From the European discovery and settlement of the country that is now Canada, thirty-three (33) Kings and Queens have been Sovereigns of the land.
English and French Monarchs came on the Canadian scene more or less simultaneously. They comprised seven dynasties – two French and five English, later British ones. The French Kings reigned until King Louis XV. In 1763 after his naval and military forces were defeated in the Seven Years War, ceded his sovereignty over Quebec, Atlantic and Hudson’s Bay Canada to King George III of the (by then) British royal line.
Because the law of succession to the French Crown was limited to men, the two French dynasties were branches of the same family: the male descendants of Hugues Capet made King of France in 987: The five British dynasties were the different families, though of course closely related, through whom the Crown passed. The English claim to the Throne of France was reflected in th titles of Henry VII to George III.
The French dynasties were the Houses of Valois and Bourbon. The English later British ones were the Houses of Tudor, Stuart, Orange-Stuart, Hanover, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha which in 1917 changed its name to Windsor. Both lines of Monarchs were also closely related to each other – so much so that they seem in effect to be one extensive family.
Reigns of the thirty-three Kings and Queens marked crucial constitutional events and legal, economic and religious development for Canada. In addition, the Monarchs also directly and personally affected the growth and evolution of a Canadian nationality, state and society. Canada is literally the creation of its Sovereigns.
Monarchs of Canada’s French line of Kings
HOUSE OF VALOIS
François I 1515-1547. His sovereignty was proclaimed in Canada in 1534.
Henri II 1547-1559
François II 1559-1560
Charles IX 1560-1574
Henri III 1574-1589
HOUSE OF BOURBON
Henri IV ‘The Great’ 1589-1610
Louis XIII ‘The Just’ 1610-1643
Louis XIV ‘The Great’ 1643-1715
Louis XV ‘The well-Beloved’ 1715-1763 [died 1774]
Monarchs of Canada’s English later British line of Kings and Queens
HOUSE OF TUDOR
Henry VII 1485-1509 His sovereignty was proclaimed in Canada in 1497.
Henry VIII 1509-1547
Edward VI 1547-1553
Mary I 1553-1558 The first Queen Regnant of the English line. Married Philip II of the House of Habsburg, King of Spain. Together they were styled “Philip and Mary, by the Grace of God, King and Queen of England and France, Naples, Jerusalem and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant”.
Elizabeth I ‘Gloriana’ 1558-1603
HOUSE OF STUART
James I ‘The Wisest Fool in Christendom’ 1603-1625
Charles I ‘The Martyr’ 1625-1649
Charles II ‘The Merry Monarch’ 1649-1685
James II 1685-1689 [died 1702]
HOUSE OF ORANGE-STUART
Mary II 1689-1694. Joint Sovereign with her husband William III 1689-1702. Toogether they were styled “King and Queen of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith.”
Anne 1702-1714
HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK-HANOVER
George I 1714-1727
George II 1727-1769
George III 1760-1820
George IV 1820-1830. Regent for his father King George III from 1812
William IV 1830-1837
Victoria 1837-1901 ‘The Mother of Confederation’ and ‘The Good’
HOUSE OF SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA
Edward VII 1901-1910 ‘The Peacemaker’
HOUSE OF WINDSOR
George V 1910-1936
Edward VIII 1936 [1972]
George VI ‘The Good’ 1936-1952
Elizabeth II 1952-2022 ‘Queen of Canada’
Charles III 2022- Styled “King of Canada”