Elizabeth I of England.

She contracted smallpox towards the end of 1562. WI: She had died of the infection. Who would have succeeded her? The protestants in England would not have wanted a Roman Catholic, since the recent terror of Bloody Mary!
 
Mary Queen of Scots was, well, dumb, and a slut, i don't know that she cared about Catholicism, she may covert the country to Catholicism de jour but she wouldn't work hard to force it on people, the real turble with Mary is she's a idiot that liked intrigue, so theres a risk that she (and England) could fall under the power France or Spain
 
I would think Spain. It was always Philip II's interest to keep England onside, as he wsa fighting the Dutch rebels. However Elizabeth proved first vague and then downright hostile, hence part of the reason for the Armada. Philip never really wanted England as a fief; he had enough problems of his own, like massive debt, the Turks, the Dutch etc (to name a few). Have silly Mary Stuart on the throne and things with the Spanish get cosier...

you forget were Mary is from, she was raised in France and spoke French as her first language

any way one greatly over looked fact, under Henry VIII's Will Mary isn't Elizabeth's Heir, Lady Mary Grey is
 
The Stuart line is indeed the one there that stands to inherit.
Could be iffy though, their position in both kingdoms would be unstable.
 
The Stuart line is indeed the one there that stands to inherit.
Could be iffy though, their position in both kingdoms would be unstable.

legal? no she was not ever the heir, the line under Henry VIII’s Third Succession Act bypassed Margaret Tudor in favor of Mary Tudor meaning that the Stuarts (the descendants of Margaret) were never in the line, and the Heir (by law) of Elizabeth in the year 1562 was Lady Margaret Clifford (before when i said Mary Grey i didn't remember her sister Lady Jane Grey, which would make it unlikely that Mary could take the thrown also her other sister Lady Catherine Grey really miffed the Queen around this time by wedding with the Queens consent, the Queen annulled the marriage in 1562 and Bastardized the two boys born into it)
 
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