1669 Stuart luck

I think yes, it's fine. I'm more interested to who the Duke of York would remarry if he is not a heir presumptive when his first wife dies. Mary of Modena only agreed to marry him when he was heir presumptive seeing that it was her chance to "bring England back into fold". When York has less chances to inherit England, she'll likely reject him in favor of her dream of being a nun.
In A&D Duke of York remarried to the last Tyrol Habsburg princess, Claudia Felicitas Habsburg, the match being possible by having first wife of Leopold I live a bit longer. There the match is still possible (Mary of Modena balks at marrying "just King's brother and not potential heir" and Claudia being OTL alternate candidate), and Mary & Dauphin will pretty much be a counter-reaction to the Austrian match for Duke of York.

With second and third in line marrying/being Catholics by 1680, Charles II has nothing to do but ensure his heir is married to a Protestant bride, and Sophie Charlotte, niece of popular Duke of Cumberland, seems just the right Queen material, being quarter-Stuart herself. The new Princess of Wales arrives to Britain in 1685, short before her father-in-law death (happens a bit later TTL due to his lifestyle being a bit different due to having a legitimate son, so let's say TTL Charles II dies in December 1685). She is accompanied by her elder brother, Prince Maximillian Wilhelm of Brunswick, who was disinherited after Hannover adopted the primogeniture, and tried to test his luck in his sister's new Kingdom (OTL after being disinherited Prince Maximilian became a mercenary in Morea, in A&D we planned for him to go to Britain pretty much for the same reason of being disinherited in Hannover). The young man made a good impression on Charles II and was given the title of Duke of Cumberland previously belonging to his late uncle, as well as eventually married Henriette of York, the youngest of the Duke of York's daughters from his first marriage to Anne Hyde.
 
Okay. Might we see more kids this time or would we be limited to the one

Also, the fact that she ceased cohabiting with her husband - who was deeply in love with her - after she had borne the necessary son and heir might've played a role in it.
 
Also, the fact that she ceased cohabiting with her husband - who was deeply in love with her - after she had borne the necessary son and heir might've played a role in it.
Jonas , first and second quotes are about different princesses. Question by VVD0D95 was about Fiquelotte, and my answer was about Mary of York.
 
Alright very interesting, so likely the illness that killed Sophie Charlotte otl is butterflies away as well meaning she likely lives longer. How might public reaction be to two cstholic marriages and a chance for Catholics in the succession?
 
In the Austrian side of things, I'm going to have hre Leopolds son John survive and succeed his father
 
OK, preliminary idea about marriages ETC.

In 1673 English embassy narrowly beats the Austrians in the race for the hand of Claudia Felicitas of Austria, the last of Tyrol branch of Habsburg. The girl has joint Austrian-Spanish dowry to boast, and unlike the Princess Mary of Modena, who was unwilling to marry "just second in line to British throne with little chances to bring England into fold" and became a nun the same year, Claudia has no such qualms and eagerly plays an attentive stepmother to the three York Princesses - Mary, Anne and Henriette.
The Austrian match soured English-French relationships, so Louis XIV and Charles II start the negotiations about the match between Lady Mary of York and the Grand Dauphin. The idea of the match notably angers the extremes of the Country Party (future Whigs), while moderates of the Court Party are on board with the idea, providing Mary upon the necessary conversion to Catholic faith renounces her rights to the British throne.

Meanwhile, there is a deep dark secret about the new Duchess of York - she is suffering from tuberculosis rapidly developing in the moist British climate. So, in 1676 James Duke of York becomes a widower again, but Duchess Claudia has given him two children- James Leopold, Duke of Cambridge, in March 1674, and little Isabella of York in 1676 (in fact it was a fever post giving birth to Isabella that killed her). Despite mother of them willing both to be baptized according to the Catholic Rites, only Isabella of York actually was kept Catholic (in accordance with dying wishes of the Duchess).
After death of his Austrian wife Duke of York vowed to never marry again, saying that "it seems that my wives are destined to die young". James Leopold was brought up together with his cousin the Prince of Wales, who treated him much like the younger brother he never was going to have (the rest of Queen Catherine's pregnancies resulted in miscarriage). Under influence of his Catholic father James became more High Church-leaning than his cousin was.

In 1680 Mary of York married Dauphin of France by proxy, having converted to Catholicism the month before wedding. This conversion and match, coupled with the rumors about Anne-Marie d'Orleans becoming Princess of Wales, sparked what was called the Five Years Unrest (actually, the localized rebellions lasted into the reign of Charles III, the last being supressed only in 1687).
To turn the public opinion again favorable for Stuarts, in 1683 Charles II had to break any negotiations regarding Catholic match for Prince of Wales. His cousin and long-time friend the Duke of Cumberland, who died in 1684 of what is now thought to be meningitis (in OTL it was 1682 and pleurisy) promoted the candidacy Charles finally stopped at.

Sophie Charlotte, niece of popular Duke of Cumberland, seemed just the right Queen material, being quarter-Stuart herself. The new Princess of Wales arrives to Britain in 1685, short before her father-in-law death (happens a bit later TTL due to his lifestyle being a bit different due to having a legitimate son, so let's say TTL Charles II dies in December 1685). She is accompanied by her elder brother, Prince Maximillian Wilhelm of Brunswick, who was disinherited after Hannover adopted the primogeniture, and tried to test his luck in his sister's new Kingdom (OTL after being disinherited Prince Maximilian became a mercenary in Morea, in A&D we planned for him to go to Britain pretty much for the same reason of being disinherited in Hannover). The young man made a good impression on Charles II and was given the title of Duke of Cumberland previously belonging to his late uncle, as well as eventually married Henriette of York, the youngest of the Duke of York's daughters from his first marriage to Anne Hyde.
As part of newly forming network of German alliances, Lady Anne of York was married in 1684 to Electoral Prince of Brandenburg.

Later on, Charles III tried to improve relations with French, helped greatly by her cousin being the Dauphine (and despite converting into Catholicism doing a lot to help French protestants which brought her into open conflict with Madame de Maintenon, maitresse en titre of King). As part of the improvement in 1692 the King's cousin and friend, James, Duke of Cambridge, was married to Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orleans, Mademoiselle de Chartres (who was nominally a Catholic, but with the same (ambivalent) views on Catholicism as her mother, Duchesse Liselotte).

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How's that for a proto-TL?
 
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In the Austrian side of things, I'm going to have hre Leopolds son John survive and succeed his father
If any son from Margaret Theresa survives he'll likely to be named heir of Spain (without much contest as he's full nephew of Carlos II) like we did in A&D with his elder brother surviving, while his half-brother gets named King of Romans.

If Claudia Felicitas marries to Britain like I've proposed above, Leopold can marry Eleonora of Neuburg already in 1673, and by 1690 be the father of the enormous brood of kids (a prince(ss) or two more enormous than OTL one).
 
I like it, I like it. I think Monmouth being a key player in the five years unrest would be very interesting
 
If any son from Margaret Theresa survives he'll likely to be named heir of Spain (without much contest as he's full nephew of Carlos II) like we did in A&D with his elder brother surviving.

If Claudia Felicitas marries to Britain like I've proposed above, Leopold can marry Eleonora of Neuburg already in 1673, and by 1690 be the father of the enormous brood of kids (a prince(ss) or two more enormous than OTL one).

And alrught interesting, thus butterflying the Spanish War of Succession
 
I think a forged marriage certificate of Charles II marriage to Monmouth's mother is going to be involved one way or another. While in a TL where Charles II has legitimate son, Monmouth will have conflicting loyalties - on the one hand, he's loyal to his father and kinda loyal to his brother, on the other hand, he can easily make the move of being too closely connected with the wrong crowd of extreme Whigs and end up to be rather tragic figure.
 
Alright that definitely makes things interesting, and likely leads to some family drama.

Re, the Spanish Situation, would John Leopold succeed to the throne of Spain if he is his father's only male heir? Or would you advise keeping his older brother alive also?
 
Re, the Spanish Situation, would John Leopold succeed to the throne of Spain if he is his father's only male heir? Or would you advise keeping his older brother alive also?
If his father is not going to have sons from his TTL second (OTL third) marriage (HIGHLY unlikely since it's Neuburg brood we're talking about), then yes, John inherits Empire, and his sister may be crowned Queen of Spain suo jure to avoid personal union between HRE and Holy Roman Empire.
 
If his father is not going to have sons from his TTL second (OTL third) marriage (HIGHLY unlikely since it's Neuburg brood we're talking about), then yes, John inherits Empire, and his sister may be crowned Queen of Spain suo jure to avoid personal union between HRE and Holy Roman Empire.

Alright interesting. So if we have John Leopold for HRE, and then perhaps Joseph from the Neuburg brood for Spain?
 
Alright interesting. So if we have John Leopold for HRE, and then perhaps Joseph from the Neuburg brood for Spain?
Makes no sense. If Leopold I has a couple of spares from Neuburg brood, he'll likely agree on John being named Prince of Asturias, as unlike Leopold's children from second marriage, his claim to Spain is rock solid.
So, Leopold likely names John Prince of Asturias and even sends him over to Spain as appropriate (I think his Spanish Granny will demand the boy to be in Spain as soon as Carlos II feels threateningly ill, to have a heir to throne on hand and have him properly groomed in Spanish ways), and Joseph gets crowned as the King of Romans (and OTL Charles VI, or his analogue at least, would likely end up earmarked for Church, as was habitual for third sons, and maybe becomes Archbishop-Elector in the future).
 
Makes no sense. If Leopold I has a couple of spares from Neuburg brood, he'll likely agree on John being named Prince of Asturias, as unlike Leopold's children from second marriage, his claim to Spain is rock solid.
So, Leopold likely names John Prince of Asturias and even sends him over to Spain as appropriate (I think his Spanish Granny will demand the boy to be in Spain as soon as Carlos II feels threateningly ill, to have a heir to throne on hand and have him properly groomed in Spanish ways), and Joseph gets crowned as the King of Romans (and OTL Charles VI, or his analogue at least, would likely end up earmarked for Church, as was habitual for third sons, and maybe becomes Archbishop-Elector in the future).
Alright that makes more sense. And has intetesting consequences for Prussia as it likely means Frederick does not have the bargaining power of a war to get Prussia into a kingdom
 
And has intetesting consequences for Prussia as it likely means Frederick does not have the bargaining power of a war to get Prussia into a kingdom
While your general ideas butterflies away the War of Spanish Succession, it (likely) does not butterfly away the War of Palatinate Succession aka 9 Years War, though it probably will last shorter than OTL.
 
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While your general ideas butterflies away the War of Spanish Succession, it (likely) does not butterfly away the War of Palatinate Succession aka 9 Years War, though it probably will last shorter than OTL.

Alright interesting, what makes you say that?
 
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