Editing Regnal number (section)

==Personal unions==
In the case of [[personal union]]s, some monarchs have had more than one ordinal, because they had different ordinals in their different realms. For instance, [[Charles XV of Sweden]] was also king of Norway, but in Norway he went under the name Charles IV. The Swedish-Norwegian union was in force 1814–1905 and both realms had had kings called Charles before the union, but Sweden had had more kings by that name.

In the event of one kingdom achieving independence from another but retaining the same monarch, the monarch often retains the same number as was already used in the older realm. King [[Christian X of Denmark]] thus became King Christian X of Iceland when Iceland became an independent kingdom in personal union with Denmark in 1918. The same is true for [[Commonwealth realms]], where the monarch retains the regnal number from the British line of monarchs (see below).

===Ordinals and the British Acts of Union 1707===
{{main article|Style of the British sovereign}}
{{Cite-section|date=December 2022}}
Beginning in 1603, when [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] began to [[personal union|share a monarch]] but were still legally separate realms, their monarchs were numbered separately.  The king who began the personal union was James VI of Scotland who was also James I of England, and his name is often written (especially in Scotland) as [[James VI and I]].  Similarly, his grandson is [[James VII and II]].  [[Mary II]]'s ordinal coincidentally relates to both her predecessors [[Mary I of England]] and [[Mary I of Scotland]]; her co-sovereign husband is [[William III of England|William III and II]] (here the English number is first). [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] and [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] had a name not used in either country before 1603.

====Acts of Union====

After the realms were united with the [[Acts of Union 1707]], separate numbers were not needed for the next five monarchs: [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]] and the four Georges. However, when [[William IV]] acceded in 1830, he was not called William III in Scotland.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} ([[George Croly]] pointed out in 1830 the new king was William I, II, III, and IV: of [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanover]], Ireland, Scotland, and England respectively.<ref name="Croly1830">{{cite book|last=Croly|first=George|title=The life and times of his late majesty, George the fourth|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeandtimesgeo00crolgoog|year=1830|publisher=James Duncan|location=London|page=xlix}}</ref>)  Nor were [[Edward VII]] and [[Edward VIII]] known as Edward I and Edward II (or possibly II and III, if one counts the disputed reign of [[Edward Balliol]]) of Scotland.  These kings all followed the numbering consistent with the English sequence of sovereigns (which, incidentally, was also the higher of the two numbers in all occurring cases).  This was not without controversy in Scotland, however; for example, Edward VII's regnal number was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the established [[Church of Scotland]], in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle".<ref name="dnb">{{Cite ODNB|first=H. C. G.|last=Matthew|author-link=Colin Matthew|title=Edward VII (1841–1910)|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32975|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32975|date=September 2004|access-date=24 June 2009}} (Subscription required)</ref>
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ class="nowrap" | Last British monarchs of their names (disputed monarchs in italics)
|-
|
!Last Monarch
!End of Reign
|-
!Charles
|[[Charles III]]
|'''Current'''
|-
!Elizabeth
|[[Elizabeth II]] (Elizabeth I [[MacCormick v Lord Advocate|in Scotland]])
|2022
|-
!George
|[[George VI]]
|1952
|-
! scope="row" | Edward
|[[Edward VIII]] (Edward II [[Edward Balliol|''or III'']] in Scotland)
|1936
|-
!Victoria
|[[Queen Victoria|Victoria (I)]]
|1901
|-
!William
|[[William IV]] (William III in Scotland)
|1837
|-
! colspan="3" |United Kingdom (1801)
|-
!Anne
|[[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne (I)]]
|1714
|-
! colspan="3" |Union of Crowns (1707)
|-
!Mary
|[[Mary II of England|Mary II of England and Scotland]]
|1694
|-
!James
|[[James II of England|James VII of Scotland and II of England]]
|1688
|-
! colspan="3" |Personal Union (1603)
|-
!Philip
|[[Philip II of Spain|''Philip (I) of England'']]
|''1558''
|-
!Jane
|[[Lady Jane Grey|''Jane (I) of England'']]
|''1553''
|-
!Henry
|[[Henry VIII|Henry VIII of England]]
|1547
|-
!Richard
|[[Richard III of England]]
|1485
|-
!Robert
|[[Robert III of Scotland]]
|1406
|-
!David
|[[David II of Scotland]]
|1371
|-
!John (Scotland)
|[[John Balliol|''John (I) of Scotland'']]
|''1296''
|-
!Margaret
|[[Margaret, Maid of Norway|''Margaret (I) of Scotland'']]
|''1290''
|-
!Alexander
|[[Alexander III of Scotland]]
|1286
|-
!John (England)
|[[John, King of England|John (I) of England]]
|1216
|-
!Malcolm
|[[Malcolm IV of Scotland]]
|1165
|-
!Stephen
|[[Stephen, King of England|Stephen (I) of England]]
|1154
|-
!Matilda
|[[Empress Matilda|''Matilda (I) of England'']]
|''1148''
|-
!Edgar
|[[Edgar, King of Scotland|Edgar (I) of Scotland]]
|1107
|-
!Donald
|[[Donald III of Scotland]]
|1097
|-
!Duncan
|[[Duncan II of Scotland]]
|1094
|-
! colspan="3" |The Conquest (1066); numbering in England resets
|-
!Lulach
|[[Lulach|Lulach (I) of Scotland]]
|1058
|-
!Macbeth
|[[Macbeth, King of Scotland|Macbeth (I) of Scotland]]
|1057
|-
!Kenneth
|[[Kenneth III of Scotland]]
|1005
|-
!Constantine
|[[Constantine III of Scotland]]
|997
|-
!Amlaíb
|[[Amlaíb, King of Scotland|Amlaíb]] [[Dub, King of Scotland|(I) of Scotland]]
|977
|-
!Cuilén
|[[Cuilén]] ([[Dub, King of Scotland|I) of Scotland]]
|971
|-
!Dub
|[[Dub, King of Scotland|Dub]] ([[Indulf|I) of Scotland]]
|967
|-
!Indulf
|[[Indulf|Indulf (I) of Scotland]]
|962
|-
!Eochaid
|[[Eochaid (son of Rhun)|''Eochaid (I) of Scotland'']]
|''889''
|-
!Giric
|[[Giric|Giric (I) of Scotland]]
|889
|-
!Áed
|[[Áed mac Cináeda|Áed (I) of Scotland]]
|878
|-
! colspan="3" |Foundation of Scotland (843)
|}

====Current state====
{{see also|Pillar Box War}}
The issue arose again with the accession of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], as Scotland had never before had a regnant Queen Elizabeth, the [[Elizabeth I of England|previous queen of that name]] having been queen of England only. Objections were raised, and sustained, to the use of the [[royal cypher]] E<small>II</small>R anywhere in Scotland, resulting in several violent incidents, including [[Pillar Box War|the destruction]] of one of the first new E<small>II</small>R [[pillar box]]es in Scotland, at [[Leith]] in late 1952. Since that time, the cipher used in Scotland on all government and Crown property and street furniture has carried no lettering, but simply the [[Crown of Scotland]] from the [[Honours of Scotland]]. A court case, ''[[MacCormick v Lord Advocate]],'' contesting the style "Elizabeth II" within Scotland, was decided in 1953 on the grounds that the numbering of monarchs was part of the [[royal prerogative]], and that the plaintiffs had no title to sue [[the Crown]].

To rationalise this usage, it was suggested by [[Winston Churchill]], the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] of the day, that in future, the higher of the two numerals from the English and Scottish sequences would always be used.<ref name="hansard">{{cite hansard |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1953/apr/15/royal-style-and-title|title=Royal Style and Title |date=15 April 1953 |column_start=199 | column_end=201 |house=House of Commons }}</ref> This had been the case ''de facto'' since the [[Acts of Union 1707]]; nine of the thirteen monarchs since the Act had names either never previously used in England or Scotland (Anne, six Georges, and Victoria) or used in both only after the [[Union of the Crowns|1603 Union of Crowns]] (three Charleses), which sidestepped the issue, while the English numbers for the remaining four monarchs' names have consistently been both higher and the ones used (William, two Edwards, and Elizabeth). Under the Churchill rule, if a future British monarch were to use the regnal name ''Alexander'', even though there has never been a King of England of that regnal name, they would be Alexander IV, there having been three Kings Alexander of Scotland (reigning 1107–1124, 1214–1249, and 1249–1286).

====Ireland====
As the [[Lordship of Ireland]] (1171–1542) and [[Kingdom of Ireland]] (1542–1800) were subordinate to the [[Kingdom of England]], the English ordinals were used in Ireland even before the [[Acts of Union 1800]]. [[William III of England]] and [[William IV of the United Kingdom]] were still called "William III" and "William IV" in Ireland, even though neither [[William I of England|William I]] or [[William II of England|William II]] ruled any part of Ireland. Similarly, the various Kings Henry are numbered II–VIII as they are in England even though [[Henry I of England]] never ruled any part of Ireland. [[Elizabeth I of England]] is referred to in [[Regnal years of English monarchs|Irish regnal year]] legal citations as "Elizabeth" rather than "Elizabeth I" because [[Republic of Ireland Act|Ireland became a republic]] before [[Elizabeth II]] became queen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1962/act/29/schedule/1/enacted/en/html#sched1|title=Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act, 1962, Schedule 1|work=[[Irish Statute Book]]|access-date=10 September 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529182634/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1962/act/29/schedule/1/enacted/en/html#sched1|archive-date=29 May 2016}}</ref>