Never King Trivia Quiz

Answer: Edward of Caernarvon

According to legend, after Edward I defeated the last indigenous prince of Wales, he promised the Welsh people he would give them a new prince, born in Wales. He duly had his pregnant wife give birth in Caernarvon (now spelt Caernarfon) and made him Prince of Wales in 1301. Since then the Prince of Wales has been the title held by the eldest sons of the English, and later British, monarchs.

Edward of Caernarvon ascended the English throne in 1307 as Edward II. Edward of Middleham (also known as the Black Prince) was the eldest son of Edward III, Edward of Westminster was the only son of Henry VI and Edward of Middleham was the only son of Richard III.

Answer: Henry Frederick

Henry Frederick was well liked by the people and many historians question whether the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (including the English Civil War) would ever have taken place had he come to the throne instead of Charles.

Answer: His great-grandson

The Sun King outlived his son and grandson, both called Louis, and was succeeded by his infant great-grandson, Louis XV.

Louis XV would also outlive his son Louis and be succeeded by the fateful Louis XVI.

Answer: George IV

Princess Charlotte died in childbirth, aged only 21, in 1817 (three years before her father George, Prince of Wales, became king). Her son died with her, prompting an unseemly rush amongst Prince George's bachelor brothers to marry and produce an heir. The race was ultimately won by Edward, Duke of Kent. His daughter, born in 1819, went on to become Queen Victoria.

Answer: James II & VII's

James's birth in 1688 precipated the Glorious Revolution of 1688. As a male heir he displaced his Protestant half-sisters, Mary and Anne, in the line of succession. The English Protestant nobility, had been prepared to tolerate the Catholic James II & VII in the knowledge that he would in time be succeeded by one of his Protestant daughters. However, the birth of a Catholic male heir changed all that and Princess Mary and her husband, William of Orange, were invited to take the English and Scottish thrones, overthrowing King James who went into exile with his wife and son.

A number of uprisings attempted to place Prince James on the throne after the death of his sister, Queen Anne. The most notable of these Jacobite Risings were in 1715 and 1745, the latter led by Prince James's son, Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Answer: Rudolf

Archduke Rudolf, the son of Emperor Franz Josef, died in an apparent joint suicide with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at Mayerling, although many conspiracy theories developed suggesting the couple had been murdered.

Rudolf's death meant Franz Ferdinand in time became heir to his uncle, the Emperor. However, Franz Ferdinand's own death in Sarajevo meant that when Franz Josef died, the thrones of Austria and Hungary passed to his great-nephew, Karl.

Answer: Henry VIII

As well as taking Arthur's place as heir and ultimately king, Henry also married Arthur's widow, the young Catherine of Aragon, a marriage that would have enormous consequences for Henry, Catherine and English religion and history.

Answer: Spain

Juan de Bourbon, Count of Barcelona was the son of Alphonso XIII of Spain but was denied the throne after his father was deposed in favour of a republic in 1931. When the Spanish monarchy was restored following the death of General Franco in 1975, it was Juan's son, Juan Carlos, who took the throne although Juan was still alive at the time.

Answer: His brother Michael

Michael declined to accept the throne a day later and the Russian monarchy effectively came to an end, although Grand Duke Kyrill Romanov would later claim the title of Emperor in Exile after the deaths of most of the imperial family.

Answer: Albert Victor

Albert Victor was the eldest son of Prince Albert Edward, himself the eldest son of Queen Victoria and later Edward VII. However, Albert Victor (or Eddy as he was known to his family) died in 1892, nine years before his father ever came to the throne.

In recent years, Prince Eddy has gained a posthumous notoriety as a suspect in the Jack the Ripper killings.