Moments in Royal History: January 22

1689 – The Convention Parliament of England convenes to determine the legal and constitutional status of James VII and II

James VII of Scotland and II of England and Ireland

     During the previous year, the Dutch Protestant prince, William of Orange had successfully invaded Britain upon the invitation of members of the political establishment, who wanted to be rid of King James, a Roman Catholic. James fled the country in December as Britain's last Catholic monarch, and now the Convention was assembled to determine if he had abdicated - and therefore left vacant - the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. He if did, then it would be up to the Convention to decide on an successor to James in England and Ireland. The gathering was called a Convention because only a monarch can call a Parliament, and it was therefore considered by some to be unlawful.

1901 – Queen Victoria dies at Osborne and Edward VII is proclaimed King

Queen Victoria

     After over 63 years on the throne, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India - a woman who reigned over an empire upon which the sun never set, and for whom an era had been named - passed away on this day in 1901 at the age of 81. Among those at her deathbed were her eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany - her eldest grandchild, and two generations of her family. She died at Osborne House, the summer home that had been built for her and Prince Albert on the Isle of Wight, which Albert himself had designed. Following his death in 1861, it became the Queen's annual Christmas retreat, and it was there that she lived out her final days. 

     With her passing, she was last British monarch of the House of Hanover, which had reigned in Britain since 1714. Victoria was also the longest-lived of any British sovereign until Elizabeth II in 2007, and remains the longest-reigning monarch in Britain's history.

Edward VII

     Her son, the Prince of Wales, succeeded to the throne on the same day. At his Accession Council, he announced that he would be known as Edward VII, which went against the wishes of the late Queen, who desired for him to use both of his names upon becoming King. However, Edward did not want to diminish the status of his father, Prince Albert, and resolved that his "name should stand alone." Furthermore, Edward did not like the double name and their was no precedence of a British monarch using them as a reigning name. 

     In addition to being monarch of the UK and Emperor of India, he was also proclaimed King of the British Dominions Beyond the Seas.