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{{Short description|Title in British constitutional law}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2010}}
[[File:Standard of Oliver Cromwell (1653–1659).svg|thumb|250px|Standard of Lord Protector [[Oliver Cromwell]]]]
'''Lord Protector''' ([[plural]]: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in [[United Kingdom constitutional law|British constitutional law]] for the [[head of state]]. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the [[established church]]. It was sometimes used to refer to holders of other temporary posts; for example, a [[regent]] acting for the absent monarch.

==Feudal royal regent==
The title ''Lord Protector'' was originally used by royal princes or other nobles exercising a role as protector and defender of the realm, while also sitting (typically as chairman) on a [[Regent|regency council]], governing for a monarch who was unable to do so (on account of minority, absence from the realm on [[Crusades|Crusade]], mental incapacity, etc.).

Notable cases in England:
* [[John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford]], and [[Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester]], were (5 December 1422 – 6 November 1429) jointly Lords Protector for [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] (1421–1471);
* [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York|Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York]], was three times (3 April 1454 – February 1455; 19 November 1455 – 25 February 1456; and [[Act of Accord|31 October]] – [[Battle of Wakefield|30 December 1460]]) Lord Protector for Henry VI;
* [[Richard III of England|Richard, Duke of Gloucester]], was "Lord Protector of the Realm" (10 May 1483 – 26 June 1483) during the nominal reign of [[Edward V of England|Edward V]] (one of the [[Princes in the Tower]]) before being offered the throne as [[Richard III of England|Richard III]];
* [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Edward Seymour]], [[Duke of Somerset]], was Lord Protector (4 February 1547 – 11 October 1549) during the early years of the reign of the young [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]];
and in Scotland:
* [[John Stewart, Duke of Albany]], was "Governor and Protector of the Realm" (12 July 1515 – 16 November 1524) for [[James V of Scotland]] (1512–1542);
* [[James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault]], was "Governor and Protector of the Kingdom" (3 January 1543 – 12 April 1554) for [[Mary, Queen of Scots]].

==Cromwellian Commonwealth==
{{Infobox official post
| post = Lord Protector
| body = England, Scotland and Ireland
| insignia = Coat of Arms of the Protectorate (1653–1659).svg
| insigniasize = 120px
| insigniacaption = '''[[Coat of arms of England|Coat of arms]]'''
| image = Richard Cromwell (1626-1712), by Gerard Soest.jpg
| imagesize = 120px
| imagecaption = '''Last holder:'''<br>[[Richard Cromwell]]<br>(3 September 1658 – 25 May 1659)
| style = [[Highness|His Highness]]
| residence = [[Palace of Whitehall]]
| appointer = [[Order of succession|Elective]]
| appointer_qualified = 
| precursor = 
| formation = 16 December 1653
| first = [[Oliver Cromwell]]
| last = [[Richard Cromwell]]
| abolished = 25 May 1659
| succession = 
| salary = 
}}
The '''Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland''' was the title of the [[head of state]] and [[head of government]] during the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]]<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Instrument of Government |volume=14 |pages=655–656 |first=Arthur William |last=Holland}}</ref> (often called the [[Interregnum (England)|Interregnum]]), following the first period when a [[English Council of State|Council of State]] held executive power. The title was held by [[Oliver Cromwell]]<ref name=EB1911/><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Cromwell Museum - Lord Protector {{!}} Cromwell |url=https://www.cromwellmuseum.org/cromwell/cromwell-the-man/lord-protector |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=www.cromwellmuseum.org |language=en-GB}}</ref> (December 1653 – September 1658) and subsequently his son and designated successor [[Richard Cromwell]] (September 1658 – May 1659) during what is now known as [[The Protectorate]].

The 1653 [[Instrument of Government]] (republican constitution) stated:
{{quote|Oliver Cromwell, [[Captain general#Commander-in-Chief of the Forces|Captain-General of the forces]] of England, Scotland and Ireland, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging, for his life.}}
The replacement constitution of 1657, the [[Humble Petition and Advice]],<ref name=EB1911/> gave "His Highness the Lord Protector" the power to nominate his successor. Cromwell chose his eldest surviving son, the politically inexperienced Richard. That was a non-representative and ''[[de facto]]'' dynastic mode of succession, with royal connotations in both styles awarded (even a double invocation 16 December 1653 – 3 September 1658 "[[By the Grace of God]] and Republic Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland") and many other monarchic prerogatives, such as that of awarding knighthoods.

Richard Cromwell, who succeeded after his father's death in September 1658, held the position for only eight months before he resigned in May 1659. He was followed by the second period of Commonwealth rule until the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] of the exiled heir to the Stuart throne, [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], in May 1660.

===Lords Protector (1653–1659)===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Lord Protector
! Lifespan
! Term began
! Term ended
|-
| [[File:Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper.jpg|80px]]<br/>'''[[Oliver Cromwell]]'''<br/>
| {{Birth date|df=yes|1599|4|25}} –<br/>{{Death date and age|df=yes|1658|9|3|1599|4|25}}
| 16 December 1653
| 3 September 1658 {{Small|(Died)}}
|-
| [[File:Richard Cromwell (1626-1712), by Gerard Soest.jpg|80px]]<br/>'''[[Richard Cromwell]]'''<br/>
| {{Birth date|df=yes|1626|10|4}} –<br/>{{Death date and age|df=yes|1712|7|12|1626|10|4}}
| 3 September 1658
| 25 May 1659 {{Small|(Resigned)}}
|}

==Post-Cromwell==
Since the Restoration the title has not been used in either of the above manners. [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George, Prince of Wales]], appointed to the regency in 1811, was referred to as "His Royal Highness the [[Prince Regent]]". George exercised the powers of the monarchy, just as Lords Protector had, but the title's republican associations had rendered it distasteful.{{cn|date=November 2025}}{{or|date=November 2025}}

== Protector of the church ==
'Lord Protector' has also been used as a rendering of Latin ''Advocatus'' in the sense of a temporal Lord (such as a monarch) who acted as the protector of the mainly secular interests of a part of the church; compare the French title of ''[[vidame]]''.

==In fiction==

In the novel ''[[The Last Man]]'' by [[Mary Shelley]], Britain becomes a republic with its elected head of state styled as Lord Protector. The title is held by Lord Raymond, and Ryland. In the 1987 television series ''[[The New Statesman (1987 TV series)|The New Statesman]]''<nowiki/>'s finale episode, "The Irresistible Rise of Alan B'Stard", after B'Stard's New Patriotic Party wins a landslide majority in a special general election called over British membership of the [[European Economic Community]] but with himself not having contested a seat, he briefly considered adopting the title of Lord Protector before being permitted to serve as an extra-parliamentary [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]]. In [[The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian|the 2008 film adaptation]] of [[C. S. Lewis]]' children's novel ''[[Prince Caspian]]'', the antagonist Miraz begins as Lord Protector of Narnia before being proclaimed King (a change from the novel). In the 2020 film ''[[Wolfwalkers]]'' the Lord Protector serves as its primary antagonist.{{fact|date=May 2024}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/United_Kingdom.html United Kingdom] at WorldStatesmen.org
{{Kingdom of England}}

[[Category:Heads of state of England]]
[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:Lords Protector of England]]
[[Category:Republicanism in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Stuart England]]
[[Category:Interregnum (England)]]