House of Rhodes

The House of Rhodes is the original and current of the Kingdom of Rhodesia. It was founded by King Francis I on 19 November 1649 by popular declaration at the Congress of Abbey because of the. The house is descended from the by way of Queen  through her  Francis Rhodes, who became King Francis I. The House of Rhodes has ruled continuously through the male descendant line of Francis I, with a total of ten monarchs of Rhodesia since the creation of the house.

Francis Rhodes was able to establish himself at the Congress of Abbey as a legitimate source of authority through his lineage in relation to Queen Elizabeth I. With most at the Congress fearing that Rhodesia would be marginalised by the Civil War back in England, the vast majority supported Rhodes' claim to be the inheritor of the Tudors, and as such, recognised his authority as a member of a royal bloodline. Thus, the Congress declared Francis Rhodes to be King Francis I, and the House of Rhodes was created by prerogative of this declaration.

Although the claim of the title of "King of Rhodesia" has never been disputed, and the bloodline of Francis Rhodes was legitimised by the Britannian government in 1814 through the Treaty of Abbey, the exact boundaries of Rhodesia have remained in controversial dispute since the same treaty aforementioned. Most nationalists and traditionalists in Rhodesia, represented in contemporary politics by the Royalist Party, claim that the lands of the realm extend to all of through the theory of Greater Rhodesia. This however, remains a marginalised claim, as the vast majority of Rhodesians recognise the of 1885 and the Peace of Salisbury of 1901 as having resolved this dispute. Nonetheless, the topic has remained popular for many nationalist, s.

The current Head of the House of Rhodesia is King Edward III, who ascended to the throne on 25 December 2004 following the death of his grandfather Edward II earlier that year.