Alleged Successor

The alleged successor to the throne is a member of the ruling house of a hereditary monarchy , which, according to its legislation, is the automatic successor of the ruling monarch in the event of his death or abdication , but loses this status in the event of the appearance of a legal successor throne, occupying a higher place in the line of succession to the throne. Usually the alleged heir becomes the younger brother or another more distant relative of the monarch in the absence of children from the ruling monarch, or (in a number of primogenitory varieties allowing women to succeed in the absence of male heirs) the daughter of the ruling monarch in the absence of his sons.

In the history of the Russian Empire, the alleged successors to the throne were, for example, the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich with his childless older brother Alexander I and the Grand Dukes George , and then Mikhail Alexandrovich before the birth of their elder brother Nicholas II son. The alleged successor to the throne of his father, George VI, was his eldest daughter, the current Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II (who would lose this status if George VI had sons), and George VI possessed this status during the short reign of his elder brother, childless Edward VIII . In Denmark, from 1947 to 1953, the alleged successor to the king, who did not have sons of King Frederick IX, was his younger brother, Prince Knud , who lost this status after constitutional reform that allowed women to inherit the throne (and, therefore, the daughters of Frederick IX). The alleged successors to the throne are Princess Leon of Asturias (the eldest daughter of the King of Spain, Philip VI , who does not have sons) and Prince Dipangkorn Rasmichoti (the only son of King Rama X who has not appointed a legal successor to the throne).

In most cases, the alleged heir does not have a special title obtained by the legal successor. So, Elizabeth II did not have the title of Princess of Wales , and Knud was not a Crown Prince . At the same time, in the tradition of the Russian Empire, the title of crown prince was automatically acquired by a person occupying first place in the line of succession. Currently, the alleged heiress of the Spanish throne, Leonor, by the decision of his father, has the title of Princess of Asturias (traditionally used by the Spanish successor to the throne), although he could theoretically lose it if Philip VI had sons.