The question “Who was the last King of Scotland?” seems to invite a simple, one-word answer. However, the truth is a fascinating tale of political union, dynastic change, and the subtle distinction between a “King of Scotland” and a “King in Scotland.” The answer isn’t found in the 20th or even the 19th century, but in the early 18th, with a monarch whose reign ended in tragedy and whose departure from the throne fundamentally altered the course of British history.
The last undisputed, sovereign monarch to be crowned as the King of Scotland was James VII of Scotland (also known as James II of England). His tumultuous reign, which began in 1685, ended in 1688 when he was deposed in the “Glorious Revolution” due to his Roman Catholic faith and autocratic tendencies. He fled to exile in France, but his abdication was never formally accepted by the Scottish Parliament, creating a constitutional crisis that would lead to the last chapter of the Scottish monarchy.
The Last Stewart Monarch: The Tragic Figure of James VII & II
James VII was a Stuart king, part of the dynasty that had ruled Scotland since 1371. His forced departure in 1688 created a power vacuum. The English Parliament offered the throne to his Protestant daughter, Mary II, and her husband, William of Orange, who ruled as William II of Scotland. However, the Scottish Parliament was initially more hesitant, engaging in fierce debates about whether James had forfeited the crown or merely abandoned it. This legalistic argument was the last gasp of Scottish parliamentary sovereignty, ultimately resulting in William and Mary being offered the Crown of Scotland in 1689 under conditions that limited royal power.
But James VII and his descendants did not simply fade away. They became known as the Jacobites (from the Latin Jacobus, for James), and for the next half-century, they launched a series of rebellions aimed at reclaiming the thrones of Scotland and England. This movement set the stage for the man often romantically, though technically incorrectly, referred to as the “last King of Scotland”.
The “King Over the Water”: The Jacobite Claimants
After the death of James VII in 1701, the Jacobite claim passed to his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, known to history as the “Old Pretender.” He was proclaimed King James VIII of Scotland and III of England by his supporters. Although he never ruled from London or Edinburgh, he maintained a court in exile and was the figurehead for major uprisings, such as the failed Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
Upon his death in 1766, the claim passed to his charismatic and famous son, Charles Edward Stuart—Bonnie Prince Charlie, the “Young Pretender.” It was Charles who led the dramatic and ultimately catastrophic Jacobite Rising of 1745. He captured Edinburgh, won a stunning victory at Prestonpans, and marched his army deep into England before turning back and meeting final defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
For a brief, flickering moment during the ’45 Rising, Charles Edward Stuart was the de facto ruler of Scotland. His father was proclaimed king in absentia, and Charles ruled in his name. Had he succeeded, he would have undoubtedly become King Charles III of Scotland. But his defeat at Culloden, followed by his infamous flight back to the continent, crushed the Jacobite cause for good. He died a broken, alcoholic man in Rome in 1788, never having ascended the throne.
The Jacobite claim then passed to his younger brother, Henry Benedict Stuart, a Catholic cardinal known as the “Cardinal Duke of York.” With Henry’s death in 1807, the direct, legitimate Stuart line became extinct. There was no longer a realistic Stuart claimant to the Scottish throne.
The Legal End: The King of Great Britain
While the Jacobites fought for a Stewart restoration, the legal and political reality on the ground had changed irrevocably. In 1707, the Acts of Union between the Parliaments of Scotland and England came into effect, dissolving both legislatures and creating the new unified Parliament of Great Britain in London. This act created a new political entity: the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
Consequently, the monarchy was also unified. Queen Anne, the last monarch of England and the last monarch of Scotland, became the first sovereign of the new Great Britain in 1707. Therefore, she can accurately be called the last monarch to rule the independent kingdoms of Scotland and England.
When Anne died without an heir in 1714, the British crown passed to her closest Protestant relative, George I, Elector of Hanover, under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701. This began the Hanoverian dynasty.
So, who was the last King of Scotland? The answer depends on the definition:
- The Last Sovereign King of Scotland: Queen Anne (reigned 1702-1707). She was the last monarch to rule Scotland as a separate, independent kingdom before the Acts of Union created a single British throne.
- The Last King from the House of Stewart: James VII (reigned 1685-1688). He was the last reigning Scottish monarch from the ancient Stuart dynasty that had ruled Scotland for centuries.
- The Last Jacobite “King”: Henry Benedict Stuart (claimant 1788-1807). As the last direct descendant of James VII, he was the final Stuart to actively claim the separate Scottish crown, though he never attempted to press his claim by force.
The Modern Monarchy: A Scottish King of the United Kingdom
Today, the monarch is the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Scotland is an integral part of this union. The current monarch, King Charles III, is a direct descendant of the Hanoverians and, through his grandmother’s line, the Stuarts.
He is undoubtedly a king in Scotland—he was proclaimed as such at the historic Ceremony of the Proclamation in Edinburgh following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. He bears Scottish titles like the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland and participates deeply in Scottish national life. But he is not a separate “King of Scotland”; he is the British monarch who reigns over Scotland as part of his united kingdom.
Conclusion: A Legacy Etched in History
The title “King of Scotland” is not merely a name but a symbol of a nation’s sovereignty. Its end was not marked by a single event but by a process: the deposition of James VII, the failed romantic campaigns of the Jacobites, and the final political amalgamation of the Acts of Union.
The last true King of Scotland was Queen Anne, under whose reign the ancient Scottish Parliament voted itself out of existence. The story of the last king is therefore a story of evolution, not extinction. The Scottish crown was not destroyed but merged, its history and symbolism forever woven into the broader tapestry of the British monarchy. The legacy of the Scottish kings lives on in the nation’s culture, its heraldry, its legal system, and in the heart of a country that, while part of a union, retains a powerful and distinct identity forged over a thousand years of royal history.