List of shortest-reigning monarchs
Name Country Royal house/dynasty Reign began Reign ended Length Comments
King Jeonggang Silla ( Korea ) Kim July 886 5 July 887 ≈1 year After his death , his sister Man succeeded to the throne because he had no sons . She was named Queen Jinseong and was the last queen in Korean history
King Chang of Goryeo Goryeo ( Korea ) Wang 1388 1389 ≈1 year When was in his reign , the general Yi Seong-gye took the throne as regent because he was only 7 years old when took the throne . He died on his first year of reign by being assassinated together with his father King U of Goryeo
Empress Lý Chiêu Hoàng Vietnam Lý October 1224 21 October 1225 ≈1 year Succeeded to the throne through the suicide of her father Lý Huệ Tông . Renounced her claim on the throne in favour of her husband Trần Thái Tông , founder of the Trần Dynasty
Emperor Hồ Quý Ly Vietnam Hồ February 1400 c. 1400-1401 ≈1 year Hồ Quý Ly succeeded to the throne after persuading emperor Trần Thuận Tông to relinquish power to a three-year-old prince named An . Trần Thuận Tông was then executed and the throne was seized from An . Hồ Quý Ly renounced the throne in favor of his son Hồ Hán Thương
Tsar False Dmitry I All Russia 10 June 1606 17 May 1607 11 months , 7 days Claimed to be the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible , tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich . He was killed by the boyars
Emperor Hàm Nghi Vietnam Nguyễn 1 August 1884 4 July 1885 11 months , 3 days Captured during the Mandarins ' Revolt and the French replaced him with Đồng Khánh
King Fuad II of Egypt Egypt and The Sudan Muhammad Ali 26 July 1952 18 June 1953 10 months , 23 days Succeeded with the abdication of his father , Farouk , following the Egyptian revolution of 1952 . Never exercised real power over his country , as he was an infant and had been exiled with his father . His reign formally ended when Egypt was declared a republic
King Edward VIII United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , and British dominions Windsor 20 January 1936 11 December 1936 10 months , 22 days Abdicated in favour of his brother , George VI , to avoid a constitutional crisis
King Narawara Myanmar Toungoo 14 April 1672 27 February 1673 10 months , 13 days ( 319 days ) Died of natural causes
Louise Hippolyte , Sovereign Princess of Monaco Principality of Monaco Grimaldi 20 February 1731 29 December 1731 10 months , 9 days Died of smallpox
Emperor Agustín I Mexican Empire Iturbide 19 May 1822 19 March 1823 10 months Agustín I was proclaimed emperor by the Parliament of the newly independent Mexican Empire , but later deposed by Republican forces , leading to the foundation of the First Mexican Republic . His grandsons were later adopted by Mexico 's second Emperor Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg in the 1860s
King Lokissara Polonnaruwa 1211 1211 ≈9 months Leader of a Tamil army and usurper of the Sinhala throne
Emperor Leo II Byzantine Empire Leonid Dynasty 18 January 474 17 November 474 9 months , 30 days Appointed co-emperor by his grandfather Leo I on 18 November 473 , before ascending the throne upon Leo I 's death . As he was still a child , his father Zeno was made co-emperor on 9 February 474 . Died soon after and was succeeded by Zeno
Tsar Dmitriy I Russia Rurik ( impostor ) 21 July 1605 17 May 1606 9 months , 27 days An impostor , Dmitriy took the throne of Russia upon the death of Boris Godunov . He was killed during an assault on the Kremlin
King Christian II Sweden Oldenburg 1 November 1520 23 August 1521 9 months , 22 days After conquering Sweden in the spring and summer of 1520 , King Christian II of Denmark and Norway entered the defeated Swedish capital of Stockholm on 7 September 1520 . On 1 November he was elected and on 4 November he was crowned king of Sweden . On 23 August 1521 , he was officially deposed , when Gustav Vasa was elected regent of Sweden at a meeting in Vadstena
King Harold II Kingdom of England Wessex 5 January 1066 14 October 1066 9 months , 9 days Killed at the Battle of Hastings by Norman forces
Naruhito Japan Yamato 1 May 2019 Incumbent 9 months and 2 days Currently reigning
Maharajah Manava Gauda , Bengal Shashanka 625 626 ≈8 months After the death of Shashanka and his brief reign , Gauda was conquered by an alliance of Harshavardhana and Bhaskaravarman
Emir Habibullah Ghazi Afghanistan 17 January 1929 13 October 1929 8 months , 26 days Habibullah Ghazi succeeded Inayatullah Khan Seraj , who had abdicated in his favour after just three days . Habibullah Ghazi 's reign soon ended when he was deposed and executed by Mohammed Nadir Shah
Emperor Le Nghi Dan Vietnam Lê 28 October 1459 24 June 1460 8 months , 25 days Succeeded to the throne by leading a revolt against and killing his younger brother Lê Nhân Tông . Nghi Dan 's reign ended in another revolution in which he was killed and replaced by his younger brother Lê Thánh Tông
Less than a year
Currently reigning
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy, usually reigning for life, or until abdication or deposition. The reign of some monarchs has been notably short. Many of these monarchs acceded to the throne as a result of being first in an order of succession, while other monarchs claimed the throne as a result of some conflict. The authenticity of some monarchs has been disputed, especially those who reigned during conflict. One factor in such debates is whether the monarch held the throne in a symbolic or nominal capacity. Two examples are