Musing on how lucky we are to have the Queen as Head of State (thoughts prompted by the looming threat of President Blair - stay firm Mr. Klaus!), I started wondering who would be King of England now if the Stuarts had remained the ruling house.
It seems that the direct and legitimate male line of the Royal House of Stuart ended with the death of Henry IX, Cardinal York, in 1807. After that date the Headship of the House of Stuart passed through various royal houses, and by various means (descent or marriage) to the House of Wittelsbach, with whom it rests today. The current head of the House of Stuart is Duke Francis II of Bavaria, whose photograph is below, and who succeeded his father in 1996.
The family was specifically excluded from the line of succession to the throne of England, Scotland or Ireland by the Act of Settlement in 1701, and since 1807 they have never tried to make a claim, and in fact discourage their supporters from doing so on their behalf.
No comments:
Post a Comment