Royal Jubilee Quiz

Test your royal knowledge, with our Jubilee quiz, encompassing over 1,000 years of English/British monarchical history (answers are below the break)

Round 1: Local Monarchs

1. Why is the lion mascot at PGS Nursery named “Richard”?

2. Which Saxon king is allegedly buried at the church in Bosham?

3. Which Saxon king is the only English king to have been called “The Great”?

4. The daughter of which Anglo-Scandinavian king drowned at Bosham?

5. Which king was killed by an arrow in the New Forest?

Round 2: From Cradle to Grave

6. Which king came to the throne aged only six months old?

7. Name all 6 of Henry VIII’s wives.

8. Name all 8 of Charles II’s mistresses.

9. Elizabeth II became the longest-lived English ruler when she turned 86 last month. Who was the longest-lived English ruler previous to this?

10. George II and Elvis both died at the same place. Where?

Round 3: Modern Monarchy

11. Why did the Royal Family change its surname to Windsor in 1917?

12. Which English king abdicated in 1936 and why?

13. In what year was Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation?

14. Who is currently the longest-reigning monarch in the world?

15. What change to the rules regarding royal succession is Parliament likely to vote in favour of this year?

Answers are below:

Answers

1. He is named after Richard I (‘The Lionheart’), whose palace was on the site of the current PGS Nursery and DRT.

2. King Harold II (killed at the Battle of Hastings, 1066).

3. Alfred the Great.

4. King Cnut.

5. William II (known as William Rufus, because of his red hair). It is not known whether it was accident or assassination.

6. Henry VI (later murdered in the Tower of London, aged 49). He founded Eton College.

7. Catherine of Aragon; Anne Boleyn; Jane Seymour; Anne of Cleeves; Catherine Howard; Catherine Parr.

8. The Duchess of Portsmouth; Nell Gwynn; Barbara Villiers;  Moll Davis; Elizabeth Killigrew; Catherine Pegge; Lucy Walter; Hortense Mancini  (see video below*):

(Princess Diana was the descendant of one of Charles II's illegitimate children; because Charles had no legitimate offspring, Diana’s son, Prince William, will be the first English monarch to be descended directly from Charles II)

9. Richard Cromwell, who was Lord Protector (and therefore ruler) of England for 264 days after his father Oliver’s death, before he was deposed and the monarchy replaced. However, he lived until he was 85.

10. On the toilet.

11. They had to change their name from Saxe Coburg and Gotha because it was felt that it sounded too German during the First World War (which was fought against Germany, among other countries).

12. Edward VIII ---  so that he could marry Wallis Simpson, who was twice- divorced, which caused scandal at the time. Edward was Elizabeth II’s uncle; her father became king George VI as a result of his brother’s abdication.

13. 1953---June 2nd

14. King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, crowned 1946.

15. The oldest child of Prince William will be heir to the throne whether a boy or a girl (until now, the oldest boy, rather than oldest child, has been heir to the throne; the queen had no brothers).

* May 29, 2012, was the 352nd anniversary of the Restoration of the Monarchy, when Charles II regained the throne (on his 30th birthday) 11 years after the execution of his father Charles I and the abolition of the British monarchy. Find out more about "the king who brought back partying" below, courtesy of Horrible Histories: