What Actually Happened To History's Royal Spares?

The story of Henry VIII’s six wives made him one of Britain’s most infamous monarchs, but if things had gone according to plan, he never would have even been king. For the first 11 years of his life, Henry was the “spare” and his older brother, Prince Arthur, was the heir. 

In early 1502, Prince Arthur and his wife, Catherine (who would later become Henry VIII’s first wife), caught the “sweating sickness.” While Catherine recovered, Arthur did not. 

Prior to becoming heir, Henry was prepped for a career in the church and educated in a variety of topics, including music and sports. According to one historian, his life was vastly different than his brother’s, so much so that they likely didn’t spend more than a few months together when Arthur was alive. 

Instead, while Arthur was groomed to be King of England one day, surrounded by men and with his own household, Henry was raised by their mother and surrounded by her primarily female household. Then, Arthur’s sudden death paved the way for Henry VIII’s notorious reign and, quite literally, altered the course of history.  

On December 11, 1936, King Edward VIII became the first King of England to abdicate the throne by his own choice. Edward insisted on marrying Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American woman. The prospect of having an American divorcee as queen was a scandal Parliament refused to support, thereby forbidding Edward from marrying the woman he loved. Rather than relent, Edward gave up his crown, and his younger brother, George, inherited the throne in his stead. 

As the “spare,” George VI’s sudden ascension to the throne was unexpected, to say the least. To say the most, though, George VI reportedly never wanted to be King and was content with his life as the younger brother. Nevertheless, he took up the mantle and lead the country through World War II. 

From a young age, Philippe, Duc d’Orleans, younger brother of King Louis XIV, was encouraged to dress up as a girl and act effeminately so as not to threaten the reign of his brother, the way Louis XIII’s younger brother Gaston did. This fear of a rivalry between the brothers and later Louis XIV’s own jealousy assured that no matter what Philippe did, he remained in the background so as not to outshine his brother.

Later in life, Philippe turned out to be an accomplished military leader, defeating William of Orange in the Dutch War, which saw Philippe’s French forces face the combined forces of the Spanish and the Dutch. After this accomplishment, Philippe returned to France a war hero and received so much acclaim that, allegedly jealous of Philippe’s success and attention, Louis XIV barred him from commanding forces ever again. 

In preventing Philippe from achieving further military acclaim, Louis XIV ensured his younger brother would never amass enough support to challenge his throne - the theme that dominated Philippe’s life. 

William the Conqueror successfully conquered England in 1066, becoming King of England in addition to being the Duke of Normandy. Upon his death, rather than appoint his eldest son, Robert Curthouse, King of England, he named his second son, William Rufus, king. Robert was given Normandy. 

William was a hugely unpopular ruler, with a series of nobles campaigning for Robert to replace him as King. After handily defeating the rebels, William secured Robert’s allegiance along with half of Normandy, cutting down Robert’s inheritance even further. 

Defeating Robert wasn’t the end of William’s tenuous grasp on the throne. In addition to taking half of Normandy from Robert, William effectively disinherited his younger brother, Henry. When William died after being shot in the back during a hunting trip 11 years into his reign, Henry, who was on the hunting trip, quickly seized the English throne for himself. This lead to suspicions that Henry was behind the so-called accident, especially as the other members of the hunting party gained considerable favor during Henry’s reign.

Richard the Lionheart’s road to the throne was a tumultuous one; it started when King Henry II decided he would split his lands evenly among his three sons, a plan his eldest son, Henry the Young King, strongly opposed. The Young King joined forces with his younger brother, Richard, as well as the kings of France and Scotland, to rebel against Henry II. Ultimately, Henry II defeated his sons, but there was never any real peace made. 

Instead, after the sudden death of Henry the Young King, Richard led another revolt against their father. This time, Henry II asked Richard to give up his inheritance of Aquitaine. Richard refused and joined forces with King Philip II of France. Together, Richard and Philip defeated Henry II in battle, forcing the King of England to recognize Richard as his heir. A few weeks later, after the death of Henry II, Richard the Lionheart was King of England. 

Queen Victoria’s second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, had the opportunity to become King of his own nation - Greece. In 1832, Otto, the second son of King Louis I of Bavaria, was elected King of Greece at the London Conference of 1832. At this same conference, Britain, France, and Russia recognized Greece as a sovereign nation and declared their intention to never attempt to rule over it. 

However, King Otto was not a popular ruler and his reign was marked by questions of who would succeed him. As he had no children and none of his brothers had become Orthodox (a contingent for Otto’s heir), the future of the Grecian throne was unclear. In 1862, the issue of succession as well as the negative sentiments surrounding Otto caused an uprising in Athens and resulted in his forced abdication. 

With Otto out of the way, the door was open for the Greeks to elect a new King. The overwhelming favorite candidate was none other than Queen Victoria’s spare heir, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. Unfortunately for Alfred, his ascension to the Grecian throne was blocked by the provisions of the 1832 London Conference in addition to Queen Victoria’s own strong opposition to the appointment. Nonetheless, 231,016 electors out of 241,202 voted in favor of Alfred.