Of the British royals who have lived to 80 years or longer, 21 have been women and 8 have been men. Nineteen of the 29 royals aged 80 or older have been members of the British royal family by blood and 9 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 titled as 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 to 102 years and 309 days old.[8][9][10][11] The longest-living member of the British royal family from birth is Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (1883–1981). Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900–2002) is the second-longest living British royal, living to 101 years and 238 days old.[12] The current oldest living member of the British royal family is Katharine, Duchess of Kent (born 1933), who is the seventh longest-living British royal. Elizabeth II (1926–2022), was the longest-ever reigning British monarch (70 years, 214 days) and the fifth longest-living royal (96 years, 140 days).[13][14]
List of British royal family members by lifespan
All persons are listed below by their British royal titles by birth, grant, or by marriage. However, some of these individuals are better known by other titles.
^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.
^Those deriving their British titles by birth are shown by relation "to" the parent from whose title theirs derived; those deriving their titles by marriage are shown by relation "to" the spouse to whom their marriage from whom the title automatically (for wives) or by grant derived; Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh was "Princess Mary" as a daughter of George III and "Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh" by marriage to her first cousin Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
^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."[17] 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."[18]
^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."[76]
^ ab"About The Duke of Kent". The Royal Family website. The Royal Household. 2018. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
1 Not a British prince by birth, but created Prince Consort. 2 Not a British prince by birth, but created a Prince of the United Kingdom. Princes whose titles were removed and eligible people who do not use the title are shown in italics.
The generations indicate descent from George I, who formalised the use of the titles prince and princess for members of the British royal family. Where a princess may have been or is descended from George I more than once, her most senior descent, by which she bore or bears her title, is used.
The generations include wives of princes descended from George I, who formalised the use of the titles prince and princess for members of the British royal family.