alternatehistory.com

Not a WI, just thinking out loud.

This category is defined as people who would have ended up ruling Great Britain if they hadn't dropped dead of natural causes first. Because there were a lot of dead babies back in the day, candidates must have erached at least 10 years of age to qualify. I count four in the last 300 years. Going in reverse chronological order, we have:

1) Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence (1864-1892). Eldest son of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and firstborn grandson of Queen Victoria. His death opened the way for George V and his descendants. He seems to have been a bit sickly and ot-nay oo-tay ight-bray. Arguably the monarchy missed a bullet but OTOH it's not like George V and his sons were all that.

2) Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817). Only child of the Prince of Wales (later George IV). Queen Victoria's much older first cousin. Lively and vivacious. Died in childbirth; popular and widely mourned. She was married to a German prince named Leopold who later was chosen to be the first King of the Belgians. If she'd lived, fairly large knock-on effects on 19th century Britain -- we lose William IV and Victoria, replacing them with Leopold and Charlotte and their likely descendants.

3) Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-1751). Son of George II, father of George III. Yes, there should have been a King Fred. Seems to have been a pretty typical Hanoverian, viz., grumpy, patron of the arts, did not get along with his parents. No change in the succession if he lives, but if he lasts into the 1760s and 1770s we may seem some differences in colonial and imperial policy.

4) William, Duke of Gloucester (1689-1700). Only child of Queen Anne to make it out of short pants. Died age 11, thus ending the last hope of the Stuart dynasty (in some form) keeping the throne. Huge knock-ons if he lives, as we've likely eliminated the Hanoverians altogether.

[rubs chin] Huh, I thought there were more. We can go back further, of course -- Arthur Tudor, the princes in the tower -- but that's not Great Britain. (And the Wars of the Roses complicate things a lot. Prince Edward of Lancaster? Edmund of York? No, some other time.)


Doug M.
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