List of longest-living members of the British royal family
Twenty-seven members of the British royal family[lower-alpha 1] have lived to the age of 80 years or older since the Acts of Union 1707 established the Kingdom of Great Britain. These British royal family members consist of two centenarians, eight nonagenarians, and 17 octogenarians. Of the British royals who have lived to 80 years or longer, 20 have been women and seven have been men. Seventeen of the 27 royals aged 80 or older have been members of the British royal family by blood and 11 have been members through marriage. Of the royals to reach the age of 80 or older, only Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1776–1857), was a member of the British royal family by both blood and marriage. Four of the British royals who lived 80 years or longer were deprived of their British peerages and royal titles in 1919 under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 as the children or spouses of enemies of the United Kingdom during World War I and are indicated below with asterisks (*).[7]
The longest-living member of the British royal family has been Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (1901–2004), who lived 102 years and 309 days.[8][9][10] Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester became the oldest ever member of the royal family when she surpassed the age of 101 years and 238 days in 2003, the age at which Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900–2002) died in 2002.[8][9][11] Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother had previously set the record of being the longest-living British royal in 1998 when she surpassed the age of 97 years and 313 days, the age of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (1883–1981), when she died in 1981.[12] Princess Alice of Albany is also the longest-living member by blood and was the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861).[13] The current oldest living member of the British royal family is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born 1921), who is the third longest-living British royal and the longest-living male British royal.[14] Prince Philip became the longest-serving royal consort in 2009.[15][16] The United Kingdom's current reigning monarch, Elizabeth II (born 1926), is presently the fifth longest ever living British royal family member, the longest-living British monarch, and, since September 2015, the longest ever reigning British monarch.[17][18]
List of British royal family members by lifespan
All persons are listed by their British titles although some are better known by other titles actually used at their linked articles.
Chronology of longest-living British royal family members
Name[lower-alpha 2] | Portrait | Relation | Lifespan[lower-alpha 3] | Duration | Years as record-holder | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
By | To | From | To | (days) | (years, days) | From | To | ||
George II | Blood | George I [77] |
9 November 1683 [78] |
25 October 1760 [79] |
28,109 | 76 years, 351 days | ― | 1815 | |
George III | Blood | Frederick, Prince of Wales [63] |
4 June 1738 [63] |
29 January 1820 [63][64] |
29,823 | 81 years, 239 days | 1815 | 1879 | |
Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge |
Marriage | Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge [32] |
25 July 1797 [33] |
6 April 1889 [33] |
33,492 | 91 years, 255 days | 1879 | 1914 | |
Princess Augusta of Cambridge |
Blood | Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge [25] |
19 July 1822 [25] |
5 December 1916 [26] |
34,472 | 94 years, 139 days | 1914 | 1977 | |
Princess Alice of Albany |
Blood | Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany [23] |
25 February 1883 [23] |
3 January 1981 [13] |
35,741 | 97 years, 313 days | 1977 | 1998 | |
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother |
Marriage | George VI [20] |
4 August 1900 [20] |
30 March 2002 [20] |
37,128 | 101 years, 238 days | 1998 | 2003 | |
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester |
Marriage | Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester [19] |
25 December 1901 [19] |
29 October 2004 [19] |
37,564 | 102 years, 309 days | 2003 | Present |
Notes
- This list consists of British royal family members entitled (in the earliest cases retroactively) to the styles of His or Her Royal Highness or His or Her Majesty, as defined by Letters Patent in 1864,[1] 1898,[2] 1917,[3] 1996,[4] and 2012.[5] According to the aforementioned Letters Patent, British royal family members entitled to the style of Royal Highness are the children and male-line grandchildren of the British monarch and previous British monarchs,[1][3] the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales,[2][5] and all their current or widowed spouses.[4] This list also includes those male-line descendants of British monarchs who, prior to 1917, were entitled to the "style and attribute" of His or Her Highness with the designation of a "Prince (or Princess) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland."[6]
- As this is a list of British royal family members, individuals are listed by their British royal title by birth, grant, or by marriage.
- To maintain consistency within the table, the dates of birth and death are given in the New Style.
- Letters Patent on 20 November 1947 entitled then Lieutenant Sir Philip Mountbatten to "hold and enjoy the title, style and attribute of Royal Highness."[21] Letters Patent on 22 February 1957 gave then Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, "the style and titular dignity of a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."[22]
- On 23 April 1799, Prince Ernest Augustus was granted the "Names, Styles, and Titles of Duke of Cumberland, and of Teviotdale, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, and of Earl of Armagh, in the Kingdom of Ireland."[74]
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