Alternate Successions of the English Crown

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Though the following claims to the crown of United Kingdom are of scholarly interest, they in fact hold no legal basis as the last monarch to gain the English, Scottish, and Irish crowns by right of conquest was William III of England. As king, William III assented to the Act of Settlement 1701 which set the laws for succession should, after his and then Princess Anne’s deaths, neither have issue. The Crown has passed down following this law ever since without incidence until the abdication of Edward VIII. The law was then amended so that any children of Edward VIII would have no claim whatsoever to the crown. This amendment became null as he died without issue in 1972, in which case the crown would have gone to his niece Elizabeth.

Throughout this article, the names of the historical monarchs will appear in bold while the names of "would-have-been" monarchs shall be in italics.

[edit] Descendants of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence

This line’s claim to the throne is based squarely upon the assumption--with debatable evidence--that Edward IV was not sired by Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and thus had no legitimate claim to the throne. Therefore, when Richard was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, his claim passed to his eldest legitimate son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Unfortunately, Edmund was captured at the same battle and executed either the same or next day. Edmund 's claim then passed to his eldest legitimate brother and heir presumptive, George, Duke of Clarence.

However, this claim is invalid for numerous reasons:

It was Edward IV that could claim the throne from Henry VI by right of conquest, whether he was a legitimate child or not.
Edward IV could also claim senior line as his father never contested his paternity, thus making Edward IV a legitimate heir under English common law. On his death, the crown then passed to his son Edward V, who disappeared mysteriously, along with his brother Richard in the Tower of London after Edward IV 's children were declared illegitimate. The crown then went to their uncle Richard.
After Edward IV became king, George was subjected to a bill of attainder (i.e. stripped of his properties and inheritance rights) for committing treason against his brother, the king. This attainder also barred George 's children from succeeding to the throne, working corruption of blood.
Although George 's son Edward, Earl of Warwick, regained his inheritance from Henry VII, Edward later was subjected to a bill of attainder and executed for attempting to escape the Tower of London, placed there after having been perceived by Henry VII as a threat to his claim of the crown.
Because two generations of males had lost their property, title, and right to the throne due to bills of attainder, Edward 's sister, Margaret, nor her son Henry, inherited anything upon Edward 's execution. However, Henry VIII reversed Edward 's attainder in 1509. While this again gave Margaret's family a claim to the crown, she was later "attainted to die by Act of Parliament" and thus once more lost all her titles and whatever claim she or her family had.
The eldest line from Margaret was via her son Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, attainted and executed two years before his mother.

Alternate Succession of Royal Houses Map of Succession
House of Plantagenet
Edward III • Richard II
House of Mortimer
Edmund I
House of Plantagenet (Reunion)
Richard III • Edmund II • George I • Edward IV
House of Pole
Henry IV
House of Hastings
Henry V • George II • Henry VI • Ferdinando I • Theophilus I • George III • Theophilus II • Francis I
House of Rawdon
Francis II • George IV • Paulyn I • Henry VII
House of Clifton
Charles I
House of Huddleston
Ian I
House of Lord
Michael I

The current descendent of this line is the 14th Earl of Loudoun. His royal lineage is as follows:

Edward III of England
Lionel of Antwerp, third son of Edward III
Philippa of Ulster, daughter, only child of Lionel
Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, first son of Philippa
Anne de Mortimer, first daughter, third line of Roger
Richard Plantagenet, only son of Anne
George, Duke of Clarence, third son (second "legitimate" son) of Richard
Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, second daughter, fourth line of George
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, first son of Margaret
Catherine Hastings, first daughter, second line of Henry
George Hastings, 4rd Earl of Huntingdon, second son of Catherine
Francis Hastings, only son of George (predeceased his father)
Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon, only son of Francis
Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon, oldest son of Henry
Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon, only son of Ferdinando
Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, second son of Theophilus
Elizabeth Rawdon, 16th Baroness Botreaux, only daughter, second line of Theophilus, 9th Earl
Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, first son of Elizabeth
George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, eldest legitimate son of Francis
Edith Rawdon-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun, first daughter, third line of George
Paulyn Francis Cuthbert Rawdon-Hastings, second son of Edith
Edith Maud Abney-Hastings, 12th Countess of Loudoun, first daughter, third line of Paulyn
Barbara Huddleston Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of Loudoun, first daughter, second line of Edith
Michael Edward Lord Abney-Hasting, 14th Earl of Loudoun, eldest son of Barbara

Note: This list excludes females from the crown. The precedent for female inheritance of the crown would not have been set had George, Duke of Clarence inherited the crown. This precendent was set only after the reign of Henry VIII by his will, approved by Parliament. This line does, however, maintain the precedent of the right of a male to inherit via female line set by the succession of Henry II of England.

[edit] Descendants of Mary Tudor

As Henry VIII 's will was the only monarch’s will at the time authorized by Parliament to designate the royal succession, the unquestionably legitimate and legal heir of Elizabeth I was the Lady Anne Stanley.

Alternate Succession of Royal Houses Map of Succession
House of Tudor
Henry VII • Henry VIII • Edward VI • Mary I • Elizabeth I
House of Stanley
Anne I
House of Brydges
George I • Margaret I
House of Skipwith
George II
House of Brownlow
Elizabeth II
House of Doughty
George III • Henry IX • Henry X • Elizabeth III
House of Villiers
George IV • George V • Victor I • George VI • George VII • William III

Her succession follows as such:

Henry VII of England
Mary Tudor, third daughter, sixth line of Henry
Lady Eleanor Brandon, second daughter, third line of Mary (the first line having no issue, and braches of the second line either having no issue or been declared illegitimate by Elizabeth I)
Lady Margaret Clifford, only daughter, third line of Eleanor
Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, first son of Margaret (predeceased his mother)
Lady Anne Stanley, first daughter, first line of Ferdinando
George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos, first son of Anne
Margaret Brydges, first daughter, first line of George
George Brydges Skipwith, first son of Margaret
Elizabeth Brownlow, first daughter, second line of Margaret
George Brownlow Doughty, first son of Elizabeth
Henry Doughty, only child of George
Henry Doughty, only son of Henry
Elizabeth Doughty, sister of Henry, only daughter of Henry

At the death of Elizabeth Doughty, the line would have passed to her 6th cousin George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey.

As Lady Anne Stanley 's line is reasonably thought to have died out, the line then passes to her sister, Lady Frances Stanley, a line which survives to this day.

Lady Frances Stanley, second daughter, second line of Ferdinando
John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, first son of Frances
John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater, first son of John
Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, third son of John, 3rd Earl
Anne Egerton, first daughter, fifth line of Scroop
George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, only child of Anne
George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, first son of George, 4th Earl
George Child Villiers, 6th Earl of Jersey, first son of George, 5th Earl
Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, only son of George, 6th Earl
George Child Villiers, 8th Earl of Jersey, first son of Victor
George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey, first son of George
George Child Villiers, Viscount Villiers, first son of George, 9th Earl (predeceased his father)
William Villiers, 10th Earl of Jersey, first son of George, Viscount, Villiers

Interestingly enough, if succession had for an reason passed to Lady Anne 's and Lady Frances' younger sister, Lady Elizabeth Stanley, the line would have gone to her oldest son, Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon and fall today to his descendant Michael Edward Lord Abney-Hasting, 14th Earl of Loudoun.

[edit] Continuation of the House of Stuart

This line, passed over by the Act of Settlement 1701, descends from the deposed James II of England, and then later from his sister Henrietta Anne, Duchesse d'Orléans.

Charles I of England
James II of England, third son of Charles
James Francis Edward Stuart, only son of James
Charles Edward Stuart, eldest son of James
Henry Benedict Stuart, second son of James

Though a line of descendants extends from Charles, they are illegitimate, which left the claim in Henry 's hands on the death of his brother. As Henry was a peaceable man, and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, he never pursued his claim to the English Crown. Upon his death, the claim then passed to his second cousin, twice removed the King of Sardinia, a descendant of his great aunt, Henrietta.

Alternate Succession of Royal Houses Map of Jacobite Succession
House of Stuart
James I • Charles I • Charles II • James II • James III • Charles III • Henry IX
House of Savoy
Charles IV • Victor I • Mary II
House of Austria-Este
Francis I • Mary III
House of Wittelsbach
Robert I • Albert I • Francis II