Spare to the Throne: Difference between revisions

** William IV of the United Kingdom (reigned 1830-1837) was not an obvious candidate for the throne. He was only the third son of George III. The first was George IV (reigned 1820-1830). The second was Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, a famous military reformer. Frederick was the heir presumptive for most of their brother's reign, but he died suddenly in 1827.

** George V (reigned 1910-1936) was a spare, serving in the Royal Navy for twelve years (1879-1891)--he even got a tattoo of a red and blue dragon on his arm while in Japan. He became the heir when his (somewhat insane, possibly gay) older brother Albert Victor died without issue even before [[Queen Vicky|grandma]] died (giving him on the order of 20 years prepare for the job, but he still would have preferred not to take it at all). It's theorized that the reason these most recent two Georges were such excellent constitutional monarchs is that they hadn't expected the crown and as a result hadn't had the prospect of the crown get to their heads.

*** For one thing, he had a dreadful stammer and a fear of public speaking. Indeed, it's widely suspected that part of the reason for his death at a relatively young age (56) was due to the stress of being King throughout [[WW 2]].

*** It also helped avoid [[Royally Screwed-Up]]: since the two Georges were junior royalty, they were allowed to marry less-royal spouses. George V married Mary of Teck, a fourth cousin and a member of very junior German royalty. George VI married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who wasn't even royal but rather the daughter of a Scottish Earl—in what was essentially a love match, no less (Bertie proposed ''[[Dogged Nice Guy|three times]]'' before she said "yes").

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[[Category:Royalty and Nobility Tropes]]

[[Category:Will and Inheritance Tropes]]