Pretender
- This page is about the word Pretender as it applies to a monarchy, for other meanings see Pretender (disambiguation).
A Pretender is a claimant to an abolished or already occupied throne. Deposed monarchs are not seen as pretenders, as the term only applies to those who have never occupied the throne.
Some modern pretenders
|
State |
Pretender |
Link to Past Monarchy |
| Austria |
Crown Prince Otto |
Son of the last Emperor-King, Karl I of Austria |
| Albania |
Crown Prince Leka Zogu |
Son of the last king, Zog of Albania |
| France |
Henri, Comte de Paris, Duc de France (Orleanist-Legitimist*: generally accepted) |
descendant of Louis-Philippe of France |
| France |
Louis-Alphonse, Duc d'Anjou (Legitimist: minority support) |
descendant of Louis XIV of France |
| France |
Charles Bonaparte (Bonapartist) |
descendant of Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte |
| Germany and Prussia |
Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia |
descendant of the last Emperor, Wilhelm II |
| Hungary |
Crown Prince Otto |
Son of the last King-Emperor, Charles IV of Hungary |
| Iran |
Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi II |
son of the last Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi |
| Italy |
Crown Prince Victorio Emanuele |
Son of the last king, Humbert II of Italy |
| Montenegro |
Nikola, Prince of Montenegro |
Descendant of the last king, Nikola I of Montenegro |
| Portugal |
Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança |
great grandson of king Miguel I |
Serbia and Yugoslavia |
Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia |
son of the last king, Peter II |
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 Legitimists accepted the Comte's selection as heir, the Orleanist pretender, the Comte de Paris, grandson of King Louis-Philippe as the Legitimist pretender to the French throne. A small minority refused to accept this designation, and chose instead a very distant Spanish-based descendant of an earlier monarch. Hence there are in effect two legitimist pretenders, though the Orleanist pretender, the modern Comte de Paris, is generally accepted by most French monarchists as the pretender, as the list above shows.
There is also a pretender to the imperial throne of France, in the person of Charles Bonaparte, descendant of the Prince Napoléon.
Russian Pretenders
There is much debate over who is the legitmate heir to the Russian throne. Grand Duke George is considered by some to be the legitimate heir, being the grandson of a cousin of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. However, the Grand Duke's mother, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna also claims to be the rightful heir to the throne. The massacre of the Romanovs that followed the Russian Revolution has made tracking a legitimate heir to the Russian throne very difficult, and some believe there is no legitimate heir at all.
British Pretenders
The son of the deposed James II, James Francis Edward Stuart, was a pretender to the throne of Great Britain, and was commonly referred to as The Old Pretender. His son, Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) claimed the throne after James' death. See Jacobitism and the related category for more information.
Fake pretenders
Some well-known impostors who claimed to be a genuine pretenders include:
