Alternative successions of the English crown

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (November 2010)

This article may contain improper references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources, where they are used inappropriately. (November 2010)

The succession to the Crown of the United Kingdom is currently determined by the Act of Settlement 1701, which enacted that, should William III and Anne both die without issue (as, in the event, they did), the crown would be settled on Sophia of Hanover (a granddaughter of King James VI and I ) and her Protestant heirs. The Crown has passed according to this law ever since, save an amendment passed in 1936 that any descendants of Edward VIII would have no claim whatsoever to the Crown. History has rendered this amendment academic, as the abdicated King Edward VIII died without issue in 1972; if he had not abdicated and the amendment had not been passed, at that point his niece (the present Queen) would have succeeded anyway as Elizabeth II.

Concomitantly, British history provides several opportunities for alternative claimants to the Crown to arise, and historical scholars have on occasion traced to present times the heirs of those alternative claims (although such historical speculation necessarily assumes that all parties involved would still have married the same people and had the same children).

Throughout this article, the names of the historical monarchs appear in bold and the names of "would-have-been" monarchs are in italics.

Descendants of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence

This line’s claim to the Crown is based upon the argument that Edward IV was not sired by Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and thus had no legitimate claim to the Crown.^[1] Therefore, when Richard was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, his claim passed to his eldest legitimate son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Unfortunately, Edmund was captured at the same battle and executed either the same or next day. Edmund’s claim then passed to his eldest "legitimate" brother and heir presumptive, George, Duke of Clarence. Supporters of the Clarence claim also draw on the debated validity of Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, which allows them to argue that, even if Edward was legitimate, his children were not. Another point is that Henry VI passed a law in 1470, that should both he and his son Edward of Westminster die without further legitimate issue, the crown was to pass to Clarence, as Henry had placed an attainder upon Edward IV. When Henry was killed in 1471 (Prince Edward having died in battle shortly before), Clarence (who could claim descent from John of Gaunt, as could his wife Isabella Neville) became the legal heir to Henry VI and the House of Lancaster.^[2]

The current descendant of this line is Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun. His royal lineage is as follows:

1. Edward III of England
2. Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, third son (second son to survive infancy) of Edward III
3. Philippa Plantagenet, 5th Countess of Ulster, only child of Lionel
4. Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, first son of Philippa
5. Anne de Mortimer, first daughter, third line of Roger
6. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, only son of Anne
7. George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, third son (second "legitimate" son) of Richard
8. Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, second daughter, fourth line of George
9. Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, first son of Margaret
10. Catherine Hastings, first daughter, second line of Henry
11. George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon, second son of Catherine
12. Francis Hastings, first son of George
13. Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon, only son of Francis
14. Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon, oldest son of Henry
15. Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon, only son of Ferdinando
16. George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, first son of Theophilus
17. Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, second son of Theophilus
18. Elizabeth Rawdon, 16th Baroness Botreaux, only daughter, second line of Theophilus, 9th Earl
19. Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, first son of Elizabeth
20. George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, eldest legitimate son of Francis
21. Edith Rawdon-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun, first daughter, third line of George
22. Paulyn Francis Cuthbert Rawdon-Hastings, second son of Edith
23. Edith Maud Abney-Hastings, 12th Countess of Loudoun, first daughter, third line of Paulyn
24. Barbara Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of Loudoun, first daughter, second line of Edith
25. Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun, eldest son of Barbara

Note: The list of succession (right) excludes females from the crown. The precedent for female inheritance of the Crown would not have been set had George, Duke of Clarence inherited the crown. The principle that a woman could reign was only laid down by Henry VIII when he named Mary I as heir to the throne in 1525, and approved by Parliament by the First Succession Act which appointed Elizabeth I as heir.^{[citation needed]} This line does, however, maintain the precedent of the right of a male to inherit via female line set by the succession of Henry II after he reclaimed the usurped crown from his cousin Stephen.^{[citation needed]}

Descendants of Mary Tudor, Queen of France

Henry VIII’s Third Succession Act granted Henry the right to bequeath the Crown in his Will. His Will specified that, in default of heirs to his children, the throne was to pass to the heirs of his younger sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France, bypassing the line of his elder sister Margaret Tudor, represented by the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. Edward VI confirmed this by letters patent. The legitimate and legal heir of Elizabeth I was therefore Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven (the marriage of Lady Catherine Grey having been annulled, and her children declared illegitimate, by Elizabeth I).^[3]

Her succession, under this theory, follows:

1. Henry VII of England
2. Mary Tudor, Queen of France, third daughter, sixth line of Henry
3. Lady Eleanor Brandon, second daughter, third line of Mary
4. Lady Margaret Clifford, only daughter, third line of Eleanor
5. Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, first son of Margaret
6. Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven, first daughter, first line of Ferdinando
7. George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos, first son of Anne
8. Margaret Brydges, first daughter, first line of George
9. George Brydges Skipwith, first son of Margaret
10. Elizabeth Brownlow, first daughter, second line of Margaret
11. George Brownlow Doughty, first son of Elizabeth
12. Henry Doughty, only child of George
13. Henry Doughty, only son of Henry
14. Elizabeth Doughty, only daughter of Henry Snr

Since Lady Anne Stanley’s line is thought to have become extinct with the death of Elizabeth Doughty, the line then passes to the descendants of Lady Anne's sister, Lady Frances Stanley:

1. Lady Frances Stanley, second daughter, second line of Ferdinando
2. John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, first son of Frances
3. John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater, first son of John
4. Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, third son of John, 3rd Earl
5. Lady Anne Egerton, first daughter, fifth line of Scroop
6. George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, only child of Anne
7. George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, first son of George, 4th Earl
8. George Child Villiers, 6th Earl of Jersey, first son of George, 5th Earl
9. Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, only son of George, 6th Earl
10. George Child Villiers, 8th Earl of Jersey, first son of Victor
11. George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey, first son of George
12. Lady Caroline Child Villiers, only child of George's first marriage

Although the 9th Earl of Jersey had sons from a third marriage, he had been divorced from his first wife, who was still alive when he married his third. Under a strict adherence to the succession laws and customs as they existed in 1603, it is argued that no laws passed by Parliament since 1603 are legitimate, as the heirs did not summon those Parliaments, nor did those laws receive the royal assent to become law. Under the law as it stood in 1603, the 9th Earl of Jersey’s divorce was not valid, and therefore both his remarriage during his ex-wife's lifetime was null and void, and the children of his third marriage illegitimate. Consequently, the current holder of the Stanley claim to the throne of England is the only child of the 9th Earl’s first marriage, Lady Caroline Ogilvy (née Child Villiers).^[4] By a twist of fate her husband's family are themselves highly ranked in the (accepted) line of succession to the British throne, with Lady Caroline's nephew James Ogilvy being fortieth in line.

Continuation of the House of Stuart

The current line, passed over by the Act of Settlement 1701, inherited their claim to the Crowns of England and Scotland from the deposed James II of England via his youngest sister Henrietta Anne Stuart.^{[citation needed]}

1. Charles I of England
2. James II of England, third son of Charles I
3. James Francis Edward Stuart, only son of James II
4. Charles Edward Stuart, eldest son of James Francis. He had no legitimate issue by his wife. He had an illegitimate daughter who has descendants, but they have no succession rights.
5. Henry Benedict Stuart, second son of James Francis. He was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church and had no children.

At Henry's death the claim passed to his second cousin twice removed, Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia, and then to his brother Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia. Charles Emmanuel and Victor Emmanuel were great-great-great-grandsons of King Charles I.^[5]

1. Charles I of England
2. Henrietta Anne Stuart, youngest daughter, final line of Charles
3. Anne Marie d'Orléans, second daughter, third line of Henrietta Anne
4. Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, second son of Anne Marie
5. Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia, second son of Charles Emmanuel
6. Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia, second son of Victor Amadeus
7. Maria Beatrice of Savoy, eldest daughter, second line of Victor Emmanuel
8. Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este, second son of Maria Beatrice
9. Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, only child of Ferdinand
10. Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, eldest son of Maria Theresia
11. Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, second son of Rupprecht
12. Franz, Duke of Bavaria, elder son of Albrecht

When Franz dies, his claim on the English and Scottish crowns^[7] will pass to his younger brother Max.

Equal Primogeniture

On 28 October 2011, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, it was announced that British Prime Minister David Cameron's proposed changes to the royal succession laws in the 16 Commonwealth realms had received unanimous support of the other realms' prime ministers. The alterations would replace male preference primogeniture — under which sons take precedence over daughters in the lines of succession — with absolute primogeniture for descendants of the current Prince of Wales; end the ban on marriage of dynasts to Catholics; and limit the requirement for those in line to the throne to acquire permission of the sovereign to marry. However, the requirement for the sovereign to be in communion with the Church of England would remain. The Queen, Elizabeth II, is said to support the proposed changes.

If this system of primogeniture was applied during the reign of Victoria, in which the throne was inherited by her eldest son but second eldest child, Edward VII, Princess Victoria, Princess Royal would be the queen and will be inherited by her eldest child and so on.^[8][9][10]

1. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India
2. Victoria, Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia, eldest child of Queen Victoria
3. Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia, eldest child of Princess Victoria
4. William, German Crown Prince, eldest child of Kaiser Wilhelm II
5. Wilhelm of Prussia, eldest child of Prince William, Crown Prince
6. Felicitas of Prussia, eldest child of Prince William
7. Friederike Thyra Marion Wilhelmine Dorothea von der Osten, eldest child of Princess Felicitas

Friederike is not considered a pretender to the British throne as this alternative line of succession is only a presumed line if equal primogeniture took effect during the reign of Queen Victoria. Next in line is her eldest child, Felicitas Catharini Malina Johanna von Reiche.

Salic Law

On the death of Queen Anne, the throne was inherited by George I. George I was king of Hanover in which the house name was derived, House of Hanover. Great Britain and Ireland follows male primogeniture while Hanover follows Salic law in succession to the throne. The monarchs of Great Britain and Ireland and Hanover were the same from George I until William IV, as these kings were succeeded by males. During the reign of William IV, his heiress presumptive to the British throne was Princess Victoria of Kent, his niece, while his heir apparent to the Hanoverian throne was Ernest Augustus I, his younger brother. On William IV's death, the personal union of Great Britain and Hanover ended. Princess Victoria did not inherit the Hanoverian throne because she was female. Salic law prevented females inheriting the throne.

William IV's reign

1. William IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover
2. Ernest Augustus I, King of Hanover, younger brother of William IV
3. George V, King of Hanover , only child of Ernest Augustus I
4. Ernest Augustus II of Hanover, eldest son of George V
5. Prince George William of Hanover, eldest son of Ernest Augustus II
6. Prince Christian of Hanover, second eldest son of Ernest Augustus II
7. Ernest Augustus III of Hanover, youngest son of Ernest Augustus II
8. Ernest Augustus IV of Hanover, eldest son of Ernest Augustus III
9. Ernest Augustus V, Head of the House of Hanover, eldest son of Ernest Augustus IV

This is only a presumed line. The heir apparent of Ernest Augustus V is Prince Ernest Augustus Andrew Philip Constantine Maximilian Rolf Stephen Louis Rudolph

Another presumed line is during the reign of George VI. This was nearly impossible at that time. If Salic law was applied to the law of succession, neither Princess Elizabeth nor her younger sister Princess Margaret could have inherited the throne, as they were female.

George VI's reign

1. George VI, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, King of the British Dominions, and Emperor of India
2. Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, younger brother of George VI
3. Prince William of Gloucester, eldest son of Prince Henry
4. Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, youngest son of Prince Henry

References