# Greatest Number of Kings and Queens in One Place? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686 "2014-01-02T07:25:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/1 "2014-01-02T07:25:19Z")
Maybe the funeral of Queen Victoria? Maybe it ought to include emperors and tsars and others: noble monarchs, crowned heads of state, etc. What’s the most number of them who were ever in one place and time? There may not be any real solid single answer, but… I was curious. (“Last night at the poker table” is good, but…y’know, real people.) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/2 "2014-01-02T08:23:45Z")
Hard to find the “biggest” gathering so we might as well list them down. How come I didn’t read about this? May 2012, 24 kings and then some: [Diamond Jubilee: Procession of Queens and Princesses join Her Majesty at biggest gathering of royalty since her Coronation | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2146673/Diamond-Jubilee-Procession-Queens-Princesses-join-Her-Majesty-biggest-gathering-royalty-Coronation.html) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/3 "2014-01-02T08:43:04Z")
May 1910, where you expect a lot of crowned heads before they lose theirs in The Great War. I counted only 9 Kings but lots of princes and grand dukes (along with their queens, princesses, and duchesses.) [Death and state funeral of Edward VII - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_of_Edward_VII) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/4 "2014-01-02T08:48:09Z")
Wow! The first link says that Queen Elizabeth the Second’s diamond jubilee had more royals than at any time since her coronation; that sort of implies the coronation was an even larger event in this regard. Wow! (I Googled, but didn’t get anything useful. Are there places that teach how to Google effectively?) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/5 "2014-01-02T09:52:16Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Wow! The first link says that Queen Elizabeth the Second’s diamond jubilee had more royals than at any time since her coronation; that sort of implies the coronation was an even larger event in this regard. Wow! There would have been more members of royal families, but monarchs generally don’t attend each others’ coronations. There were a few kings or queens at Elizabeth II’s coronation, but they were all of British protectorates like Tonga. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/6 "2014-01-02T10:16:11Z")
This undoubtedly has been mentioned before, but I just noticed it (above post), and feel obligated: Nice username/post combo. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/7 "2014-01-02T10:26:26Z")
The OP is not well-defined. Do you mean monarchs or people with royal titles? Or perhaps monarchs plus their consorts? And if you mean people with royal titles, specify which titles. And do claimants to a throne count or do they have to be actually in office? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/8 "2014-01-02T12:43:07Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The OP is not well-defined. Do you mean monarchs or people with royal titles? Or perhaps monarchs plus their consorts? And if you mean people with royal titles, specify which titles. And do claimants to a throne count or do they have to be actually in office? I would like a list for each of the above criteria please. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/9 "2014-01-02T12:53:46Z")
I vaguely recall reading about a trip of some British monarch to India during the Raj, which was a big deal, and there was an event which pretty much all Indian royalty attended, but I can’t seem to find any details on Google, so I don’t know if my memory is accurate. > [@dtilque](#): > > The OP is not well-defined. Do you mean monarchs or people with royal titles? Or perhaps monarchs plus their consorts? And if you mean people with royal titles, specify which titles. And do claimants to a throne count or do they have to be actually in office? Do you actually know anything about the topic at hand? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/10 "2014-01-02T13:26:21Z")
The list of crowned heads who were present at Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee seems a little spurious. It included the Kings of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Yugoslavia - none of whom are recognized in their own country. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/11 "2014-01-02T18:13:09Z")
My guess would be there must have been a gathering at some point when there was much more fractionalization, a la the Holy Roman Empire, where you could conceivably have 20 regents within a few hundred miles because there was no _Germany_, just a king of Bavaria, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/12 "2014-01-02T18:41:31Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The OP is not well-defined. Do you mean monarchs or people with royal titles? Or perhaps monarchs plus their consorts? And if you mean people with royal titles, specify which titles. And do claimants to a throne count or do they have to be actually in office? > [@bob\_2](#): > > I would like a list for each of the above criteria please. Grin! Exactly! As I said at the outset, there may be no single real answer. I was hoping for something helpful and plausible – “Why, the Congress of Vienna had seventeen” – but, sure, obviously, what are the definitions? My Venn Diagram maker doesn’t have that degree of resolution. I was aiming for “heads of state” – head honchos and big cheeses – who were more hereditary than elected – thus emperors and tsars are good – and who would have been recognized as “royal” or “noble” or “monarchic” by most of the others in the group, preferably by the biggies: England, Russia, France (when they had Kings) etc. I was told there were some at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, but can’t seem to Google a meaningful list. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/13 "2014-01-02T19:17:31Z")
> [@BrightNShiny](#): > > I vaguely recall reading about a trip of some British monarch to India during the Raj, which was a big deal, and there was an event which pretty much all Indian royalty attended, but I can’t seem to find any details on Google, so I don’t know if my memory is accurate. The [Delhi Durbar of 1911](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi_Durbar#Durbar_of_1911), at which George V was crowned emperor of India. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/14 "2014-01-03T00:26:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The [Delhi Durbar of 1911](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi_Durbar#Durbar_of_1911), at which George V was crowned emperor of India. Thanks! That’s what I was thinking of. So, there were approx. 562 princely states in the British Raj. If most of the Indian royalty attended, then we could be looking at 500+ monarchs gathered in one place. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/15 "2014-01-03T00:31:43Z")
That’s cool! And it shows my foolish Eurocentrism: I wouldn’t have thought to include Indian Royalty. The fault is definitely not in my stars but in myself, that I am a chauvinist. I will include this event in my list of nominations for the event best fitting my question. Thank you, not only for the answer, but for helping expand my limited horizons. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/16 "2014-01-03T00:41:32Z")
I imagine that when Elizabeth II passes, the funeral will involve an impressive collection of world leaders, perhaps more than was present for Mandela’s funeral. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/17 "2014-01-03T00:53:19Z")
It can’t compare to the Indian conference, but three famous events in Western Civ immediately occurred to me: **The Congress of Vienna** – (1814-1815) attended by a stack of ambassadors and monarchs > **[Congress of Vienna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Congress_of_Vienna)** > > The Congress of Vienna\[a\] of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Participants were representatives of all European powers (other than the Ottoman Empire)\[b\] and other stakeholders. The Congress was chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and was held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815. > The o... **The Congress at Baden Baden** – convened by Napoleon > [@](#): > > His Royal Highness the princess of Prussia and her Royal Highness the Princess of Prussia, the Grand Duke Grand Duchess of Baden, His Majesty the King of Bavaria, His Majesty the King of Bavaria, His Majesty, the King saxony,His Majesty the King of Hanover, his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse Darmstadt, his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of saxe Weimar, his Royal Highness the Duke of Nassau, his Royal Highnesses the Duke of Saxe Coburg, their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Hohenzollern, her Royal Highness the Princess Mary, Duchess of Hamilton, and their Highness the Prince and Princess of Furstemberg." > **[THE CONGRESS OF SOVEREIGNS.; The Conference at Baden Intentions of Napoleon....](https://www.nytimes.com/1860/07/02/archives/the-congress-of-sovereigns-the-conference-at-baden-intentions-of.html)** **Edgar, King of England, Rowed by eight under-kings at his coronation on the river DEE in 973** > **[Edgar, King of England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_of_England)** > > Edgar (or Eadgar; c. 944  – 8 July 975) was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975, known sometimes as Edgar the Peacemaker or Edgar the Peaceable. He became king of all England on his brother's death. He was the younger son of King Edmund I and his first wife Ælfgifu. A detailed account of Edgar's reign is not possible, because only a few events were recorded by chroniclers and monastic writers were more interested in recording the activities of the leaders of the church.\[citat... There’s a picture, too: [File:A Chronicle of England - Page 069 - The Barge of Edgar Manned by Eight Kings on the Dee.jpg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Chronicle_of_England_-_Page_069_-_The_Barge_of_Edgar_Manned_by_Eight_Kings_on_the_Dee.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/18 "2014-01-03T01:43:50Z")
> [@BrightNShiny](#): > > Thanks! That’s what I was thinking of. So, there were approx. 562 princely states in the British Raj. If most of the Indian royalty attended, then we could be looking at 500+ monarchs gathered in one place. Those 500+ maharajah automatically lost their kingly and autonomous status by recognizing an overloard. Allow me to present a more definitive contender: > **[International Kings and Sultans Gather in Malang](https://en.tempo.co//en.tempo.co/read/490330/international-kings-and-sultans-gather-in-malang)** > > The third Royal Gathering was held in Malang to promote fraternity and world peace. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/19 "2014-01-03T01:50:05Z")
But Russia and the Philippines are not monarchies, and the only other monarchs were from Thailand and Malaysia. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686/20 "2014-01-03T01:57:42Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Those 500+ maharajah automatically lost their kingly and autonomous status by recognizing an overloard. Says who? You? I seriously doubt you’ve done even five minutes of research into the legal status of these kingdoms, so spare me the lectures. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-number-of-kings-and-queens-in-one-place/677686.md?page=2)