William Duke of Gloucester

Curious to see what people think might have happened had William Duke of Gloucester son of the Queen Anne of Britain survived past 1700.
 
Curious to see what people think might have happened had William Duke of Gloucester son of the Queen Anne of Britain survived past 1700.

He would be king of Great Britain and Ireland. With George Hanover simply being a distant cousin. With the house of Oldenburg being the new royal house under King William IV.
 
He would be king of Great Britain and Ireland. With George Hanover simply being a distant cousin. With the house of Oldenburg being the new royal house under King William IV.

Okay interesting, are there any major changes that could come from this?
 
Curious to see what people think might have happened had William Duke of Gloucester son of the Queen Anne of Britain survived past 1700.

Two words: English Carlos II. William, Duke of Gloucester was very much unhealthy throughout his short life and was unlikely to have survived to adulthood, let alone become King in 1714. Most modern bio's agree that the Duke would have succumbed to his hydrocephalus fairly soon afterwards. Maybe he could have lived long enough to marry and have a kid, but we don't even know if he was able to father a kid, considering how young he was when he died. The only thing that William living would help would be his uncle and the Jacobites: as long as William's alive there's no act of settlement.
 
Oh how so? Was his illness truly that untreatable?
It's not so treatable with modern medicine as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocephalus#History

Though depending on which syndrome our William IV had, him fathering a heir won't be seen as implausible. He did not display long-term cases of paralysis IIRC and his spinal cord functions were mostly intact. So no obvious ejaculation problems unlike those Carlos II had (in addition to genital deformity).

By the way, Constantine - still want to hear from you on a small something I posted to you in regards to A&D.
 
Oh how so? Was his illness truly that untreatable?

Highly untreatable. From Wikipedia "Hydrocephalus (from Greek hydro-, meaning "water", and ceph, meaning "head") is a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain. This causes increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and may cause progressive enlargement of the head if it occurs in childhood, potentially causing convulsion, tunnel vision, and mental disability."

This would render him more and more disabled as time went on. At best William IV would reign from his sick-bed, at worst we'd see a Carlos II type scenario. While his mental faculties had been praised by various ministers in the 1690s, I'm not sure if they were actually true or merely putting on to make him seem better than his uncle over the water. Either way, William living that long is unlikely and having a child is up in the air at best.
 
Well, I can't remember if it was him or another hydrocephalic royal (there were quite a few of them - Josef I's son and Minette's duc de Valois (IIRC), I think one of Felipe IV's kids from his second marriage was too), but they tapped something like a full cup of water from his skull after he died. He was slow to walk (which I wonder if it wasn't genetic, since Charles I was late to walk as well) and had a phobia of climbing stairs due to his wobbly balance, so much so that his dad had to birch him into doing so alone. However, the balance story I wonder about, since there's nothing about him struggling to ride a horse - which would require as much if not more balance, and have a greater risk of falling. Apparently he was also a military enthusiast, much to his uncle William's delight. The duke of Marlborough was also his governor or some such IIRC. Could make for an interesting martial court.
 
Full stop. The POD - William of Gloucester never contacts meningitis. His condition was not congenital but a result of a crippling childhood infection.
 
It's not so treatable with modern medicine as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocephalus#History

Though depending on which syndrome our William IV had, him fathering a heir won't be seen as implausible. He did not display long-term cases of paralysis IIRC and his spinal cord functions were mostly intact. So no obvious ejaculation problems unlike those Carlos II had (in addition to genital deformity).

By the way, Constantine - still want to hear from you on a small something I posted to you in regards to A&D.

Considering William was only 11 when he died its difficult to tell if he could father a child or not. From what I've read he had trouble walking and trouble fitting a wig for his large head, but besides that nothing. Then again Hydrocephalus seemed to get worse the older you get, so he may have simply been to young for all the symptoms to show up.
 
Considering William was only 11 when he died its difficult to tell if he could father a child or not. From what I've read he had trouble walking and trouble fitting a wig for his large head, but besides that nothing. Then again Hydrocephalus seemed to get worse the older you get, so he may have simply been to young for all the symptoms to show up.
As I said, it's moot point. The thing turned out to be not congenital but caused by infantile meningitis. So the PoD needs to be 2 weeks after the boy's birth. But that changes quite a lot of stuff.
 
As I said, it's moot point. The thing turned out to be not congenital but caused by infantile meningitis. So the PoD needs to be 2 weeks after the boy's birth. But that changes quite a lot of stuff.

With a POD in 1689 we could see Anne have another kid that survives. To me a more interesting POD would be in 1687, when the Denmarks (Anne's family) caught smallpox and her two daughters died. Autopsies preformed suggested that Anne's younger daughter, Anne Sophia, was quite healthy and the doctors suggested that she had all the signs of being able to life a long life. This Anne Sophia seems to have been Anne's only healthy child, so having her survive could prove to be very much interesting.
 
Okay interesting, are there any major changes that could come from this?
A closer link to the Scandinavian countries rather then the Holy Roman Empire could help strengthen Britain's maritime interests.

Robert Walpole may become an even more Powerful Prime Minister, arrange his office to be more of a Regency, rather then a mere political office.

I'd assume he could outlive his older German cousin, but it's unlikely he's going to father any heir.
It is not "impossible" for him to father a child, as long as the wife, chosen for him is willing.
Or he may appoint his own heir, fearing his older German cousin, would ruin his mother's Kingdom.

Though depending on which syndrome our William IV had, him fathering a heir won't be seen as implausible. He did not display long-term cases of paralysis IIRC and his spinal cord functions were mostly intact. So no obvious ejaculation problems unlike those Carlos II had (in addition to genital deformity).
But no foreign royalty is going to push their daughter into marrying a King like this and what British woman is going to happily be made into doing the "deed" like this?

As I said, it's moot point. The thing turned out to be not congenital but caused by infantile meningitis. So the PoD needs to be 2 weeks after the boy's birth. But that changes quite a lot of stuff.
Why not have the syndrome act slower then OTL? Many people have pro-longed their illness, if you can give William, a stronger willpower, he may be able father a child before matters get worse.

With a POD in 1689 we could see Anne have another kid that survives. To me a more interesting POD would be in 1687, when the Denmarks (Anne's family) caught smallpox and her two daughters died. Autopsies preformed suggested that Anne's younger daughter, Anne Sophia, was quite healthy and the doctors suggested that she had all the signs of being able to life a long life. This Anne Sophia seems to have been Anne's only healthy child, so having her survive could prove to be very much interesting.

Within 16 years, Anne had 17 pregnancies, anyone of these could be POD into a healthy baby.
 
But no foreign royalty is going to push their daughter into marrying a King like this and what British woman is going to happily be made into doing the "deed" like this?

If Charles II of Spain could be married twice, I can't see why there would be too much trouble finding a princess to be Queen of England.
 
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