Elizabeth II is Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and twelve countries that have become independent since her accession on 6 February 1952: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands...

Rainier III ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs in European history. Though internationally known for his marriage to the American actress Grace Kelly, he was also responsible...

Aisin-Gioro Puyi was the Xuantong Emperor of China between 1908 and 1924 (ruling emperor between 1908 and 1912, and non-ruling emperor between 1912 and 1924), the tenth (and last) emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to rule over China. Later...

Astrid of Sweden was the Queen consort of King Leopold III of the Belgians. She was the third daughter of Prince Carl, Duke of Westrogothia, and his wife Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. She married Leopold on November 4, 1926, and became Q...

Hirohito, the Showa Emperor, reigned over Japan from 1926 to 1989. He was known in the West by his given name Hirohito (he had no surname). He was the 124th Emperor of Japan. His reign was the longest of all Japanese emperors, and oversaw t...

Archduke Wilhelm Franz of Austria-Teschen, later Wilhelm Franz von Habsburg-Lothringen. Austrian archduke, colonel of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, and poet. Archduke Wilhelm was the youngest son of Archduke Karl Stephan and Archduchess Mari...

Haile Selassie (Power of Trinity) was the last Emperor (1930–1936; 1941–1974) of Ethiopia, and is a religious symbol in the Rastafarian movement. He was born in the town-village of Ejersa Goro, Ethiopia, as Tafari Makonnen His father was Ra...

Charles I, Last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Bohemia as Charles III, Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia, and the last monarch of the Habsburg dynasty. He reigned as Charles I as Emperor of Austria and Charles IV as King of Hungary from 19...

Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, was proclaimed King at his birth. He reigned from 1886-1931. His mother, Queen Maria Christina, was appointed regent during his minority. In 1902, on attaining his 16th ye...

Faisal bin al-Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of Greater Syria in 1920 and King of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933. He was a member of the Hashemite dynasty, a descendant of the tribe of Muhammad. Faisal encouraged ov...

Nicholas II or Nikolai II was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to eco...

Pakubuwono X was the tenth Susuhunan (ruler of Surakarta). His reign corresponded with the political changes happening in the Dutch East Indies at the time, in particular the growth of local indigenous political organizations such as Budi U...

George V, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1910–36), second son and successor of Edward VII. At the age of 12 he commenced a naval career, but this ended with the death (1892) of his elder brother, the duke of Clarence, which made him the...

Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia and, from 1896 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Aust...

Mehmet VI was the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1918 to 1922. The brother of Mehmed V, he succeeded to the throne as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of Abdülaziz's son Yusuf Iz...