The Top 10: Monarchs Who Reigned Twice

Ethelred, who wasn’t Unready; Haile Selassie; the last emperor of China; and seven more

Justinian II (right) on the reverse of a coin struck in his second reign (Classical Numismatic Group Inc)

When The Independent wrote recently about someone who “took the reigns” at a fashion company, I pointed out that the metaphor comes from horse riding – reins – not monarchies. Kings and queens don’t usually have more than one reign, I said. Chris Jones responded that this sounded like a call for nominations for a list of monarchs who reigned twice. So here they are.

1. Justinian II, Emperor of Byzantium, 685 to 695 and 705 to 711. Spot of bother with a rebellion in which his nose was cut off in between. Nominated by Stephen Date.

2. Ethelred II. King of the English 978–1013 and 1014–1016, with a Viking interruption (Sweyn Forkbeard) in between. “Unready” is a mistranslation of the Old English unræd, badly advised. Advised by Simon Cook and Patrick Whitten.

3. Henry IV parts I and II. Very droll, Anonymous.

4. Henry VI. King of England 1422-61 and 1470-71. And Edward IV, who alternated with him 1461-71 and 1471-83. The Wars of the Roses And All That. From Stephen Date, Graham Kirby, Steven Thomas and Andy Walsh.

5. Philip V of Spain. Abdicated 1724 in favour of his 16-year-old son Louis, who died of smallpox seven months later, when Philip reassumed the throne for another 22 years. Nominated by Chris Jones.

6. Puyi, last emperor of China, who reigned thrice. Emperor of China 1908-12, then for 13 days in 1917. Later King and then Emperor of Japanese puppet state Manchukuo (Manchuria, now part of China) 1932-45. Thanks to Jonathan Ford.

7. Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia. Regent from 1916, Emperor 1930 to 1936 and again from 1941 to 1974. During the interregnum, Ethiopia was ruled as a province of Italy by Emperor Victor Emanuel III, installed by Benito Mussolini. Proposed by Paul T Horgan.

8. Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, 1944-55. Abdicated in favour of his father and became prime minister, overthrown in 1970. Returned as king after the Khmer Rouge were overthrown by the Vietnamese and reigned again 1993-2004. Jonathan Ford again.

9. King Baudouin of the Belgians. As a Roman Catholic, abdicated for one day in 1990 to avoid signing an abortion law. Nominated by the Fact Compiler and Jonathan Law.

10. Abdul Halim V and XIV, Yang di-Pertuan Agong (king) of Malaysia 1970-75 and 2011-16, thanks to the country’s rotating monarchy. Spun by Alex Marklew.

We had Napoleon two weeks ago (Nicknames for Generals), who would have qualified, but thanks to Simon Landau and Elliot Kane who nominated him. There was also Louis XVIII who was out for the Hundred Days in 1815, but there wasn’t room for him. Simeon of Bulgaria was overthrown by the communists, and briefly came back as prime minister in a republic, as Luke pointed out. But that doesn’t count. And Grover Cleveland doesn’t count either.

Next week: Turncoats – multiple defectors such as Winston Churchill and Oswald Mosley

Coming soon: Best Opening Lyrics (this was how my Top 10s started, on Twitter, so there is a 140-character limit)

The e-book of Listellany: A Miscellany of Very British Top Tens, From Politics to Pop is just £3.79. Your suggestions, and ideas for future Top 10s, in the comments please, or to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk