List of living former sovereign monarchs

This is a list of former monarchs of sovereign states who are living to date. While most monarchs retain their position for their lifetime, some choose to abdicate in favour of a younger heir, while other monarchs are deposed when their monarchies are abolished or when another ruler seizes power by force. By international courtesy, these individuals are usually still addressed by their monarchical titles.

Living former monarchs of sovereign states

NameTitleReignBornNote
Albert IIKing of the Belgians1993–20136 June 1934Abdicated
Jigme Singye WangchuckKing of Bhutan1972–200611 November 1955Abdicated
Simeon IITsar of the Bulgarians1943–1946[1]16 June 1937Monarchy abolished
Fuad IIKing of Egypt and the Sudan1952–195316 January 1952Monarchy abolished
Constantine IIKing of the Hellenes1964–19732 June 1940Monarchy abolished
JeanGrand Duke of Luxembourg1964–20005 January 1921Abdicated
GyanendraKing of Nepal1950–1951 and 2001–20087 July 1947Monarchy abolished
BeatrixQueen of the Netherlands1980–201331 January 1938Abdicated
Juan Carlos IKing of Spain1975–20145 January 1938Abdicated
Hamad bin Khalifa Al ThaniEmir of Qatar1995–20131 January 1952Abdicated
Benedict XVISovereign of the Vatican City State2005–201316 April 1927Resigned
Jamshid bin AbdullahSultan of Zanzibar1963–196416 September 1929Monarchy abolished

Besides these, there are three living former holders of the title Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Ahmad Shah of Pahang, Sirajuddin of Perlis, and Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu) in Malaysia (who are not listed because they remain leaders of one of the nine subnational Malay states), as well as four living former Presidents of France (Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande) who served as Co-Princes of Andorra.

Other territorial ex-monarchs

NameTitleReignBornNote
Ismail PetraSultan of Kelantan1980–201011 November 1949Deposed
Ghalib II al-Qu'aitiSultan of Qu'aiti1966–19677 January 1948Monarchy abolished

Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II was Sovereign of the following 16 independent states until they later became republics. Years shown are from her accession in 1952 or independence chronologically up to the abolition of the monarchy.

StateReign
Pakistan1952–1956
Ghana1957–1960
South Africa1952–1961
Tanganyika1961–1962
Nigeria1960–1963
Uganda1962–1963
Kenya1963–1964
Malawi1964–1966
The Gambia1965–1970
Guyana1966–1970
Sierra Leone1961–1971
Ceylon1952–1972
Malta1964–1974
Trinidad and Tobago1962–1976
Fiji1970–1987[2]
Mauritius1968–1992

Notes

  1. ↑ Simeon returned to Bulgaria in 1996 after a half-century in exile and was elected Prime Minister under the name Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Simeon Sakskoburggotski) in 2001, serving until 2005.
  2. ↑ Elizabeth was recognized as Paramount Chief of Fiji by the former Great Council of Chiefs after 1987.

See also

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