These are the people who never became ruler
of England for a variety of reasons, despite the throne being their birthright
William Adelin 5/8/1103 to 25/11/1120
The only son of Henry 1. Henry of Huntingdon,
a chronicler of the time, refers to the prince as ‘pampered’ & seemed to be
’destined to be food for the fire’ which would imply that his chances of successfully
surviving the rigours of a medieval court remote. He possibly lacked the skills
needed to subdue his barons to his will. William died in the White Ship
disaster crossing the channel from Barfleur. The party were all drunk & the
helmsman took the ship onto the rocks. William died in an attempt to rescue his
half-sister. William’s death eventually led to the period in English history
when ‘Christ & his saints slept’ – the war between William’s sister Maud
(also known as Matilda) & his cousin Stephen, when even a self-indulgent
king would have been preferable to the mayhem that swept across the country.
Henry the Young King
(as he was known to his contemporaries). 28/2/1155
to 11/6/1183
Henry was the second son of Henry II &
Eleanor of Aquitaine (his elder brother died in infancy). Although technically
crowned king while his father was still alive, to assure a non-contested
inheritance, Henry never ruled alone as he died before his father, with whom he
was in conflict. The Young King was not very interested in the day to day
details of government (possibly because his workaholic father kept the majority
of power in his own hands). According to WL Warren Henry showed ‘’no evidence of political sagacity,
military skill, or even ordinary intelligence...’’ Henry was popular as he was
heavily involved in partaking of the tournaments across Europe. But this was
not a necessary skill for a king. The Young King joined with a number of his
French subjects in a rebellion against the older king’s rule in 1173. Henry died
of dysentery contracted during a further campaign against his father.Edward of Woodstock – known to history as the Black Prince 15/6/1330 to 8/6/1376
The eldest son of Edward III, Prince Edward
was popular with the people. He was a strong warrior; his victories in the
Hundred Years War include Crècy, the Siege of Calais & Poitiers. He also
acted as Regent during his father’s absences in France & was expected to
attend council meetings. He & his wife Joan (commonly known as the Fair
Maid of Kent) held court in Aquitaine as his father’s representative. After
January 1371 Edward’s illness (possibly cancer or MS) meant that he was no
longer able to campaign.
His contempt for the lower classes,
evidenced by his rule in Aquitaine, would probably have been mirrored in
England had he succeeded his father. There is no doubt that the sick prince
would have been a sick king, potentially
unable to control his nobles. But this might have been better for the country than
the 10 year old Richard, who succeeded his grandfather & whose misrule
resulted in deposition & murder.
Edward of Westminster also
known as Edward of Lancaster 13/10/1453 to 4/5/1471
Only son of Henry VI, who struggled with
bouts of insanity, Edward was in thrall to his strong mother - Margaret of
Anjou. There were rumours that Edward was not Henry’s son, although
acknowledged as his son by Henry. In 1460, after capture at the battle of Northampton
by the Duke of York, Henry VI was forced by the Yorkists to disinherit his son
by the Act of Accord in 1460. Margaret was not prepared to accept her son’s
disinheritance & the War of the Roses spiralled on, Edward spending much of
the next eleven years on the run or in exile in France.
Following an agreement with the Earl of
Warwick, Edward & his mother returned to rebel against the man who had
become Edward IV in his stead. Prince Edward died at the battle of Tewkesbury,
three weeks before his father was murdered in the tower. It would appear
unlikely that Edward would have been the strong king England needed at this
time; to heal the schism between the two warring factions of Lancastrians &
Yorkists. He also carried the taint of madness inherited from his French great
grandfather & his father.
Edward V 2/11/1470 to 29/7/1483? (Exact date of death unknown)
Eldest son of Edward IV, Edward was brought
up as a scholar & had a dignity beyond his years according to one of his
last attendants in the Tower (where he had been sent, allegedly for his safety).
It is impossible to say what kind of king Edward would have made. Had his uncle
done as Edward IV intended and ruled as Regent, handing the throne over to his
nephew, when he reached his majority, then the final campaign of the Wars of
the Roses might have been avoided. Without a strong committed guardian &/or
Regent then the weakness of yet another child king would have seen a resurgence
of the war. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, making use of rumours that Edward’s mother,
Elizabeth Woodville, was not married to Edward IV (there were only 3 witnesses
to the marriage), had Edward & his brother Richard, Duke of York, declared bastards
& thereupon took the throne himself. The cause of their deaths are not
known, but popular belief is that they were murdered on the order of their
uncle.
Prince Arthur 19-20/9/1486 to 2/4/1502
Prince Henry Frederick 19/2/1594 to 6/11/1612
Elder son of James I - In 1598 James I
had the Basilikon Doron printed for the instruction of his elder son Henry. The
Basilikon sets out James’ views on kingship. On the king’s instructions Henry’s
household was more akin to a college. In 1605 Henry was sent to study at Magdalen
College, Oxford, where he took an interest in sports. A witty, outgoing &
popular young man, Henry was also interested in naval & military matters,
as well as national issues; about which he was unafraid to take issue with his
father. Henry was also able to keep financial control of his money (unlike his
father & brother). Henry died of Typhoid fever at the age of 18. It would have
been difficult for Henry to have made more of a mess of his reign than his
younger brother.James Francis Edward Stuart – known as the Old Pretender 10/6/1688 to 1/1/1766
At six months old James was taken abroad by
his mother Mary of Modena, fearing for the safety of her son, just over a month
after the successful invasion of England by William of Orange. James was
brought up in France & was recognised by his father’s cousin, Louis XIV, as
heir to the throne of England. In 1701, upon the death of James II, who was
held by the English to have abdicated, James was declared King of England by
the French & James’ Jacobite supporters. He headed an unsuccessful invasion
in 1708 & in 1713 at the peace of Utrecht France was obliged to expel James
& he moved to Rome, after a brief unsuccessful attempt to invade the
country of his birth in 1715. Further attempts at a restoration of the Stuart
dynasty were left to James’ son, Charles – the Young Pretender.
It is unlikely that James would have
agreed to become a Protestant in order to placate his subjects fears of an
enforced return to the church in Rome. His inflexibility in this matter does
not indicate that he would have made a better king than his father, or his
father’s successor – his brother-in-law William.
Prince Frederick 1/2/1707 to 20/3/1751
The elder son of George II, Prince
Frederick was left in the care of his great-uncle from the age of seven &
did not see his parents again until he was 21 years old, a young man, fond of
drinking, gambling & women. When he finally arrived in England Frederick
set up his own ‘court in opposition’.
Like several other Princes of Wales
(including his grandson) Frederick ran up massive debts. George II refused to
give Frederick an allowance that would cover his expenses & Frederick’s
pecuniary difficulties were relieved by George Bubb Dodington, a rich
politician. Eventually Frederick applied to Parliament for an increase in his
allowance, which was granted but he was given less than he asked for.
Following an incident caused by
Frederick’s removal of his heavily pregnant wife from Hampton Court, to give
birth without the presence of the King & Queen (a serious breach of royal
protocol & without much thought for his suffering wife)) Frederick was
banished from court – ambassadors in London were told not to visit the prince
& his family.
Frederick was detested by his parents
& by Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister for much of George II’s reign. Frederick’s
sisters considered him one of the world’s greatest liars. But to his children Frederick
was a good father, taking an interest in their education & encouraging them
to share in his interests in art & science, gardening, astronomy, music
(Frederick played the viola & cello) and amateur dramatics. Frederick
enjoyed poetry & co-wrote a play that was taken off on its opening night
& the entrance fee refunded to the audience.
In 1751 Frederick developed an abscess
on the lung & subsequently a cold, which might have turned into pleurisy.
The abscess burst & Frederick died. Popular with the masses as an
alternative to the greatly disliked George II, Frederick had never been much
thought of by his father’s supporters. His early ‘wild’ living settled down in
middle age to a happy home life. It is not possible to say whether he would
have been a good king, once upon the throne, but his son, immature at 22 faced
a far more difficult reign than his father would have done aged 53.
Princess Charlotte Augusta 17/1/1796 to 6/11/1817
Charlotte was much loved by her
grandfather & her aunts & spent some happy times with them in Weymouth
& at Windsor. George III doted on his granddaughter & arranged for her
education. As a teenager Charlotte was considered undignified, but her father
was proud of her ability as a horsewoman. She was fond of Haydn & Mozart and
identified herself with Marianne from Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility.
Charlotte was deeply saddened by her grandfather’s descent into madness &
must have been hurt by her father’s habits of exposing her grandfather’s
ravings to his cronies.
A supporter of the Whigs Charlotte was
annoyed by her father’s refusal, once Prince Regent, to bring the Whigs into
government. The Prince Regent pressurised his daughter into accepting the suit
of the Prince of Orange. The breaking off of the engagement by Charlotte led to
a battle of wills between her & her father. But in 1816 Charlotte was
allowed to marry Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. Charlotte died in childbirth,
after 18 months of happy married life.
Obviously a woman with a mind of her own,
Charlotte would have been 34 when she became queen. Her husband Leopold became
an adviser to Queen Victoria. There is no reason to suppose he would not have
done the same for his wife, whose reign might have been as successful. She
would certainly have been as popular as Victoria, as Charlotte was seen as an
antidote to her extremely unpopular father.
Edward VIII – later Duke
of Windsor 23/6/1894 to 28/5/1972
 |
| The Duke & Duchess of Windsor meet Adolf Hitler |
In 1914 Edward joined the Grenadier
Guards but was not allowed to serve, as the effect on morale of his capture by
the enemy would have been crippling. However Edward visited the front line on a
number of occasions, making himself popular with the troops.
As Prince of Wales, Edward undertook
many foreign tours, representing his father. He became extremely popular &
appeared in magazines & newspapers regularly. His numerous affairs &
his failure to settle down worried the king & his advisers. The affair with
twice married Wallis Simpson, who appeared to have the prince completely under
her thumb, was even more disturbing. It has been alleged that Wallis was very ‘friendly’
with the Nazi German ambassador Joachim von Ribbentrop & in Italy there
were rumours that in the 1920s Wallis had an affair with Galleazzo Ciano, when
he was posted in Singapore.
After the death of his father in January
1936 the politicians’ unease was increased by the new king’s apparent disinterest
in the affairs of state. State papers were ignored & left about for his
guests to peruse, if they so chose. Prime Minister Baldwin & his colleagues
were concerned when the king spent much of August & September 1936 cruising
in the Mediterranean with his mistress. Although it was not until November that
the king informed Baldwin that he wished to wed a twice divorced woman.
On 10th December Edward
signed the Instrument of Abdication, preferring to marry Wallis Simpson, to
reigning as King of England. It is however believed that Edward offered to
abdicate to get his own way over marrying Wallis. He was unable to believe that
his offer would be accepted, forgetting that the rule of royals to produce ‘an
heir & a spare’ meant that Edward’s brother Albert was available for the
job. As it was Albert, who became George VI, rose to the occasion & was a
source of inspiration to his subjects during the dark days of World War II.
Edward would have caused problems in
British relations with Nazi Germany as his visit as Duke of Windsor in 1937
illustrates. One of Edward’s close associates, a Charles Bedaux, was in close contact
with the Nazi hierarchy & had a home at Berchtesgarden along with Hitler,
Goering & Bormann. Edward would possibly also have interfered in politics.
His brother was a much better choice as monarch.
Bibliography
The Later Stuarts – George Clark,
Oxford University Press 1985
Edward VIII – Frances Donaldson,
Wiedenfeld & Nicholson 1978
James 1 – Antonia Fraser, Book Club
Associates 1974
The Reign of King Henry VI - RA Griffiths, Sutton Publishing 1998
George III – Christopher Hibbert, Viking 1998
King George II & Queen Caroline – John van der Kiste, Sutton Publishing 1997
The Earlier Tudors – JD Mackie, Oxford University Press 1992
Edward III – WM Ormrod, Tempus Publishing 2005
Henry II - W. L. Warren, Yale University Press, 2000
The Princes in the Tower – Alison Weir, Pimlico 1997
www.en.wikipedia.org
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