No Eldest son

The current members of the British royal family

Seated from left: Prince William, Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry.

Standing first row from left: Tim Laurence (second husband of the Princess Royal), Princess Anne the Princess Royal, Zara Phillips (daughter of the Princess Royal), Princess Beatrice (daughter of the Duke of York), Prince Andrew the Duke of York and his youngest daughter Princess Eugenie, Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex and his wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

Last row from left: Peter Phillips (son of the Princess Royal), Daniel Chatto (husband of Lady Sarah), Lady Sarah (daughter of the late Princess Margaret), Prince Michael of Kent (the Queen's cousin) and his wife Princess Michael of Kent, Prince Edward the Duke of Kent and his wife Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, Viscount Linley (son of the late Princess Margaret) and his wife Serena, Viscountess Linley, Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester and her husband Prince Richard the Duke of Gloucester (the Queen's cousin)

Interestingly, in British history, no eldest son of an eldest son mounted the British throne since King George IV succeeded his father, George III, in 1820, nearly 200 years ago.

A little history:

George IV, who for nearly ten years acted as regent for his insane father, was the eldest child among the 13  children of the King and his wife, Queen Charlotte. He married his first cousin, Princess Caroline of Brunswick, when he was still the Prince of Wales. She bore him an only child, Princess Charlotte. But few months after the birth of Charlotte, the couple separated. Caroline left the country four years before George’s accession, upon the death of her father-in-law she returned to England to claim her rights but she was barred from attending the coronation at Westminster Abbey and was not crowned as Queen Consort, nevertheless, she retained her position as a legal wife of the King.

When Charlotte turned 18, she married a dashing young German Prince, Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who would become King Leopold I of Belgium in later years. Unfortunately, the Princess died following a difficult childbirth leaving her father’s younger brothers as potential Kings, during this time, the King’s brothers, except Prince Frederick, the Duke of York, were still wandering around the realm cavorting with several commoner lovers, but since the monarchy’s rule admonished royals to take a royal spouse to retain their places in the line of succession, sons of King George III couldn’t marry their commoner girlfriends so they scrambled to look for royal brides.

George’s third brother, Prince William, the Duke of Clarence, married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Prince Leopold, who became close to his late wife’s uncle, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, introduced his recently widowed sister, Princess Victoria, to Edward, they got married eventually and a had child, Princess Victoria, nine months later, Prince Edward, due to illness, died. Unfortunately, Prince William didn’t have any children as Princess Adelaide’s pregnancy ended up in miscarriages. George III's second son, the Duke of York already separated from his wife, Princess Frederica of Prussia before 1820 and had no legitimate children. When George IV died he was succeeded by the Duke of Clarence who became King William IV and reigned for seven years. He was the last Hanoverian monarch in England. His niece who succeeded him as Queen Victoria could not inherit the Hanoverian crown as the state of Hanover maintained a Salic Law  prohibiting a woman from succeeding, she reigned in England under the House name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Dukedom in Germany where her husband, Prince Albert, and her mother, Princess Victoria, descended. Hanover seat was inherited by her uncle, Prince Ernest Agustus, the Duke of Cumberland.

If Princess Charlotte had lived, or if the Duke of York and the Duke of Clarence had legitimate children, Victoria would never become Queen and British history might have been very different. But then, destiny worked on her side to put her descendants to the throne and gave us the idea of the modern fairytale.

Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in British history, she ascended the throne in 1837 until her death in 1901. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Prince Albert who reigned as King Edward VII from 1901 until 1910, his wife was Princess Alexandra, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark.

Edward VII and Alexandra had six children, but their eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, died several weeks after the announcement of his engagement to Princess Mary of Teck, his younger brother then the Duke of York, was the one who succeeded their father and became King George V, he also married his deceased brother’s fiancée, Princess Mary. The couple had six children and the King was reportedly pleased that three of his four living sons, married suitable women. His second son, Prince Bertie, the Duke of York, married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the youngest daughter of a Scottish Earl. His third son, Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, married Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott, daughter of the 6^th of Duke of Beaccleaugh, a direct descendant of King Charles II. His third son, Prince George, the Duke of Kent, married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. Only one, who was still playing the field and enamored with married women, the heir-apparent, Prince David, the Prince of Wales. This sent so much concern to the King who fretted his heir's inconceivable choice of life.

King George V and Queen Mary. They called Wallis Simpson as "Edward's unholy lover"

In desperation, the King uttered that he prayed David would never get married so that the throne could be passed to his second happily married son, Prince Bertie then to his favorite grandchild, Princess Elizabeth whom he fondly called "Lilibet", within 11 months after his death, George’s heir gave up the throne to marry his commoner lover.

The royal brothers before the abdication crisis. From left: Prince George the Duke of Kent, King Edward VIII (after the abdication he was created Duke of Windsor), Prince Bertie the Duke of York (who would become King George VI) and Prince Henry the Duke of Gloucester

Though the King was often irritated with Bertie’s stammering habit and nervousness in public, he was more pleased to think that the Kingdom would be left with a morally upright royal family. The King strongly maintained that no commoners and divorce people will join his royal court so he made swore his wife, Queen Mary, not to accept Wallis Simpson into the royal fold.

George V died on January 1936, his eldest son, Prince David, ascended the throne as King Edward VIII and the British officials’ headache began. Sir Allan Lascelles, the King’s private secretary, in desperation uttered “it would be better for England, if David was not born” (The Royal Sisters by Anne Edwards). The love-struck King was determined to make his recently divorced mistress, Wallis Simpson, his wife. Though, he could marry Simpson legally and remained King, he would face the horrible rant of his subjects who would never accept a disgraced commoner American woman as their Queen. Threatening a potential scandal that would result to a constitutional crisis, the ministers moved forward and conducted a nationwide poll on the affair of the King and the result was unanimous, either abdicate or abandon Mrs. Simpson.

The young Princess Elizabeth in 1944. She was the favorite grandchild of King George V who affectionately called her "Lilibet"

Edward VIII stubbornly chose the first option much to the disappointment of Prince Bertie, who did not want to become King. In his abdication statement, Edward VIII uttered this very famous line: “It is impossible for me to carry on my duty as King without the support of the woman I love” (The Royal Sisters). This line might sounds so endearing, sweet and romantic to the outsiders, but to the family who valued tradition and duty, it was “downright madness and ultimate betrayal”. Edward VIII was made the Duke of Windsor by his newly ascended King brother, George VI and was told to live outside Great Britain. The Duke of Windsor married Wallis Simpson in France and endured the lonely life in exile, stripped from his inheritance and royal connections, all because of an inappropriate marriage. The royal family’s animosity towards Mrs. Simpson lasted for a lifetime, they never recognized her as member of the British royal family and treated as merely an “outsider”.

King George VI, who struggled nervousness through out his boyhood forcing his tongue to stutter, made effort to heal and reconcile his country battered with anxieties and tension at the height of his brother’s abdication. The weight of the crown, especially during the crisis and terror of World War II, eventually took a huge toll on his health that 16 years later, he died from lung cancer, he was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth.

Now, 59 years on the throne, the Queen remained devoted to her duties, overseeing the progress of the commonwealth and the Kingdom and closely guarding the monarchy’s integrity. As death is the only way of abdicating the throne, Elizabeth II will continue to reign. Her eldest son, Prince Charles, though previously viewed as unfit for the throne because of his immorality, is the heir-apparent and no one else. Though many people favored his son, Prince William, to inherit the crown directly, the palace stressed that succession is not a popularity contest. It is Prince Charles's destiny to become the next monarch and his eldest son will take his turn later.

 The current British monarch, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and her two heirs, Prince Charles and Prince William. Will history favored this time for an eldest son of an eldest son of the monarch to ascend the throne?

But the question is, can history altered the pattern of events and finally allow a son to succeed a father after 200 years? Let’s wait and see

THE BRITISH THRONE

American biographer Kitty Kelly made an impressive research about the lives of the world’s oldest surviving royalty, the British monarchy. In 1994 she started a controversial compilation of “The Royals”, a blow by blow account of the British royal family since the creation of the House of Windsor in 1917. The book was praised in the US (and even managed to become number one in the New York time magazine listing of Best sellers) as a fine masterpiece biography of the world’s most famous family but ridiculed in Britain for being poor in content and inaccurate. According to Ms. Kelly, royalty has a rather appalling than mesmerizing concept. She was quoted that in Great Britain where there is a strict rule for social status; people solely defined by bloodlines, not character, education, achievement or wealth. Royalty stood at the top of humanity’s ladder, everybody else scrambled below with no hope of ascending. During ancient times, commoners were not allowed to mingle with royalty, and no one dared to defy the rules set by them.

The book exposed the most sensitive aspect of the monarchy and the scandals involving some prominent members including the heir apparent, Prince Charles. The first edition was released in the summer of 1997, so controversial that it was not published in Great Britain and the royal family even treated to file a law suit against the biographer. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in particular, was reportedly furious about Ms. Kelly’s revelations which lead to rumors and speculations that the saucy tidbits about the former Greek Royal having various mistresses and his escapade outside his marriage bed might true and accurate.

During Queen Victoria of England’s reign, royalty looked up by many as the true model of elegance, modesty and refinement, but as the 20th century approaches, this medieval principle gnarled to merely illusions as royals themselves are the source of scandals and controversies that hugged headlines throughout the world. In Britain, The Queen’s subjects are all disappointed with their future king, Prince Charles’ behavior that the local newspapers thundered: ABC (Anybody But Charles) and chanted “God Save the Queen and save us from her heir”.

Perhaps the most unforgettable scandal that rocked the establishment was the controversial voluntary abdication of King Edward VIII, eldest son of King George V. When the first Windsor monarch died from pneumonia on January 1936, Prince David ascended immediately as Edward VIII, but his first few months on the throne brought out difficulties that threatened an institutional crisis, the sensitive issue on whether he could take Wallis Simpson as his consort without the opposition of his subjects. Mrs. Simpson, a twice divorce American woman, did not passed the requirements of an ideal Queen Consort, she was even called “Edward’s unholy lover” by the King’s mother, Queen Mary. The Prime Ministers in the British commonwealth of nations reinforced the sentiments of the public by urging the new King to either abandon Wallis or abdicate.

Edward made no hesitation when he chose his lover over duty and tradition. In his unforgettable abdication statement, he said that it’s too impossible for him to continue his kingship without the support of the woman he loved. The news spread through out the world that, according to at least one account, one reporter in New York City exclaimed “it’s the greatest news to hit the world since the resurrection!”. Edward was created Duke of Windsor and literally banished from the court sending his shy brother, Prince Albert or Bertie to the throne. The Duke of York, who by then married to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and has 2 daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, was favored before hand by his father to inherit the crown. Amidst his stammering habit which irritated his father at times, he was solidly married and represented the monarchy with dignity in various official engagements unlike his older brother who cavorted to social gatherings with strings of married women. At the end of his life, George V cursed the primogeniture succession barring his second son Bertie from acquiring the crown, but within eleven months after his death, his favorite son began his rule and reigned for 16 years as George VI and was succeeded by his eldest daughter Elizabeth.

The British monarchy surrounded by mystique and charm, rely mostly on pomp and pageantry, where according to poet Noel Coward “that’s where they do best”. Its ancient symbol the Windsor Castle is the oldest inhabited castle in the world dating back from 11th century, when William the Conqueror choose the site as his official court after his successful invasion from the last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold II. The fortress, composed of cobbled stone and dark archways, is situated south of London above the placid Thames River at Berkshire. 19th century diarist Samuel Pepys dubbed it as the most romantic castle that is in the world.

Today, the monarchy is still alive though haunted with loads of controversies, yet the mystique is still the status symbol of Great Britain. Its current head Queen Elizabeth II reigned for more than 50 years since her accession in 1952 on the death of her father King George VI, continued inspiring her subjects and all its territories and nations with in her realm for whom the citizen affectionately called her, Her Majesty. Scandals and controversies however overshadowed the prestige of the crown. 20th century was probably the most trying times of the monarchy, where all members of the royal family deals with individual’s scandals, but as the old adage goes:" still the show must go on".

Until the 18th century, Great Britain was merely a geographical name. When the last Tudorian Monarch, ELIZABETH I, died without a direct heir, the English throne passed to her distant cousin King James VI of Scotland, this paved the way for the personal union of two kingdoms and in the early 1700 Great Britain was born, hence the Stuart monarch became known as James I of Britain. The last ruler of this house was Queen Anne, she died without issue and was succeeded by his grandfather's great grandchild, George I of Hanover (a tiny princely state in Germany).

The history of British throne largely shaped by controversies spanning from number of decades through different monarchs. George III, the third of the Hanoverian monarchs, suffered severely from insanity that he was partly blamed for giving away some of the American state colonies. At the end of his life, the king, who reportedly seen talking and hugging trees at hide park, was totally blind and neurotic that he was incapable of ruling the kingdom, his eldest son and successor Prince George sat as regent until his father's death nine years later.

The Hanover royal house ended in 1837 when King William IV (George III's 4th son) died without legitimate children. His niece Princess Victoria of Kent succeeded him as Queen Victoria but could not be crowned in Hanover because of the salic law "prohibiting a woman nor a claimant through a woman from acquiring". Instead, she took the name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha from a ducal German territory, where both her mother(Princess Victoria) and husband (Prince Albert, her first cousin) descended. This royal house came to a quick end in 1917 when Victoria's grandson George V decided to change his house name to WINDSOR.  

The first world war brought so much chaos to european royalty that King George secured his kingdom by distancing himself from his royal relatives with German descent. His volatile subjects hated the Huns or the Germans and everything Germanic, so he did nothing when his beloved cousin Nicholas II, the last Russian Emperor (whose German wife Alexandra was George V's first cousin also through Queen Victoria) was forced to abdicate and later massacred (with his wife Empress Alexandra and their 5 young children) by the Bolshevics at Ekaterenberg. When his cousin Prince Louis of Battenberg (whose wife Princess Victoria of Hesse was George V's cousin also and the elder sister of Empress Alexandra of Russia), was forced to resign his position in the Royal Navy partly because of his German roots and relinquished his princely title, the king offered him the noble title Marquess Milford Haven and admonished to anglicize his name from Battenberg to Mountbatten to well suit with the english people without a German ribbon. The conscious king was still worried that he sat with his advisers for the name changing, his private secretary Lord Stamfhordam proposed for the name of Windsor, this satisfied the king and proclaimed on July 1917 that his family and all his descendants would be styled and must bear the name Windsor from now on.

The present monarch of that name is Elizabeth II, said to be the favorite grandchild of George V, she made a formal announcement in 1960 that although she's married to Prince Philip (Prince Louis of Battenberg's grandson and Elizabeth's third cousin through Queen Victoria and himself a Greek Prince, but renounced his royal title and the Greek Orthodox religion in 1946 and adopted his maternal surname Mountbatten), she, unlike other women in the realm would not carry her husband's name instead she emphasized that her descendants who are not direct succeessors to the throne, would carry the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. Her only sister, The Princess Margaret (who died in 2002), made headlines in 1953 when she was involved in a romantic relationship with a divorced commoner man Peter Townsend, the relationship created much tension in Britain. As Princess of the blood royal and in line with the succession of the British throne, Margaret is not permitted to marry a divorce person (at that time British establishment frowned a marriage among royals with a divorce partner and was strongly prohibited by the church of England). Margaret was forced to retreat and sought another man's affection in the person of Tony Armstrong-Jones, a royal court photographer, they married less than a year and the Queen created Armstrong-Jones, the first Earl of Snowdon so that her sister would have a peer wife status. 18 years later the Princess was the first reigning sovereign's direct family to disband her marriage vows. Two decades later, all of the Queen's three children plunged to what the monarchy's dreaded most-DIVORCE.

The heir apparent, Prince Charles, took his first trip to the altar in 1981 with the pretty Earl of Althorp's daughter, Lady Diana Spencer, their union, speculated by the media and sensationalized by the tabloid to be deemed even at the beginning, produced two sons Prince William and Prince Harry. The Princess of Wales who was more popular than her husband, won adulation through out the globe, she dazzled wherever she goes and inspired many with her unique charm, compassion and beauty. She established various charities and had a special magic to connect with people from different walks of life. Her sudden death in 1997, brought controversies even more to the House of Windsor.

No one can ever tell if the present Prince of Wales could really mount the throne as Charles III. In English history, no other divorced monarch ascended the throne since George I, the first of the Hanoverian monarchs. As this issue became a rallying point by Charles' detractors against him and given the fact that most of his future subjects were equally disappointed with his behavior when Diana was still alive, it is uncertain whether he could really follow the footsteps of his long line of ancestors occupying the mystical place of the highest throne on earth.