Why is Edward I ("Longshanks") called Edward I when there were kings called Edward before him?

Question

Eg Edward the Confessor.

Also, is it true Prince Charles will be King George VIII instead of King Charles III when he becomes king? I heard this a long time ago but have heard nothing recently.

Answer 1

As regal post-nominal numbers were a Norman (as opposed to English) custom, Edward Longshanks is known as Edward I.

Answer 2

Edward The Longshanks, also as "Edward the Lawgiver" or "the English Justinian" because of his legal reforms, and as "Hammer of the Scots", was known as Edward I of England. As regnal post-nominal numbers were a Norman (as opposed to English) custom, Edward Longshanks is known as Edward I, even though he is the fourth King Edward, following Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of...

If Prince Charles succeeds his mother as monarch and uses his first given name as his regnal name, he would become known as Charles III. However, Prince Charles has considered rejecting that style when he accedes to the throne, because of its associations with Britain's bloody past. The move away from Charles stems from its associations with Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 following the English Civil War, at the start of Oliver Cromwell's short-lived republic. The executed monarch's son, Charles II, spent 18 years in exile and returned to England in 1660 but was nicknamed "The Merry Monarch" because of his string of mistresses.

Charles III is partially associated with the Catholic Jacobite pretender, Charles Edward Stuart (called Bonnie Prince Charlie), an enduring Scottish romantic figure, who claimed the throne as that style in the 18th century. The move would not be a first - three of the past six British monarchs, Victoria, Edward VII, and George VI, chose a regnal name different from their first given name. The most discussed alternative style has been "George VII", in honour of Charles's grandfather.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_char...

Answer 3

All Regnal numbers restarted in 1066 after the Norman conquest, therefore Edward was the first Edward since William I.

Prince Charles has said he'd rather reign as George VII (not VIII) then Charles III, As George is one of his middle names he can.

Answer 4

Edward I was the first Norman King named Edward. The previous Edwards predated the Norman invasion of 1066.