It took less than a month of being alive for the future king of England, Prince George, to be ready for his closeup. In this photo from early August 2013, taken by Michael Middleton, the Duchess's father, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are shown smiling with their son in the garden of the Middleton family home in Bucklebury, England, with Tilly the golden retriever, a Middleton family pet, and Lupo, the couple's black and furry cocker spaniel.
Michael Middleton//TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, via AP
When he was born to Prince Charles and Princess Diana on June 21, 1982, Prince William became second in line to the British throne. He was christened two months later, on the 82nd birthday of his great-grandmother, the Queen Mum.
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The second child of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Prince Harry was born on September 15, 1984, at St. Mary’s hospital in Paddington. Up until his brother’s first child arrived, Harry was third in line for the throne. But even if he never becomes king, Harry will have had an illustrious military career as an Army Air Corps helicopter pilot. The prince has deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as a co-pilot gunner in the southern province of Helmand.
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Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary was born to the Duke and Duchess of York on August 8, 1988. She was christened in the Chapel Royal at London’s St. James’s Palace in December of that year. Beatrice was fifth in line for the throne (she would follow her father, Prince Andrew of York) and the first woman in the line of succession until her cousin William’s first child was born.
Princess Eugenie is the younger daughter of Britain’s Duke and Duchess of York. Born on March 23, 1990, Eugenie was christened at the Church of St. Mary Magdelen in Sandringham on December 23. She was the first member of the royal family to be baptized at a public service. Eugenie has often been overshadowed by her older sister and more famous cousins, but has come into her own now that she has started taking on royal duties of her own.
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Queen Elizabeth II was still a 22-year-old princess when she gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, on November 14, 1948. Ten years later, with his mother now queen, Charles was named Prince of Wales (although he was not formally crowned until 1969). Now 64, Prince Charles is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. And he could be waiting awhile—his maternal grandmother, the Queen Mum, lived to be 101.
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Princess Anne is the second child (and only daughter) of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Born on August 15, 1950, at Clarence House in London, Anne has been one of the more low-key members of the royal family. She takes on more than 500 engagements a year and has been heavily involved in the Save the Children Fund for decades. Anne isn’t in line for the throne, but received the title Princess Royal in June 1987. She’s only the seventh person to hold that title.
Born February 19, 1960, Prince Andrew is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Nineteen years later, he joined the Royal Navy and eventually became a helicopter pilot. He served in the military for 22 years. The first child to be born to a reigning monarch in over 100 years, Andrew was fourth in line for the throne until his nephew’s first child arrived in July.
Prince Edward was born on March 10, 1964, at Buckingham Palace. The youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Edward became the Earl of Wessex upon his marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999. The couple has two children, Lady Louise, who was born on November 8, 2003, and James, Viscount Severn, who was born on December 17, 2007.
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Upon her arrival on April 21, 1926, Princess Elizabeth was never meant to be queen. Her father, Prince Albert, was second in line to the British throne, behind his brother, Edward, the Prince of Wales. But in 1936, when Edward VIII abdicated after a reign of 326 days, Albert ascended and Elizabeth became heiress presumptive. (Had she been born a boy, she would have been heir apparent.) More than 15 years later, Elizabeth assumed the throne and is now less than three years away from becoming the longest-reigning British monarch.
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As depicted in the film The King’s Speech, Prince Albert, the Duke of York, suffered from a debilitating stammer that caused him to fear his public duties. Born on December 14, 1895, “Bertie” became heir presumptive in 1936, when his older brother, Edward, who was childless, inherited the throne from their father. Then in short order, Edward abdicated and Bertie ascended to the throne as George VI in 1936. But leading the nation through World War II took a heavy toll on King George VI’s health, and in 1952 he died, leaving the crown to his oldest daughter, Elizabeth.
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“I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne,” King George V reportedly said of the playboy Prince of Wales, prophetically predicting trouble. Born on June 23, 1894, Edward VIII caused a constitutional crisis in 1936, when he sought to wed Wallis Simpson, a twice-married American socialite. When the governments of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries objected to the union on moral grounds, Edward famously gave up his throne “for the woman I love” and lived out his days as the Duke of Windsor. In this photo, four generations of British monarchs pose together, Edward VIII sits on Queen Victoria’s lap as his father, the future George V, and grandfather, the future Edward VII, stand alongside them.
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Born on June 3, 1865, George was the son of a monarch and first cousin to two world leaders: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
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The monarch for whom the Edwardian Era is named, Edward was born on November 9, 1841, the oldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Although mostly excluded from politics by his mother, he finally ascended the throne at age 59 in 1901. Though his reign was brief, it was influential—Edward VII helped usher in the new technologies of the 20th century and presided over a period known for its fashionable elite.
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The longest-reigning monarch in British history, it’s hard to imagine that Queen Victoria, “the grandmother of Europe,” was ever a baby, but she was born on May 24, 1819. Victoria ascended the throne at 18 and served for more than 63 years, a record that could be eclipsed by Queen Elizabeth, should she still be reigning on September 10, 2015. Save the date.
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