Alternate successions of the English crown

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 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 null as Edward VIII died without issue in 1972, at which point the Crown would have passed to his niece Elizabeth II.

However, there have been noteworthy alternative claimants to the Crown in English history, and it is of scholarly interest to trace what the succession to the Crown would have been had they succeeded in attaining the throne (although such 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 squarely 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. [ [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/i-m/monarch.html Channel 4 - History - Britain's Real Monarch ] ] 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.

# Charles I of England
# Henrietta Anne Stuart, youngest daughter, final line of Charles
# Anne Marie of Orléans, second daughter, third line of Henrietta
# Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, second son of Anne
# Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia, second son of Charles
# "Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia", second son of Victor Amadeus
# "Maria Beatrice of Savoy", eldest daughter, second line of Victor Emmanuel
# Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este, second son of Maria
# "Maria Theresia of Austria-Este", only child of Ferdinand Karl
# "Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria", eldest son of Maria
# "Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria", second son of Rupprecht
# "Franz, Duke of Bavaria", eldest son of Albrecht

Upon the death of the Duke, his claim on the English Crown [The Jacobite claim is to the thrones held and claimed by James II and VII; as king of England, France (claimed by English monarchs since the Hundred Years' War), Scotland and Ireland. The Acts of Union that created Great Britain and the United Kingdom are considered invalid by those who believe that the monarchs who gave the Acts the Royal Assent were not the legitimate occupants of the throne.] will pass to his younger brother Max.

References