Heir Apparent

The term heir apparent is most often used to refer to someone who is first in the order of succession to a throne and who cannot lose this status by the birth of any other person. It is also used less formally to indicate someone who is an apparent successor to a non-royal position of power, e.g., a political or corporate leader.

Famous Heirs Apparent who never inherited the throne

• Arthur, Prince of Wales - the Prince of Wales and heir apparent of King Henry VII of England and first husband of Catherine of Aragon. His sudden death within four months of his marriage led to the succession to the throne of his younger brother, as Henry VIII, who also married his widow. The question of whether Catherine had lost her virginity to Arthur was central to Henry's demand for a marriage annulment.
• Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria - heir apparent to Emperor Franz Josef of Austria committed suicide with his mistress in 1889.
• Tsarevich Alexei of Russia - youngest child and only son of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and heir apparant to the Russian throne. When Nicholas abdicated in March 1917, he also abdicated in the name of his son, which was, in effect, against the law in Russia. However the monarchy was abolished only days later, so it made little difference. Alexei was murdered in 1918.
• Crown Prince Luiz Filippe of Portugal - Heir apparent to King Carlos. The joint assassination of the King and his heir apparent in 1908 left the throne to the teenage Manuel II of Portugal and Portugal eventually became a republic in 1910.
• the Dauphin Louis Antoine, Duke of Angouleme - eldest son and heir apparent of King Charles X of France Charles however abdicated, together with Louis himself, in favour of Louis' nephew the young Henri, only for the throne to be seized by a cousin, King Louis-Philippe of the French in 1830

(Heir presumptive: Henri, Comte de Chambord - grandson and practical heir of King Charles X of France Charles abdicated in favour of the young Henri, only for the throne to be seized by a cousin, King Louis-Philippe of the French in 1830, and Henri's uncle Duke Louis of Angouleme, the Dauphin also abdicated. Henri turned down a second chance to receive the French throne from the French National Assembly in the early 1870s because he would not accept the tricolour as the French flag.)

Related Topics:
Henri, Comte de Chambord - Charles X of France - Louis-Philippe of the French - Tricolour

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