The nine kings in Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII were photographed on May 20, 1910.
Standing from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarve, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Prussia, King George I of Greece, and King Albert I of Belgium.
Seated from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of the United Kingdom, and King Frederick VIII of Denmark.
Among the nine kings in the photo, four were deposed and one was assassinated. Within five years, Britain and Belgium were engaged in fierce wars with Germany and Bulgaria. Today, five of the nine monarchies still exist: Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Belgium. Interestingly, the four monarchies that did not survive into the 20th century (Bulgaria, Portugal, Germany, and Greece) were all represented together in this photo. It would not be possible to capture a photo of nine reigning European monarchs today, as there are only seven remaining monarchies, two of which are currently headed by reigning queens.
The colorized version of the original photograph was done by Marina Amaral.
Information
Edward VII was the son of Queen Victoria and the first monarch from the House of Saxe-Coburg. His son, King George V, later renamed the family to the House of Windsor. Before ascending to the throne, Edward VII held the position of Prince of Wales and heir apparent for a longer period than his predecessors.
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