King of England 939-46 = Aelgifu | | Edgar (943-75) King of England 959-75 = Elfrida | | Aethelred II (The Unready) (968-1016) King of England 979-1016 = Aelgifu | | Edmund II (Ironside) (989-1016) King of England 1016 = Ealgyth | | Edward (1016-57) = Agatha of Hungary | | Saint Margaret (1045-93) = Malcolm III, King of Scots | | Matilda (1079-1118) = Henry I, King of England 1100-35 | | Empress Maud (1102-67) = Geoffrey Plantagenet, | Count of Anjou | Henry II (1132-89) King of England 1154-89 = Eleanor of Aquitaine | | John (1166-1216) King of England 1199-1216 = Isabella of Angouleme | | Henry III (1206-72) King of England 1216-72 = Eleanor of Provence | | Edward I (1239-1307) King of England 1272-1307 = Eleanora of Castile | | Edward II (1284-c1327) King of England 1307-27 = Isabella of France | | Edward III (1284-c1327) King of England 1327-77 = Philippa of Hainault | | John of Gaunt Duke of Lancester (1340-1399) = Catherine Swynford | (illegitimate until marriage) | John Beaufort Earl of Somerset (1373-1410) = Margaret Holland | | John Beaufort Duke of Somerset (1404-44) = Margaret Beauchamp | | Margaret Beaufort (1441-1509) = Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond | | Henry VII King of England 1485-1509 (1457-1509) = Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV | | Margaret = James IV, King of Scots (1489-1541) | | James V, King of Scots (1512-42) = Mary de Guise | | Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87) = Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley | | James VI, King of Scots James I King of England 1603-25 (1566-1625) = Anne of Denmark | | Elizabeth (1596-1662) = Frederick V, Elector Palatine, King of Bohemia | | Sophia (1630-1714) = Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover | | George I King of Great Britain 1714-27 (1660-1727) = Sophia Dorothea of Celle | | George II King of Great Britain 1727-60 (1683-1760) = Caroline Wilhelmina of Anspach | | Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-51) = Augusta of Saxe-Coburg | | George III King of Great Britain and Ireland 1760-1820 (1738-1820) = Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | | Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820) = Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld | | Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland 1837-1901 (1819-1901) = Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha | | Edward VII King of Great Britain and Ireland 1901-10 (1841-1910) = Alexandra of Denmark | | George V King of Great Britain and Ireland 1910-36 (1865-1936) = Mary of Teck | | George VI King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1936-52 (1895-1952) = Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon | | Elizabeth II Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1952-present (born 1926) = Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh