WI: House of Palatinate-Simmern inherits Great Britain?

George of Hanover's claim to the British throne came from his mother Sophia of Hanover, who was the daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, the famous "Winter Queen" of Bohemia. Looking at Elizabeth's other children, there were several before Sophia, but it seems none of them had surviving issue by 1714. One of her first children was Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, who also had a son, Charles II. He was a fairly incompetent ruler, and when he died childless the Electorate passed to the Catholic Neuburg branch of the family.

In this scenario, let's give Charles II a son. He married in 1671, so if he has a son around 1680, he could be a vigorous 30-something by 1714. How will having an Imperial Elector as King affect British history? It seems the Jacobite rebellions will still take place, but other than that I'm not sure.
 
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I think the biggest change will be w.r.t to diplomacy with the French as the Palatinate is close by and more precarious. France is likely to target it in any war with Britain which will strain the relationship between Parliament and the Monarch if every other war aim is going well.
 
Giving Charles II an heir means a different beginning of the Nine Years' War, as Louis XIV will have no case to invade ITTL as opposed to a very slim one.
 
Oh, you silly thing!
You forgot elizabeth's third son.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Rupert_of_the_Rhine
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George of Hanover's claim to the British throne came from his mother Sophia of Hanover, who was the daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, the famous "Winter Queen" of Bohemia. Looking at Elizabeth's other children, there were several before Sophia, but it seems none of them had surviving issue by 1707.

Sophia was Elizabeth's twelfth child of thirteen. She had eight brothers and four older sisters.

However, six of the brothers died without legitimate children. None of Sophia's sisters had issue.

But...

Elector Palatine Charles Louis, the second son, had two legitimate children. His son Charles died without issue. But his daughter Elizabeth Charlotte married the Duke of Orleans as a Catholic and had issue.

Edward of Simmern, the fifth son, married a French heiress, Anne Gonzague, as a Catholic and had issue.

These lines were extant in 1707, but were excluded from the succession as Catholics.
 
Sophia was Elizabeth's twelfth child of thirteen. She had eight brothers and four older sisters.

However, six of the brothers died without legitimate children. None of Sophia's sisters had issue.

But...

Elector Palatine Charles Louis, the second son, had two legitimate children. His son Charles died without issue. But his daughter Elizabeth Charlotte married the Duke of Orleans as a Catholic and had issue.

Edward of Simmern, the fifth son, married a French heiress, Anne Gonzague, as a Catholic and had issue.

These lines were extant in 1707, but were excluded from the succession as Catholics.
Thanks for the information, the POD here would be Charles Louis' son having issue, so that when 1714 rolls around, his claim is superior to all of the rest of Elizabeth Stuart's children. Actually, he'd still have the superior claim regardless of the Catholic-Protestant issue.
 
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Your option is to solve Charles' unhappy marriage -
Wilhelmine of Denmark was married to Charles II Elector Palatine (organised by their aunt Sophia of Hannover) in 1671. The couple were unhappy and childless and Charles loathed his father and blamed him for forcing the marriage on him he did consider divorcing her but in the end didn't - he inherited in 1680 and died in 1685 at the age of 34 - your obvious option is to arrange for Charles to divorce Wilhelmine as he considered in 1677 or on his accession and remarry in time to produce an heir (or kill her off) - given Charles was a devout Calvinist its not unlikely that by the early 1700s you have an appropriate aged Protestant ruling Prince as an option for Parliament to consider after William of Gloucester's death. If Charles II live to normal age then he himself is going to be the strongest candidate though he was not exactly inspiring.

I did a short succession line on that here - https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...tocratic-lineage.389238/page-10#post-18405083
 
Another thing that can be butterflied by this, along with 9 years war, is surprisingly Medici succession - as Anna Maria Luisa is not going to marry a mere Count Palatine of Neuburg, be he a brother-in-law of Emperor or not, he is of too low a rank for her, so she'll probably marry elsewhere and hopefully have issue to inherit Tuscany.
 
Another thing that can be butterflied by this, along with 9 years war, is surprisingly Medici succession - as Anna Maria Luisa is not going to marry a mere Count Palatine of Neuburg, be he a brother-in-law of Emperor or not, he is of too low a rank for her, so she'll probably marry elsewhere and hopefully have issue to inherit Tuscany.

Yes really good point she would never have accepted the Count Palatine of Neuburg in those circumstances although her father had trouble finding a groom for her lol if my memory serves. But certainly might complicate the Medici succession as she won't end up with syphilis from her husband
 
Yes really good point she would never have accepted the Count Palatine of Neuburg in those circumstances although her father had trouble finding a groom for her lol if my memory serves. But certainly might complicate the Medici succession as she won't end up with syphilis from her husband
A fun thing would be if Portuguese court gives a second look to her, so we can end up with Portuguese Infante ruling in Tuscany.
Or her marriage to Modena as done in Britain of Panthers and Lions TL by @VVD0D95 - though there he is the only alternative left as the Archduchess wife of Count Palatine of Neuburg lives longer than OTL.
 
Does anyone know of another pretext Louis XIV could use to get the Nine Years War going? This is Louis, I'm sure he can find something, however flimsy.
 
I think I've found a possible bride for Charles II: the OTL wife of Christian V of Denmark: Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel. The negotiations for the marriage seem to have been somewhat testy due to religious concerns. Christian was Lutheran, but Charlotte Amalie and her family being Reformed, her mother being a strict adherent. Had the marriage fell through, the also-Reformed Charles II could be a good choice.

Does anyone know if there was tension between Hesse-Kassel and the Palatinate?
 
The British King OTL was an Imperial Elector so that political facet is not to different from OTL. The main thing will be how do the affairs of the Palatinate affect Britain’s politics and willingness to engage in European politics.
 
The British King OTL was an Imperial Elector so that political facet is not to different from OTL. The main thing will be how do the affairs of the Palatinate affect Britain’s politics and willingness to engage in European politics.
The political situation with Louis XIV and the Nine Years War will be changing, or at least a different casus belli will be needed.
 
I think I've found a possible bride for Charles II: the OTL wife of Christian V of Denmark: Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel. The negotiations for the marriage seem to have been somewhat testy due to religious concerns. Christian was Lutheran, but Charlotte Amalie and her family being Reformed, her mother being a strict adherent. Had the marriage fell through, the also-Reformed Charles II could be a good choice.

Does anyone know if there was tension between Hesse-Kassel and the Palatinate?
Charlotte's father was friends with Prince Rupert but the estranged wife of Karl Ludwig is an aunt of Charlotte Amalie, so this match has very little chance to happen.
 
A fun thing would be if Portuguese court gives a second look to her, so we can end up with Portuguese Infante ruling in Tuscany.
Or her marriage to Modena as done in Britain of Panthers and Lions TL by @VVD0D95 - though there he is the only alternative left as the Archduchess wife of Count Palatine of Neuburg lives longer than OTL.

Was there ever a serious chance of her becoming duchess of Savoy as wife to VAII? Or would the powers-that-be have intervened to prevent such a match?
 
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