Burial places of British royalty

Last updated April 10, 2024

These burial places of British royalty record the known graves of monarchs who have reigned in some part of the British Isles (currently includes only the monarchs of Scotland, England, native princes of Wales to 1283, or monarchs of Great Britain, and the United Kingdom), as well as members of their royal families.

Monarchs of England (to 1603)

Pre-conquest

Name	Death	Place of burial	Image
Egbert	839	Old Minster, Winchester Bones now thought to be in one of the six mortuary caskets in Winchester Cathedral
Æthelwulf	855	Steyning Church, then the Old Minster, Winchester Bones now thought to be in one of the six mortuary caskets in Winchester Cathedral
Æthelbald	860	Sherborne Abbey, Dorset
Æthelbert	866	Sherborne Abbey, Dorset
Æthelred I	871	Wimborne Minster, Dorset
Alfred the Great	899	Originally Old Minster, Winchester Moved to New Minster then Hyde Abbey Current whereabouts are unknown
Edward the Elder	924	New Minster, Winchester Moved to Hyde Abbey Current whereabouts are unknown
Æthelstan	939	Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire
Edmund I	946	Glastonbury Abbey
Eadred	955	Old Minster, Winchester Bones now thought to be in one of the six mortuary caskets in Winchester Cathedral
Eadwig (Edwy)	959	Bones now thought to be in one of the six mortuary caskets in Winchester Cathedral
Edgar	975	Glastonbury Abbey
Edward the Martyr	978	Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset Bones reputed to be his now reside in the Church of St. Edward the Martyr, Brookwood.
Æthelred the Unready	1016	Old St Paul's Cathedral Tomb lost in the Great Fire of London, referenced as such on a plaque outside the crypt of the present church.
Edmund Ironside	1016	Glastonbury Abbey
Sweyn Forkbeard	1014	Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark
Cnut the Great	1035	Old Minster, Winchester Bones now thought to be in one of the six mortuary caskets in Winchester Cathedral
Harold Harefoot	1040	St Clement Danes, London
Harthacnut	1042	Bones now thought to be in one of the six mortuary caskets in Winchester Cathedral
Edward the Confessor	1066	Westminster Abbey. Edward was the first king buried in the church. In the 13th century, Henry III had his remains transferred to a shrine in the rebuilt abbey, in the new chapel named after him.	.
Harold Godwinson	1066	Waltham Abbey, Essex (by repute)

Post-conquest

Name	Death	Place of burial
William I	1087	Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Caen, Normandy (remains destroyed in 1562, 1793)
William II	1100	Winchester Cathedral
Henry I	1135	Reading Abbey, Berkshire His remains were lost after the ruin of the abbey.^[1]
Stephen	1154	Faversham Abbey, Kent The abbey was demolished after the Reformation and Stephen's grave was destroyed.
Matilda	1167	Rouen Cathedral, Normandy, France Remains transferred from Bec Abbey in Normandy.
Henry II	1189	Fontevraud Abbey, Anjou, France The grave no longer exists and was probably destroyed during the French Revolution. The effigies survived.
Richard I	1199
John	1216	Worcester Cathedral
Henry III	1272	Edward the Confessor's Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[2]
Edward I	1307	Edward the Confessor's Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[2]
Edward II	1327	Gloucester Cathedral
Edward III	1377	Edward the Confessor's Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[3]
Richard II	1400	King's Langley Priory (reburied Edward the Confessor's Chapel, Westminster Abbey 1413)
Henry IV	1413	Canterbury Cathedral
Henry V	1422	Westminster Abbey
Henry VI	1471	Windsor Castle (reburied in St George's Chapel 1484)
Edward IV	1483	St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
Edward V	?1483	Traditionally believed to have been murdered and buried secretly in the Tower of London. Bones presumed to be his and those of his brother Richard, Duke of York were unearthed in the Tower in 1674 and re-buried in Westminster Abbey four years later.
Richard III	1485	Leicester Cathedral Originally buried across the street in Greyfriars, but the original tomb was lost when the friary was demolished in 1538. The remains of Richard III were recovered by an archaeological dig in 2012 and re-interred in 2015.^[4]
Henry VII	1509	Henry VII Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[5]
Henry VIII	1547	St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
Edward VI	1553	Henry VII Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey
Jane	1554	St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London
Mary I	1558	Henry VII Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[5]
Elizabeth I	1603	Henry VII Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[5]

Monarchs of Scotland (to 1603)

Name	Death	Place of burial
Kenneth MacAlpin	858	Iona Abbey
Donald I	862
Constantine I	877
Áed	878
Eochaid	Unknown	Unknown^[6]
Giric	889	Iona Abbey ^[6]
Donald II	900	Iona Abbey ^[6]
Constantine II	952	Culdee monastery at St Andrews (probable)^[7]
Malcolm I	954	Iona Abbey
Indulf	962
Dub	967
Cuilén	972
Kenneth II	995
Constantine III	997
Kenneth III	1005
Malcolm II	1034
Duncan I	1040
Macbeth	1057
Lulach	1058
Malcolm Canmore	1093	Tynemouth, then moved to Dunfermline Abbey ^[8]
Donald III	after 1097	Iona Abbey
Duncan II	1094	Dunfermline Abbey
Edgar	1107
Alexander I	1124
David I	1153
Malcolm IV	1165
William I	1214	Arbroath Abbey ^[9]
Alexander II	1249	Melrose Abbey ^[10]
Alexander III	1286	Dunfermline Abbey
Margaret, Maid of Norway	1290	Christ's Kirk, Bergen
John Balliol	1313	France?^[11]
Robert the Bruce	1329	Body interred at Dunfermline Abbey His heart was removed, taken on Crusade, then buried at Melrose Abbey
David II	1371	Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh
Robert II	1390	Scone Abbey ^[12]
Robert III	1406	Paisley Abbey
James I	1437	Perth Charterhouse, Perth
James II	1460	Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh
James III	1488	Cambuskenneth Abbey ^[13]
James IV	1513	Probably displayed at Monastery of Sheen, London Afterwards unknown^[14]
James V	1542	Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh
Mary I	1587	Peterborough Cathedral (1588–1612) then Westminster Abbey

Native princes of Wales (to 1283)

Name	Death	Place of burial
Owain Gwynedd	1170	Bangor Cathedral
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (prince of north Wales only)	1203	England?
The Lord Rhys (prince of south Wales only)	1197	St. David's Cathedral
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth	1240	Body interred at Aberconwy Abbey Later (apparently) removed to Maenan Abbey; sarcophagus now found at parish church of Llanrwst
Dafydd ap Llywelyn	1246	Body interred at Aberconwy Abbey; current whereabouts unknown
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd	1282	Cwmhir Abbey
Dafydd ap Gruffudd	1283	Hanged, drawn and quartered at Shrewsbury

Monarchs since 1603

(of England, and Scotland (1603–1707); of Great Britain (1707–1801); of United Kingdom (1801–present))

Name	Death	Place of burial	Image
James VI and I	1625	Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[5]
Charles I	1649	St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

Interregnum. As Lords Protector the Cromwells served as heads of state and exercised monarchical power

Name	Death	Place of burial	Image
Oliver Cromwell (Protector)	1658	Tyburn, London. Moved from Westminster Abbey in 1660 and dumped in a pit after posthumous execution. Reputed head buried at Sidney Sussex College in 1960.
Richard Cromwell (Protector)	1712	All Saints Church, Hursley, Hampshire

Restored monarchy

Name	Death	Place of burial
Charles II	1685	Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[5]
James II and VII	1701	Chapel of St Edmund, Church of the English Benedictines, Rue St. Jacques, Paris (lost at the French Revolution)^[15]
Mary II	1694	Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[5]
William III and II	1702
Anne	1714
George I	1727	Chapel of Leine Castle in Hanover, Germany; moved from the crypt to the Welfenmausoleum [ de ] at Herrenhausen on 5 December 1957.^[16]^[17] He was the last British monarch buried outside of the British Isles.
George II	1760	Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey ^[5]
George III	1820	St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
George IV	1830
William IV	1837
Victoria	1901	Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor
Edward VII	1910	St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
George V	1936	St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Edward VIII	1972	Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, Windsor
George VI	1952	King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Elizabeth II	2022

Jacobite pretenders

Name	Death	Place of burial	Image
James Stuart ("Old Pretender") Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") Henry Benedict Stuart	1766 1788 1807	St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican (see also Monument to the Royal Stuarts)

Other Royal burials (by place)

Name	Cemetery image	Person interred	Grave image
York Minster		William of Hatfield (1337)
Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum, Frogmore		Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent (1861)
Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore		Prince Albert (1861)
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle		Elizabeth Woodville (1492) Jane Seymour (1537) Princess Amelia (1810) Princess Augusta, Dowager Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1813) Princess Charlotte (1817) Queen Charlotte (1818) Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1820) Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1827) Princess Augusta (1840) Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (1849) Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1884) Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence (1892) Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge (1897) Prince Francis, Duke of Teck (1900) Alexandra of Denmark (1925) Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (re-interred 1930) Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge (re-interred 1930) Mary of Teck (1953) Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (ashes 2002) Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (2002) Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (2021)
Royal burial ground, Frogmore		Princess Helena Prince Arthur of Connaught Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll Prince William of Gloucester (1972) Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Prince George, Duke of Kent Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (1968) Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (1986) Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone The Earl of Athlone Viscount Trematon Lady May Abel Smith Sir Henry Abel Smith Sir Angus Ogilvy
St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar		Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife (1912) Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife (1959, ashes) The Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife (1931) Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1943)
Althorp		Diana, Princess of Wales (1997)
Westminster Abbey		Edith of Wessex (1079) Matilda of Scotland (1118) Eleanor of Castile Philippa of Hainault Anne of Bohemia Catherine of Valois Anne Neville (1485) Elizabeth of York Anne of Cleves (1557) Anne of Denmark (1619) Elizabeth of Bohemia (1662) Prince George of Denmark (1708) Caroline of Ansbach (1737) ^[18]
Peterborough Cathedral		Catherine of Aragon (1536)
St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London		Anne Boleyn (1536) Catherine Howard (1542) Lady Jane Grey (1554) Guildford Dudley (1554)
Sudeley Castle		Catherine Parr (1548)
St Mildred's Church, Whippingham, Isle of Wight		Princess Beatrice (1944) and Prince Henry of Battenberg (1896)
St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, Norfolk		Prince John (1919)
Vadstena Abbey, Sweden		Queen Philippa of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (1430)
The Royal Cemetery, Solna, Sweden		Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden (1922)
Ypres Town Cemetery and Extension, Ypres, Belgium.		Prince Maurice of Battenberg (1914)
Brunswick Cathedral, Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany.		Caroline of Brunswick (1821)
Convent of the Visitations, Chaillot, near Paris		Mary of Modena (1718)
Monastery of São Vicente de Fora (Pantheon of the House of Braganza), Lisbon, Portugal		Catherine of Braganza (1705/6)
Basilica of St Denis, Paris, France		Francis II of France (husband of Mary Queen of Scots) (1560) Henrietta Maria of France (1669)
El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain		Philip II of Spain (widower of Mary I of England) (1598)
Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland		Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1567)
Church of St John, Mirow, Germany		Princess Augusta of Cambridge (1916)

Sources

Burial Places of the Kings & Queens of Britain britannia.com (Accessed 20 June 2007 – NB contains errors)

References and notes

↑ "A search for bones of Henry I is planned in Reading". BBC News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
↑ Westminster Abbey Website (accessed 30 April 2015)
↑ Westminster Abbey Website (accessed 30 April 2015)
↑ Burns, John F. (26 March 2015). "Richard III Gets a Kingly Burial, on Second Try". The New York Times.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Abbey Tour - The Lady Chapel Westminster Abbey website (accessed 20 June 2007)
1 2 Eochaid & Giric Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ Ross, David R (2003). Passion for Scotland. Dundurn. p. 37. ISBN 1842820192.
↑ Malcolm III Canmore Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ William I Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ Alexander II Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ John Balliol Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ Robert II Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ James III Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ James IVUndiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)
↑ See main article on James: Miller, 240; Waller, 401; MacLeod, 349. MacLeod and Waller say all of James's remains were lost in the French Revolution. The English Illustrated Magazine 's article on St. Germain from September 1903 says parts of his bowel interred at the parish church of St. Germain-en-Laye were rediscovered in 1824 and reburied. Hilliam, 205. Hilliam disputes that his remains were either scattered or lost, stating that when revolutionaries broke into the church, they were amazed at the body's preservation and it was put on public exhibition where miracles were said to have happened. Hilliam states that the body was then kept "above ground" until George IV heard about it and ordered the body buried in the parish church of St Germain-en-Laye in 1824.
↑ Helmut Knocke and Hugo Thielen (2007). Mausoleum, in Dirk Böttcher, Klaus Mlynek (Eds.) Hannover Kunst- und Kultur-Lexikon. Handbuch und Stadtführer. Springe: zu Klampen Verlag. ISBN 978-3-934920-53-8 (p.92)
↑ Weir, Alison (1996). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition. Random House. pp. 272–276. ISBN 0-7126-7448-9.
↑ Westminster Abbey Website (Accessed 1 December 2014)

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[1] "A search for bones of Henry I is planned in Reading". BBC News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.

[2] Westminster Abbey Website (accessed 30 April 2015)

[westminster-abbey.org-3] Westminster Abbey Website (accessed 30 April 2015)

[burns2015-4] Burns, John F. (26 March 2015). "Richard III Gets a Kingly Burial, on Second Try". The New York Times.

[The_Lady_Chapel'_2007-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Abbey Tour - The Lady Chapel Westminster Abbey website (accessed 20 June 2007)

[undiscoveredscotland.co.uk-6] 1 2 Eochaid & Giric Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[7] Ross, David R (2003). Passion for Scotland. Dundurn. p. 37. ISBN 1842820192.

[8] Malcolm III Canmore Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[9] William I Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[10] Alexander II Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[11] John Balliol Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[12] Robert II Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[13] James III Undiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[14] James IVUndiscovered Scotland (accessed 20 June 2007)

[15] See main article on James: Miller, 240; Waller, 401; MacLeod, 349. MacLeod and Waller say all of James's remains were lost in the French Revolution. The English Illustrated Magazine 's article on St. Germain from September 1903 says parts of his bowel interred at the parish church of St. Germain-en-Laye were rediscovered in 1824 and reburied. Hilliam, 205. Hilliam disputes that his remains were either scattered or lost, stating that when revolutionaries broke into the church, they were amazed at the body's preservation and it was put on public exhibition where miracles were said to have happened. Hilliam states that the body was then kept "above ground" until George IV heard about it and ordered the body buried in the parish church of St Germain-en-Laye in 1824.

[16] Helmut Knocke and Hugo Thielen (2007). Mausoleum, in Dirk Böttcher, Klaus Mlynek (Eds.) Hannover Kunst- und Kultur-Lexikon. Handbuch und Stadtführer. Springe: zu Klampen Verlag. ISBN 978-3-934920-53-8 (p.92)

[weir-17] Weir, Alison (1996). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition. Random House. pp. 272–276. ISBN 0-7126-7448-9.

[18] Westminster Abbey Website (Accessed 1 December 2014)

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