20 Deaths That Changed the Line of Succession to the Throne

William Adelin was the only legitimate son of King Henry I of England, which made him the heir to the Norman dynasty. In 1120, he drowned when the “White Ship” sank, leaving his father without a designated male heir. His death helped trigger the long civil war known as the “Anarchy,” which was about as pleasant as its name suggests.

Arthur Tudor was the eldest son of Henry VII and the legitimate heir to the House of Tudor. He married Catherine of Aragon, but died in 1502 at the age of only 15, propelling his younger brother Henry into the spotlight. Henry became Henry VIII, married Catherine himself, and ultimately upended England’s religious history by attempting to dissolve the marriage, thereby sparking the English Reformation. 

Edward, known as the Black Prince, was the famous eldest son of King Edward III and seemed destined to become king. He died in 1376, a year before his father, which meant that the crown passed to his young son. That boy became Richard II, whose tumultuous reign ended in his deposition and helped spark the subsequent conflicts over the English throne. 

Richard II did not die peacefully on the throne; he was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke in 1399 and later died in captivity. His deposition and death allowed Bolingbroke to become Henry IV, thus marking the beginning of the Lancastrian line of kings. This change did not resolve everything, however, as rival claims by the Yorkist branch subsequently helped fuel the War of the Roses.

Henry VI was twice King of England and was twice overwhelmed by the violence of the War of the Roses. After the Yorkists restored Edward IV to the throne in 1471, Henry died in the Tower of London. His death removed the leading Lancastrian king from the picture and strengthened Edward IV’s hold on the throne. 

Edward V was one of the famous “Princes in the Tower,” and his brief reign was never actually exercised. Upon the death of his father, Edward IV, the young Edward was proclaimed king, but his uncle Richard seized power and eventually became Richard III. Edward and his brother disappeared, and their presumed deaths paved the way for Richard’s reign. 

The death of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 turned the English monarchy upside down in the span of a single afternoon. His defeat allowed Henry Tudor to ascend to the throne as Henry VII, bringing an end to the Plantagenet line and marking the beginning of the Tudor dynasty. Henry’s victory also helped bring an end to the War of the Roses, at least politically speaking. 

Prince Henry Frederick, the eldest son of James I of England, was regarded as a promising and dynamic heir. He died of typhoid fever in 1612, leaving his younger brother Charles as the new heir. Charles later became Charles I, and his conflicts with Parliament led to civil war and his execution. 

Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, was Queen Anne’s only child to have survived infancy; he therefore played a crucial role in the Protestant line of succession. He died in 1700 at the age of 11, leaving Anne without a direct heir. His death contributed to the passage of the Act of Settlement, which ultimately brought the House of Hanover to the British throne. 

Princess Charlotte was the only legitimate and much-beloved child of the future George IV, and seemed destined to become queen. Her death in childbirth in 1817 sparked widespread panic over the line of succession, as the next generation suddenly appeared dangerously short of heirs. George III’s unmarried sons then rushed to father legitimate heirs, and one of those children was the future Queen Victoria. 

Frederick, Prince of Wales, was the eldest son of King George II and was destined to inherit the British throne. He died in 1751 before his father, so the succession passed to his son. That grandson became George III, the king remembered for the American Revolution and his very long reign. 

Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286 after falling from his horse, and his death posed a serious succession problem. His children had already died, leaving his young granddaughter Margaret, the Maid of Norway, as his heir. The future of the Scottish monarchy suddenly depended on a child living far away. 

Margaret, the “Maid of Norway,” inherited the Scottish crown while still a child, but she died in 1290 while traveling to her kingdom. Her death left Scotland without a legitimate monarch and paved the way for competing claims by powerful nobles. This conflict eventually led Edward I of England to act as arbiter, marking the beginning of Scotland’s long struggle for independence and sovereignty.

Louis, Duke of Burgundy, was the grandson of Louis XIV of France and the heir apparent after his father. In 1712, he died during an epidemic that also claimed the lives of his wife and one of his sons. These deaths left only one child alive, who later became Louis XV. 

Charles II of Spain died in 1700 without issue, thus bringing an end to the Spanish Habsburg line. His will named Philip of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV of France, as his heir, but this choice terrified the other European powers. This led to the War of the Spanish Succession. 

Tutankhamun died young without leaving an heir, which destabilized the Egyptian royal succession. After his death, the elderly courtier Ay ascended the throne, followed later by Horemheb, who erased much of the royal legacy of the Amarna period. While Tutankhamun’s fame today rests on his tomb, his death had political significance, as it helped bring an end to a fragile royal lineage. 

Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. without leaving behind an adult heir capable of ruling his vast empire. Although his half-brother and his unborn son were part of the line of succession, real power quickly fell into the hands of his generals. The empire fragmented into rival kingdoms ruled by the Diadochi. 

Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, died in 1889 during the Mayerling incident. His death diverted the line of succession from Emperor Franz Joseph’s direct line and ultimately contributed to Franz Ferdinand becoming the heir apparent. This was of considerable significance, as the assassination of Franz Ferdinand subsequently triggered the crisis that led to World War I. 

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne when he was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914. His death shifted the line of succession to Archduke Charles, who later became Emperor Charles I after the death of Franz Joseph in 1916. Of course, this assassination also set off a series of events that led to World War I. 

Nikolai Alexandrovich was the eldest son of Tsar Alexander II and the original heir to the Russian throne. He died in 1865, making his younger brother Alexander the new heir. Alexander later became Alexander III, whose conservative reign shaped the context that his son, Nicholas II, inherited.