The "Lost Princes" of English History Quiz

Answer: Robert

At the death of his father Robert succeeded to the title of Duke of Normandy whilst his younger brother, William Rufus, became king of England. When Rufus died the youngest brother, Henry, seized the throne of England before Robert could act. Later Henry defeated Robert's forces in battle to confirm that he was the king.

Answer: Henry I

Henry I had a large number of illegitimate children but lost his only legitimate son and heir in this tragic accident. Henry I's inheritance was then disputed between his daughter, Matilda, and his nephew, Stephen. William Rufus famously never married and never fathered any children.

Answer: Eustace

In the civil war between Stephen and Matilda it was finally agreed that Stephen would reign until his death and that Matilda's son, who became Henry II, would succeed him. Stephen did have one son called William who outlived him but he was debarred from the throne by this agreement.

He died in 1159. The first-born son of Stephen, Baldwin, had died in 1135 before he reached the age of ten.

Answer: John

Arthur was the son of Geoffrey, the third son of Henry II. King John was the fourth son of Henry II. He succeeded to the throne in 1199 after the death of Richard I, his brother. Prince Arthur was believed to have been murdered in 1203. Inevitably suspicion was directed towards King John.

Answer: Edward

Edward of Angouleme died young and his place in the line of succession was taken by his younger brother, Richard. In time Richard became Richard II when his grandfather Edward III died in 1377.

Answer: Tewkesbury

Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI are the Lancastrian kings of England. Henry VII had a distant Lancastrian claim to the throne via his descent from John of Gaunt's later marriage which was only legitimised after it had taken place.

Answer: Edward and Richard

Edward and Richard were the sons of Edward IV by Elizabeth Woodville. On the roll of English kings Edward is recorded as Edward V but he clearly had no opportunity to rule. A discussion about how he was disinherited and whether Richard III was involved in his death still rages interminably.

Answer: Arthur

Arthur was in fact the first husband of Catherine of Aragon who later became the first wife of Henry VIII. At the time of the divorce from Henry VIII a claim was made that the marriage between Catherine and Arthur had been consummated.

Answer: Charles I

Born in Stirling, Henry died in London at the age of 18. He is generally portrayed as being a young man of many virtues and of strict morality. This made him greatly liked by those who hoped for a strong Protestant succession. Some suggestions have been made that he was poisoned but no concrete proof has been brought to light.

Answer: William

William was given the title of the Duke of Gloucester but, like all of Queen Anne's other baby children, he died before he could play a significant part in the world. At Anne's death in 1714 the succession then passed to George I who was a descendant of Charles I's sister Elizabeth

Answer: He was hit on the head by a cricket ball.

Frederick was 44 when he died. Separated from his parents when he was quite young he didn't get on with them at all when he arrived in England as a grown man. After a dissolute time as a youth he settled down to being a strong family man and he and his wife had eight children, amongst them being the future George III. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Answer: Charlotte

If Charlotte had given birth to a healthy child this would have ensured the succession through the line of George IV and Victoria would never have become queen.

Answer: The Duke of Clarence

Albert Victor was succeeded in the position of heir to the throne by George his younger brother who eventually became George V. The Duke of Clarence is the royal personage beloved of "Jack the Ripper" investigators who at one time regarded him as one of the suspects for the grisly series of crimes.

Answer: 1936

Thus we have another Prince of Wales who never became crowned king of England. His title after the abdication was Duke of Windsor. Whatever bad things have been found out about him, including sympathy with the Nazis, the truth still hidden from us is probably far worse.

Answer: Henry II's son, called Henry the Young King

Henry II saw himself as an overlord ruling over an Empire of which England was just a part. Thus his eldest son Henry was allocated England, Richard (later Richard I) was made Duke of Aquitaine, Geoffrey was made Duke of Brittany and John was given nothing.

Henry the Young King was crowned by the Archbishop of York and thus became one of the points in the dispute between Henry II and Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.