Will Prince William Be the 44th Monarch Since 1066?

You might have heard that when Prince William eventually becomes king, he'll be the forty-fourth monarch since William the Conqueror seized the English throne in 1066. It sounds believable—nearly a thousand years of monarchy should rack up plenty of rulers, right? But when you actually count them all, the numbers tell a different story.

The truth is that Prince William will be the forty-third monarch, not the forty-fourth. There have been 41 kings and queens from William the Conqueror through Queen Elizabeth II, making King Charles III the 42nd in line. So where did this off-by-one error come from?

Counting Nearly 1,000 Years of Monarchs

Since William the Conqueror's victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, England (and later Britain) has seen a parade of monarchs from various dynasties: Normans, Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, and the current House of Windsor. That's 41 individual reigns spanning almost a millennium.

Some reigned for decades, like Elizabeth II's remarkable 70-year tenure. Others barely made it a year, like Lady Jane Grey, the "Nine Days' Queen" who was deposed and executed in 1553. Despite civil wars, disputed successions, and the occasional beheading, the crown has passed through surprisingly few hands—fewer than most people assume.

Why the Confusion?

The mix-up likely stems from counting errors or including rulers who weren't actually monarchs. Some people mistakenly count:

• Pretenders or claimants who never officially ruled
• Co-regents separately when they should be counted as one reign
• William the Conqueror twice (as both the starting point and the first monarch)

When you stick to the official, crowned monarchs who actually sat on the throne, the count is clear: 41 from William I through Elizabeth II.

A Royal Legacy

Prince William won't just be continuing a family business—he'll be the latest link in a chain stretching back nearly a thousand years. His name even connects him to the dynasty's founder, though that's where the similarities end. William the Conqueror was a battle-hardened Norman duke who claimed the throne by force. The modern Prince William was born into it, trained from birth for a role he never chose.

When his time comes, King William V will carry forward a title that has survived wars, revolutions, and the collapse of empires around it. Just don't call him the forty-fourth monarch. The crown demands precision, even in trivia.