Poll: Which Stuart TL would you rather see?

Which POD would you rather I do?

  • POD 1: Henry IX/Charles III

    Votes: 14 70.0%
  • POD 2: James III

    Votes: 6 30.0%
  • Neither (please post and explain)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    20
I'm busy with uni right now, but if I ever get time during the Christmas holidays I might consider starting (I'm notoriously bad at ending the TLs I start) an ATL on the Stuart dynasty of England. The two PODs are ones I've previously discussed in different forums, with some minor alterations:

POD 1: In 1660, James Stuart (OTL James II) dies of smallpox instead of his younger brother, Henry, Duke of Gloucester, a staunch Protestant. Henry marries Christine of Baden-Durlach, a niece of King Charles Gustav of Sweden. James' son by Anne Hyde, Charles (who IOTL died seven months old of smallpox) also survives and disputes whether or not he should succeed as king instead of his uncle. EDIT: New possible bride for Charles. Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Henriette_of_Hesse-Kassel)

POD 2: James II's son by Mary of Modena, James Edward Stuart (IOTL The Old Pretender), is captured during TTL's Glorious Revolution instead of his father, who escapes to France. The baby is crowned James III of England and VIII of Scotland, raised in the Anglican faith and marries Ulrika Eleanora of Sweden.

If I get the time, which would you rather I pick? If you don't like either POD, please post and suggest what you would rather see.
 
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Like the first - though i doubt there would be any dispute - Charles 2nd Duke of York will almost certainly be raised protestant (as Charles II insisted with Anne and Mary in OTL)
It is highly unlikely that Henry of Gloucester would challenge his nephew's rights to succeed Charles II.
Assuming Anne Hyde survives her husband's death though - her own conversion came before James II's if I remember - then she may well exert influence on her son pushing him closer to her own faith - but debatable.
And I doubt Mary of Modena would be his bride of first choice - by the time he is of age to marry say between 1675 and 1680 he is clearly going to be a big catch.
 
Neither of these seems particularly plausible. James's son is clearly the heir ahead of James's younger brother, and he'd be 25 at the time of Charles II's death, so no worries about a child king. As noted, he'd likely be a protestant.

The second POD was discussed recently, I think - the consensus was that if the Prince was captured, he'd have mysteriously "escaped" to France in the same way that his father did in OTL, and leave things basically the same. Neither William III (especially) nor the Whigs *wants* James's son on the throne.
 
I think PoD 2 is very difficult to do because if by some accident James Edward Stuart is captured then as with his father James II William III is going to make sure he "escapes" to France. He was determined to get all Stuarts out of the country so he could safely claim the throne and as he was the only person with a functioning army he was going to get his way no matter what some Anglican Tories wanted.
 
Thinking about it, the first POD depends on just when James II dies. If its before the wedding to Anne Hyde then Charles, Duke of York (as he'd be titled) would be a bastard. Hell I remember that a lot of people questioned whether nor nor Anne's first pregnancy was by the Duke or not. While Charles II accepted that Anne was pregnant with his nephew and basically told objectors to STFU, Gloucester might not agree and could stir up opposition to his nephew's claim. But realistically Gloucester, considering his father's last words to him (something along the lines of don't take the throne while your older brothers and their issue are alive) probably won't do anything.

Me personally I think the second POD is much more interesting. Have the Prince of Wales fall into the hands of some of the Tories, who were opposed to James II's policies but didn't want to depose him. Remember that the vote in the Lords was really close over to consider James II's flight as abdication and whether or not to offer the throne to William and Mary. If the Prince somehow ends up in Parliament's custody, then the vote would probably swing against the Dutch invader and enthrone James Francis Edward. It would be difficult but not impossible. Definitely an interesting POD.
 
Me personally I think the second POD is much more interesting. Have the Prince of Wales fall into the hands of some of the Tories, who were opposed to James II's policies but didn't want to depose him. Remember that the vote in the Lords was really close over to consider James II's flight as abdication and whether or not to offer the throne to William and Mary. If the Prince somehow ends up in Parliament's custody, then the vote would probably swing against the Dutch invader and enthrone James Francis Edward. It would be difficult but not impossible. Definitely an interesting POD.

Consider what happened to James II after his first flight when he was recognised and captured in Kent. He was being taken back to London by the Englishmen who had caught him to be turned over to Parliament. The Prince of Orange heard about that and sent a detachment of his personal Blue Guards to "better guard him". They promptly let James II and his entire party escape after having arranged for a ship to take James II to France. James Edward Stuart is not going to stay in Britain if William can help it and as he is the only one with a real army he is going to get his way.
 
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