How Well do You Know Your English Monarchy? Quiz

Answer: 2

In January 1066, Edward the Confessor (reigning from 1042) died, leaving rather a muddle in his wake. Who was going to be king? He had allegedly appointed two before he died (William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson), and a third, Harald Hardrada, was seeking to also claim the throne.
Godwinson was crowned king; he defeated Hardrada (who was never king) at the Battle of Stamford Bridge but he was later killed by William the Conquerer at the Battle of Hastings.
Edward the Confessor was the first king of England to die in 1066, Harold Godwinson was the second.

Answer: Smallpox

Elizabeth I suffered from smallpox aged 29 and, afterwards, covered her face up with lead-based make-up to hide the scars. She was lucky: most people didn't survive from smallpox during Tudor times.

Answer: Victoria

Queen Victoria had 9 surviving children:
Victoria (1840-1901) - The mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.
Albert (1841-1910) - Became king in 1901 and took on his middle name, Edward.
Alice (1843-1878) - Her son-in-law was the last Russian Tsar.
Alfred (1844-1900) - The first member of the royal family to visit Australia.
Helena (1846-1923)
Louise (1848-1939) - Married an outsider for love, not status (scandalous!)
Arthur (1850-1942)
Leopold (1853-1884) - A haemophiliac who died after two years of marriage.
Beatrice (1857-1944)
All the children spoke German when at home and their usual residence was Osborne Palace on the Isle of Wight.

Answer: Edward V

There is a debate about whether King Richard III actually did kill his nephews, King Edward V and the Duke of York, but he has been immortalised as the villain by Shakespeare in 'Richard III'.

Answer: George III

It was during George III's reign that Nelson and Napoleon fought each other; he was the king that went batty due to poisonous 'cures' given to him by his doctor and, rather unfortunately, was the longest reigning monarch of his day (now he's only third, having been beaten by Queen Liz and completely blasted into obscurity by Victoria).

Answer: Canute/Cnut

King Canute - or Cnut - they didn't have standardised spelling until after Samuel Johnson in the 1750s - was documented by a chronicler of the day to have sat on the shore and said 'I order you not to rise upon my land, nor to wet the clothes and body of my lord', which of course it then went and did.

Answer: Charles I

Charles I probably would've been the first to taste bananas: he was renowned for splashing the cash of the English and liked the high life. Just after him came Oliver 'Let-us-ban-everthing' Cromwell (king in everything but name), who probably would've seen eating exotic fruit as a sin.

Answer: George VI

Edward VII gave his name to the Edwardian era.
George V was his son, who died in 1936 and was king during World War 1.
Edward VIII was Queen Elizabeth's Uncle, who abdicated in 1936 to marry a divorced woman.
George VI, Elizabeth II's dad, was king from 1936-1952.

Answer: James Stuart

James Stuart's mother was Mary Queen of Scots and he inherited the Scottish throne from her. He inherited the English throne from Elizabeth I who was his great grandmother's niece.

Answer: Mary Stuart

The year 1688 was the only time ever in British history that two monarchs inherited the throne at once and got to keep it: William of Orange married Mary Stuart, King James's daughter, to strengthen his claim to the English throne.