Pretender
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Template:Former monarchic orders of succession
A pretender is a claimant to an abolished throne or to a throne already occupied by somebody else. The English word pretend comes from the French word prétendre, meaning "to put forward, to profess or claim". The term pretender is also applied to those persons on whose behalf a claim to a throne is advanced, regardless of whether that person himself actually makes an active claim.[citation needed] Significantly, the word pretender applies both to claimants with arguably genuine rights to the throne (such as the various pretenders of the Wars of the Roses), and to those with wholly fabricated claims (such as the pretender to Henry VII's throne Lambert Simnel). People in the latter category often assume the identities of deceased or missing royals, and are sometimes referred to for clarity as false pretenders or royal impersonators. A Papal pretender is instead called an Antipope, but some antipopes did rule as pope, and might only be declared an antipope afterward.[1]
Modern pretenders
The following list contains current pretenders. During the monarchical period of some countries listed here, there was no reigning house as it is known in the European sense – those are for example Tibet or the Central African Empire. These countries have a– in the column "House".
Europe
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Germany
Some of the former German monarchies are not listed here because all eligible dynasts of the respective formerly reigning houses are extinct: The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 2001, the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg in 1991 and the principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (since 1909 in personal union with Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt) in the male line in 1971. There may be potential claimants to the entirety of Schwarzburg, however.
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Italy
Modena, Naples and Parma do not mean the Italian cities but the former states on the territory of present-day's Italy.
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Africa
| Country |
Pretender |
Born |
Pretender since |
Link to past monarchy |
House |
Heir |
Born | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Benin | Erediauwa I | 1953 | 1978 | Great-grandson of Oba Overami (Oba from 1888 to 1897) | Oba | ? | |
| File:Flag of Burundi (1962 to 1966).svg | Burundi | Princess Rosa Paula Iribagiza | 1934 | 1977 | daughter of Mwambutsa IV (King from 1915 to 1966) | Ntwero | ? | |
|
Central Africa | Jean-Bédel Bokassa II | 1975 | 1996 | son of Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa I (1976 to 1979) | Bokassa | — | |
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Egypt | Fu'ād II | 1952 | 1953 | King from 1952 to 1953 | Muhammad 'Ali | Muhammad Ali, Prince of Said | 1979 |
| File:Flag of Ethiopia (1897).png | Ethiopia | Zera Yacob Amha Selassie | 1953 | 1997 | grandson of Haile Selassie I (Emperor from 1930 to 1936 and from 1941 to 1974) | Solomon | Paul Wossen Sagad Makonnen | 1947 |
| Ethiopia (Iyasuist) |
Girma Yohannis Iyasu | 1961 | ? | grandson of Iyasu V (Emperor from 1913 to 1916) | — | |||
|
Libya | Muhammad as-Senussi | 1962 | 1992 | great nephew of Idris I (King from 1951 to 1969) | Senussi | — | |
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Rwanda | Kigeli V | 1935 | 1961 | King from 1959 (de facto from 1954) to 1961 | Ndahindurwa | — | |
|
South Kasai | Albert I Kalonji Ditunga | 1919 or 1929 | 1961 | proclaimed King in 1961 | – | — | |
|
|
Sudan | Fu'ād II | 1952 | 1953 | King from 1952 to 1953 | Muhammad 'Ali | Muhammad Ali, Prince of Said | 1979 |
|
Tunisia | Prince Muhammad Bey | 1928 | 2006 | descendant of Muhammad V an-Nasir (Bey from 1906 to 1922) | Husainid | ? | |
|
Zanzibar | Jamshid bin Abdullah Al-Busaidi | 1929 | 1964 | Sultan from 1963 to 1964 | Sa'îd | Sayyid Ali bin Jamshid Al Busaidi | ? |
Americas
| Country |
Pretender |
Born |
Pretender since |
Link to past monarchy |
House |
Heir |
Born | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Araucania and Patagonia | Prince Felipe of Araucania | 1927 | 1951 | heir of Orélie Antoine I (self-proclaimed King from 1860 to 1878) | Boiry | ? | |
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Brazil (Vassouras branch) |
Prince Luís Gastão of Orléans-Braganza | 1938 | 1981 | great-great-grandson of Pedro II (Emperor from 1831 to 1889) | Orléans-Braganza (a sub-line of the House of Orléans, a sub-line of the House of Bourbon) |
Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza | 1941 |
| Brazil (Petrópolis branch) |
Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza | 1945 | 2007 | great-great-grandson of Pedro II (Emperor from 1831 to 1889) | Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza | 1979 | ||
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Mexico | Don Maximilian von Götzen-Itúrbide | 1944 | 1949 | descendant of Salvador de Itúrbide y de Marzán, grandson of Agustín I (Emperor from 1822 to 1823) | Itúrbide | Don Fernando von Götzen-Itúrbide | 1992 |
|
Miskito Nation | Norton Cuthbert Clarence | ? | 1978 | since 1978 pretender to the Miskito Kingdom and hereditary chief of the Miskito Nation | ? | ? | |
Asia
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India
Satara, Surat, Alwar, Balasinor, Banganapalle, Baroda, Bhopal, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Idar, Indore, Jodhpur Kolhapur Mysore and Udaipur do not mean the Indian cities but the former states on the territory of present-day's India.
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Oceania
| Country |
Pretender |
Born |
Pretender since |
Link to past monarchy |
House |
Heir |
Born | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | John Cecil Clunies-Ross (Ross V) | 1928 | 1978 | self-proclaimed King from 1944 to 1978 | Clunies-Ross | John George Clunies-Ross | 1957 |
|
Hawaii | Quentin Kūhiō Kawananākoa | 1961 | 1998 | current head of the descendants of Lili'uokalani (Queen from 1891 to 1893) | Kawananākoa | Kincaid Kawananākoa | 1996 |
| Owana Kaʻohelelani Mahealani-rose Salazar | 1953 | 1988 | descendant of Kalokuokamaile half-brother of Kamehameha (King from 1795 to 1819) | Keoua Nui | Noa Kalokuokamaile DeGuire | 1981 | ||
Pretenders in the Roman Empire
Ancient Rome knew many pretenders to the office of Roman Emperor, especially during the crisis of the Third Century.
These are customarily referred to as the Thirty Tyrants, which was an allusion to the Thirty Tyrants at Athens some five hundred years earlier; although the comparison is questionable, and the Romans were separate aspirants, not (as the Athenians were) a Committee of Public Safety. The Loeb translation of the appropriate chapter of the Augustan History therefore represents the Latin triginta tyranni by "Thirty Pretenders" to avoid this artificial and confusing parallel. Not all of them were afterwards considered pretenders; several were actually successful in becoming Emperor in at least in part of the Empire for a brief period.
Greek pretenders
The pretender to the throne of the last Greek kingdom is Constantine II, King from 1964 to 1973 of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
(sub-line of the House of Oldenburg) and his son Crown Prince Pavlos. In addition there are pretendenders to other Greek thrones:
The Byzantine Empire
Disputed successions to the Empire continued at Constantinople. Most seriously, after the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and its eventual recovery by Michael VIII Palaeologus, there came to be three Byzantine successor states, each of which claimed to be the Roman Empire, and several Latin claimants (including the Republic of Venice and the houses of Montferrat and Courtenay) to the Latin Empire the Crusaders had set up in its place. There were sometimes multiple claimants to some of the inheritances, as well.
Cypriot pretenders
Following the defeat and death of King Jacques III of Cyprus in 1474, his younger and illegitimate brother, Eugene Matteo de Armenia (c1485-1523) had moved to Sicily, then Malta. He was acknowledged as Heir to Cyprus, Armenia, Jerusalem and Antioch, though he never took it seriously. From a genealogical point, Eugene Matteo (de Lusignan) de Armenia was created a Sicilian title and worked as a Jurat in Malta and in Sicily.
French pretenders
Following the death of the childless legitimist pretender "Henry V," Comte de Chambord, grandson of King Charles X of France in the 1880s, the majority of French monarchists accepted his distant relative, the Orleanist pretender, the Comte de Paris, grandson of King Louis-Philippe (who descends from King Louis XIII) as the pretender to the French throne. A small minority refused to accept this designation, and chose instead a descendant of Louis XIV and the Spanish line.
The arguments are, on one side, that Philip V of Spain renounced any future claim to the French throne when he became King of Spain, and that the Dukes of Orleans were therefore recognized as the next heirs before the French Revolution. On the other side, that this renunciation was invalid and impossible, and (in some cases) that Philippe Égalité and Louis-Philippe forfeited any remaining right to the crown for disloyalty.
There is also a pretender to the imperial throne of France, in the person of Charles Napoléon, descendant of the Prince Napoléon.
German pretenders
The Hohenzollern of Prussia
Since the abolition of the German monarchy in 1918, the heads of the House of Hohenzollern have claimed to be the titular Kings of Prussia and German Emperors. These claims are linked by the Constitution of the former (2nd) German Empire: according to this, whoever was King of Prussia was also German Emperor, although that Empire was abolished, making the link somewhat tenuous.
| Hohenzollern pretenders to the Prussian and German Thrones | |||
| Image | Name | Titular Reign |
Comments |
|
Wilhelm II | 1918-1941 | Exiled in the Netherlands until his death |
| File:KPWilhelm.jpg | Crown Prince William | 1941-1951 | |
|
Prince Louis Ferdinand | 1951-1994 | |
|
Prince Georg Friedrich | since 1994 | |
The Habsburgs of Austria
| Habsburg pretenders to the Austrian throne | |||
| Image | Name | Titular Reign |
Comments |
|
Otto von Habsburg | 1912- | renounced all claims |
The Wittelsbachs of Bavaria
| Wittelsbach pretenders to the Bavarian throne | |||
| Image | Name | Titular Reign | Comments |
| File:Princefranzofbavaria.JPG | Franz, Duke of Bavaria | 8 July 1996 - present | |
The Welfs of Hanover
| Guelph pretenders to the Electorship of Hannover | |||
| Image | Name | Titular Reign |
Comments |
| File:Ernst August, Prince of Hanover.JPG | Ernst August, Prince of Hanover | present head of the Welfs | |
Other pretenders to the imperial throne include Albert II of Belgium who is a member of the Wettin family and head of the Saxe Coburg house, who were formerly kinmfso Saxony. (Belgium like Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland formed part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation), but not members of the Nassau dynasty of the Netherlands (or of Luxemburg), since this house has ceased in the male line and thus is not reaaly Nassau anymore. The other imperial dynasties like the Carolingians, Luxemburgers , Ottonians, etc now also extinct.
pretenders to the german kingdoms
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Some of the former German monarchies are not listed here because all eligible dynasts of the respective formerly reigning houses are extinct: The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 2001, the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg in 1991 and the principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (since 1909 in personal union with Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt) in the male line in 1971. There may be potential claimants to the entirety of Schwarzburg, however.
Russian pretenders
There is much debate over who is the legitimate heir to the Russian throne. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna is considered by some to be the legitimate heir. She is the daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir who some considered the last male dynast. Supporters of Prince Nicholas' claim believe she is born of a morganatic marriage and therefore not entitled to inherit the throne under strict Russian succession law. Unequal marriages have made tracking a legitimate heir to the Russian throne very difficult, and some believe there is no legitimate heir at all. Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia a descendant of Emperor Nicholas I and president of Romanov Family Association believes himself to be Grand Duke Vladimir's successor. He is regarded by some as the head of the family,[28] but supporters of Grand Duchess Maria's claim believe he is born of a morganatic marriage and therefore not entitled to inherit the throne under strict Russian succession law, Prince Nicholas disputes this and considers himself a Russian dynast. Those who impersonated the murdered daughters of Nicholas II were not pretenders to the throne, as women could not succeed to the Russian throne while a male dynast was alive. Anna Anderson attempted to prove she was the lost daughter of Nicholas II, Anastasia, but DNA testing on her remains proved her claim false.
English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and British pretenders
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England and Scotland
Pretenders to the thrones of the United Kingdom and its predecessor realms, as well as the other historical jurisdictions that are modernly England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, have existed from time to time, though there are now very few. Ireland declared itself a republic in 1948, essentially rendering the discussion of modern Irish pretenders a moot point. Among those who have been pretenders to the thrones of the United Kingdom and/or its predecessor or constituent nations are:
- James Francis Edward Stuart, the Roman Catholic son of the deposed King James VII and II, was barred from the succession to the throne by the Act of Settlement 1701. Notwithstanding the Act of Union 1707, he claimed the separate thrones of Scotland, as James VIII, and of England and Ireland, as James III, until his death in 1766. In Jacobite terms, Acts of Parliament (of England or Scotland) after 1688, (including the Acts of Union) did not receive the required Royal Assent of the legitimate Jacobite monarch and, therefore, were without legal effect.
- Charles Edward Stuart, James' elder son, the would-be Charles III, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, died in 1788. His younger brother, Henry Benedict Stuart, took up the claim to the throne as the would-be Henry IX of England, though he was the final Jacobite heir to publicly do so. He died in 1807.
The current Jacobite pretender is Franz, Duke of Bavaria, though he himself does not claim the title.
Wales
Owain Glyndŵr (1349-1416) is probably the best-known Welsh pretender, though whether he was pretender or Prince of Wales depends upon your source of information. Officially, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, who died in 1282, was the last native and arguably greatest Prince of Wales. Since 1301, the Prince of Wales has been the eldest living son of the King or Queen Regnant of England (subsequently of Great Britain, 1707, and of United Kingdom, 1801). The word "living" is important. Upon the death of Arthur, Prince of Wales, Henry VII invested his second son, the future Henry VIII, with the title. The title is not automatic, however, but merges into the Crown when a prince dies or accedes to the throne, and has to be re-conferred by the sovereign.
Nevertheless, it is Glyndŵr whom many remember as the last native Prince of Wales. He was indeed proclaimed Prince of Wales by his supporters on 16 September 1400, and his revolt in quest of Welsh independence was not quashed by Henry IV until 1409. Later, however, one of Glyndŵr's cousins, Owain Tudor, would marry the widow of Henry V, and their grandson would become Henry VII, from whom the current British monarch is descended (through his daughter Margaret Tudor, who was married off to James IV of Scotland).
Ireland
The business of Irish pretenders is rather more complicated because of the nature of kingship in Ireland before the Norman take-over of 1171. In both Ireland and Scotland, succession to kingship was elective, often (if not usually) by contest, according to matrilineal descent. That is, the head of state of any kingdom, sub-kingdom, high kingdom, etc., was always a king, but the king always inherited the crown through his mother, as a ranking princess royal, not through his father. (See, e.g., The Lion in the North: A Personal View of Scotland's History, by John Prebble ISBN 0-14-003652-0; among other works.)
Thus, you, as king, would not be succeeded by your own son but would normally be succeeded by your mother's other sons; then by your sisters' sons; then, your maternal aunt's sons; and so on, traveling through the female line of the royal house. This combination of male succession through matrilineal descent produced a cumbersome system under which the throne passed cyclically from brother to brother, then uncle to nephew, and then cousin to cousin, before starting over as brother to brother, uncle to nephew, etc. {See, e.g., The Lion in the North: A Personal View of Scotland's History, by John Prebble; among other works.} In Ireland, however, the high king from the time of Maelsheachlainn I (died 862) exercised a measure of control over the country. He belonged to the Ui Neill dynasty and under the Brehon laws, succession was open to any kinsman up to and including second cousin. His dynasty is today represented by the O'Neill family who would regard their head as the pretender. The O Conor dynasty provided two high kings and the head of the family, the O Conor Don, would also be considered a pretender to the Irish throne. The descendants of Brian Boroimhe are represented by Lord Inchiquin, who is also regarded as a claimant. In addition, pretenders or claimants exist to the localised kingdoms of Breifne, Fermanagh, Tyrconnel and Leinster. The O'Neills would also be regarded as claimants to the throne of Aileach and Lord Inchiquin to the throne of Thomond.
In Scotland, Malcolm II tried to get around this system by killing off all of the heirs between himself and his grandson, Duncan; except for Prince Lulach of Moray, who was just five years old at the time and - more importantly - was successfully rumoured to be half-witted (thus, he survived). Duncan I did become king, but Lulach's stepfather, Maelbeth - rendered "Macbeth" in English - successfully claimed the throne in his own right and on Lulach's behalf.
Duncan I's son, Malcolm III 'Canmore', ultimately returned from exile in England and took the throne from Maelbeth and Lulach (the latter reigning 1057-1058, after the death of Maelbeth in battle against Malcolm). Malcolm was succeeded by his brother, as Duncan II, but then by four of his own sons - one of whom, Edgar (1097-1107), changed the official language of Scotland from Gàidhlig (then, still a Scottish dialect of Old Irish) to Scots (then, a language similar to English but missing the Saxon element that has always been part of standard English). Gaelic dominance of Scotland ended during the reign of Alexander I (1107-1124), and the old Celtic system of matrilineal kingship finally ended and was replaced by a system of primogeniture.
Such a transition never happened in Ireland, but civil war and the imposition of Anglo-Norman rule intervened. Although Ireland had been culturally unified for centuries, it was not politically unified, even as a tribal nation. The High King of Ireland was essentially a ceremonial, pseudo-federal overlord (where his over-lordship was even recognised), who exercised actual power only within the realm of which he was actually king. In the case of the southern branch of the Uí Niall, this would have been the Kingdom of Meath (modernly the counties of Meath, West Meath and part of County Dublin). High Kings from the northern branch of the family ruled various kingdoms in what eventually became the province of Ulster.
Nevertheless, the Uí Niall were apparently powerful in ceremony if not in politic, so that political unification of Ireland was not aided by the usurpation of the high kingship from Mael Sechnaill II and the southern Uí Niall in 1002 by Briain ‘Boruma’ mac Cennédig, of the Kingdom of Munster. This was the third of the so-called "Three Usurpations of Brian Boru."
Brian Boru was a strong king who could have unified Ireland politically, and there is some suggestion he intended to make himself High King of Scotland as well. But he was killed in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, and twelve years as High King was not long enough to unify the island politically. Mael Sechnaill II was restored to the High Kingship but he died in 1022, too soon to undo the damage done by Brian's "coup." From 1022 through the Norman take-over of 1171, the High Kingship was held by "Kings with Opposition" - that is, whoever was strong enough to overthrow the High King of the day and take the Hill of Tara simply did so. This 150-year period of regnal unrest between families now called O'Brian, O'Conner, McLoughlin/O'Melaghlin, and others, was eventually immortalised in the children's game called "King of the Hill." The game is still popular among American children, who take turns trying to push each other off a low stool, chair, or other make-shift hill while arguing, "I'm king of the hill!" "No! I'm king!"
Because the native Irish high kingship never transitioned to a system of nation-state kingship primogeniture but simply faded into an oblivion of civil war between competing Irish royal families, there are literally as many as a million or more people[citation needed] who can make a claim to the ancient high kingship of Tara that is as equally valid as anybody else's under the old system disrupted by what may be called Brian Boru's "coup de tribe." Indeed, as a reputed descendant of Brian Boru and of the Uí Niall Dynasty both through his late grandmother, the current heir to the statutory throne that includes Northern Ireland, Prince Charles, could be considered a viable pretender[citation needed] to the high kingship of Ireland, especially as he would be making the claim through the female line of his ancestry. (The British Royal Family has publicly claimed descent from Brian Boru through the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and from other ancestors associated with the Ui Niall Dynasty - usually via marriage through the Royal Family's Scottish ancestry; see the history section of the Royal Family's website for bloodlines and timelines.) But see the remarks above regarding existing native dynasties, whose claims are more valid than those of the current British royal family.
Interestingly, some Irish rebels discussed offering the Irish throne to Prince Joachim of Prussia (son of Kaiser Wilhelm II) before the 1916 Easter Rising. This was obviously anti-English sentiment following the execution of the leaders of the rebellion. After the failure of the Rising (whose leaders established an Irish republic; the royalists were a minority among the rebels), the offer was, of course, never made. But had he been crowned, and Ireland had subsequently became a republic, Joachim's son, Franz Wilhelm, would be an Irish pretender; and, afterward, his son, George of Russia, would be an Irish as well as a Russian pretender.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
Since the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, many European rulers have claimed to be its rightful heir. None of these, however, have actually ruled over a part of the former Kingdom. Today there are several potential European claimants on the basis of the inheritance of the title. None of the claimants have any power in the area of the former Kingdom. See the article Kings of Jerusalem for a list of potential claimants.
Outside of Europe, the Emperors of Ethiopia held the title of "King of Zion" through their claim of descent from the Biblical House of David through his son King Solomon. Menelik II dropped the use of this title. The Ethiopian Emperors continued to use the honorific of "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah" up until the monarchy ended with the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974.
False pretenders
A number of individuals have claimed to be princes who disappeared or died under somewhat mysterious circumstances:
- Anna Anderson, who was one of several persons who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia
- Bertrand of Rais, who claimed to be Baldwin I of Constantinople
- Lambert Simnel, who claimed to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick
- Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York
- Yemelyan Pugachev, who claimed to be Peter III of Russia
- The three false Dimitris of Russia
- Karl Wilhelm Naundorff, who was one of over thirty persons who claimed to be Louis XVII of France
There have also been individuals who claimed to be descendants of royalty:
- Eugenio Lascorz, who claimed descent from the Lascaris of Byzantium
- Alexis Brimeyer, who claimed connections to various European royal houses
- Pierre Plantard, who claimed descent from Merovingian king Dagobert II
- Michel Roger Lafosse, who claims descent from Charles Edward Stuart
- Hiromichi Kumazawa (so-called "The Kumazawa Tenno"), who claimed descent from the last Tenno of Nancho (the Southern Court) of Japan
- Obren Christic, claimed illegitimate son of Milan I of Serbia.
- Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburgo-Bragança, claimed adulterine (illegitimate) daughter of Charles I of Portugal.
- Rosario Poidimani, designated heir of Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburgo-Bragança (above indicated).
Japanese descendants of Chinese emperors
Japanese clans like the Hata clan were descended from the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. See the article within Japanese clans for other descendants of Chinese emperors in Japan.
See also
Notes
- ^ See for example the Antipope Christopher.
- ^ a b Otto von Habsburg "renounced" his claim in order to pass freely into Austria. However, he continues to act (and is supported) as Head of the House of Habsburg.
- ^ Simeon was democratically elected as Prime Minister of Bulgaria in June 2001 under the name Simeon Sakskoburggotski, and served from July 2001 to August 2005.
- ^ His son Prince Jean-Christophe was appointed heir in the will of his grandfather Prince Louis Napoléon
- ^ After the breakup of Yugoslavia the present-day states are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
- ^ The Margrave has appointed his nephew Prince Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe as his heir
- ^ now united to Hesse and by Rhine, but actually an electorate and landgraviate)
- ^ Saisoneröffnung auf Gedenkstätte an Preußenkönigin Luise
- ^ "Saisoneröffnung in Hohenzieritz". Official website of the House of Hohenzollern. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ A letter by Duke Georg Borwin of Mecklenburg
- ^ officially the Grand Duchy of Saxony
- ^ Princess Juliana Katharina of Anhalt is styled hereditary princess on the family's genealogical listing maintained on their website.
- ^ Prince Carlo's grandfather Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro was unanimously declared Head of the Bourbon Two Sicilies by all relatives except for Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria and his children due to the fact that the Infante's senior branch of the family abdicated their claims in order to be in line for the Spanish throne.
- ^ The Emperors of the Qīng the dynasty descend from the Aisin Gioro clan (chinese 爱新觉罗, „Àixīnjuéluó“).
- ^ Unofficially.
- ^ Declared Empress of Korea symbolically in 2006.
- ^ The Yi family consists of descendants of the Chosŏn Emperors.
- ^ Anthony Brooke was appointed hereditary Rajah Muda of Sarawak on August 27, 1937 but has since renounced any claim to the title.
- ^ Officially religious and secular head of Tibet − since the Chinese occupation in 1950 administration from Indian exile as far as possible.
- ^ The Indian government recognizes Mirza Ghulam Moinuddin Muhammad as current head of the House of Tīmūr.
- ^ The Margrave has appointed his nephew Prince Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe as his heir
- ^ now united to Hesse and by Rhine, but actually an electorate and landgraviate)
- ^ Saisoneröffnung auf Gedenkstätte an Preußenkönigin Luise
- ^ "Saisoneröffnung in Hohenzieritz". Official website of the House of Hohenzollern. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ A letter by Duke Georg Borwin of Mecklenburg
- ^ officially the Grand Duchy of Saxony
- ^ Princess Juliana Katharina of Anhalt is styled hereditary princess on the family's genealogical listing maintained on their website.
- ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark