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 term in itself is not pejorative. The original meaning of the English word pretend, from the French word prétendre, means "to put forward, to profess or claim"; this predates today's more common English meaning of "pretend," which is to claim falsely.

The term pretender is 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 (as the various pretenders of the Wars of the Roses) and to those with wholly fabricated claims (as 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

Country		Pretender	Born	Pretender since	Link to past monarchy	House	Heir	Born
	Albania	Crown Prince Leka	1939	1961	son of Zog I (self-proclaimed King from 1928 to 1939, afterwards unofficially in exile to 1961)	Zogu	Prince Leka	1982
	Austria-Hungary	Crown Prince Otto[2]	1912	1922	son of Charles I (Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary etc. from 1916 to 1918)	Habsburg-Lorraine	Archduke Karl	1961
	Bulgaria	Simeon II[3]	1937	1946	Tsar from 1943 to 1946	Wettin (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha line)	Kardam, Prince of Turnovo	1962
	Courland	Prince Ernst-Johann Biron of Courland	1940	1982	descendant of Ernst Johann von Biron (Duke from 1737 to 1740 and 1763 to 1769)	Biron	Prince Michael	1944
	Croatia (Habsburg)	Crown Prince Otto[2]	1912	1922	son of Charles I (King from 1916 to 1918)	Habsburg-Lorraine	Archduke Karl	1961
	Croatia (Savoy)	Crown Prince Amedeo, Duke of Savoy	1943	1948	son of Tomislav II (King from 1941 to 1943)	Savoy	Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta	1967
	England (Jacobite)	Franz, Duke of Bavaria	1933	1996	eleventh-generation descendant of Charles I (King from 1625 to 1649)	Wittelsbach	Max, Duke in Bavaria	1937
	France (Jacobite)	Franz, Duke of Bavaria	1933	1996	eleventh-generation descendant of Charles I (King from 1625 to 1649)	Wittelsbach	Max, Duke in Bavaria	1937
	France (Legitimist)	Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou	1974	1989	tenth-generation descendant of Louis XIV (King from 1643 to 1715)	Bourbon	Juan Carlos I of Spain	1938
	France (Orléanist and Unionist)	Henri, Count of Paris, Duke of France	1933	1999	great-great-great-grandson of Louis-Philippe of France (King from 1830 to 1848)	Orléans (sub-line of the House of Bourbon)	François, Count of Clermont	1961
	France (Bonapartist)	Charles Napoléon[4]	1950	1997	great-great-grandnephew of Napoléon I (self-proclaimed Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815)	Bonaparte	Jean-Christophe Napoléon	1986
	Greece	Constantine II	1940	1973	King from 1964 to 1973	Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (sub-line of the House of Oldenburg)	Crown Prince Pavlos	1967
	Gwynedd	Ieuan ab Ieuan	1943	1968	patrilinear descendent of Owain Gwynedd (King from 1137-1170)	House of Aberffraw	Dafydd Ieuan ab Ieuan	1977
File:St Patrick's saltire3.svg	Ireland (Jacobite)	Franz, Duke of Bavaria	1933	1996	eleventh-generation descendant of Charles I (King from 1625 to 1649)	Wittelsbach	Max, Duke in Bavaria	1937
	Ireland (Gaelic Ireland)	Deasmumhain Ó Conchubhair Donn (Desmond O'Conor Don, Prince of Connaught)		2000	Patrilinear descendants of Ruaidrí mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, last High King of Ireland, d.1198.	Royal House of the O'Conor Don	Philip Hugh O'Conor (son)
	Lithuania	Wilhelm Albert, Duke of Urach	1957	1991	grandson of Mindaugas II (nominal King in 1918)	Urach (a morganatic subline of the House of Württemberg)	Prince Karl Philipp	1992
	Mann	Simon Egerton Scrope	1934		descendant of William le Scrope (King from 1392 to 1399)	Scrope	Harry Scrope	1974
	Montenegro	Crown Prince Nikola	1944	1986	great-grandson of Nikola I (King from 1910 to 1918)	Petrović-Njegoš	Hereditary Prince Boris	1980
	Portugal	Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza	1945	1976	great-grandson of Miguel I (King from 1828 to 1834)	Braganza (male-line descent from the House of Capet)	Infante Afonso, Prince of Beira	1996
	Romania	Michael I	1921	1947	King from 1927 to 1930 and from 1940 to 1947	Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen	Frederick William, Prince of Hohenzollern (via last royal constitution)	1924
							Princess Margarita (via post-abolition family law)	1949
		Paul-Philippe Hohenzollern	1948	2006	grandson of Carol II (King from 1930 to 1940)	Lambrino (descended of an annulled Hohenzollern marriage)	Alexander Hohenzollern	1961
	Russia	Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna	1953	1992	descendant of Alexander II (Tsar from 1855 to 1881)	Romanov (a sub-line of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, a sub-line of the House of Oldenburg)	Grand Duke George Mikhailovich	1981
		Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia	1922	1992	descendant of Nicholas I (Tsar from 1825 to 1855)		Prince Dmitri Romanovich	1926
	Scotland (Jacobite)	Franz, Duke of Bavaria	1933	1996	eleventh-generation descendant of Charles I (King from 1625 to 1649)	Wittelsbach	Max, Duke in Bavaria	1937
	Serbia (Obrenović)	Crown Prince Nikola	1944	1986	grandson of Prince Mirko of Montenegro, relative and designated heir of Alexander I of Serbia	Petrović-Njegoš	Hereditary Prince Boris	1980
	Serbia (Karađorđević)	Crown Prince Alexander	1945	1970	son of King Peter II, King from 1934 to 1945.	Karađorđević	Hereditary Prince Peter	1980
	Spain (Carlist)	Carlos Hugo, Count of Montemolin	1930	1977	sons of Xavier, Duke of Parma, declared regent by Alfonso Carlos of Bourbon, Duke of San Jaime	Bourbon	Carlos, Duke of Madrid	1970
		Sixtus, Duke of Aranjuez	1940	1979
	Yugoslavia[5]	Crown Prince Alexander	1945	1970	son of Peter II (King from 1934 to 1945)	Karađorđević	Hereditary Prince Peter	1980

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.

Country		Pretender	Born	Pretender since	Link to past monarchy	House	Heir	Born
Empire
	Germany	Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia	1976	1994	great-great-grandson of Wilhelm II (Emperor from 1888 to 1918)	Hohenzollern	Prince Christian-Sigismund	1946
Kingdoms
	Bavaria	Franz, Duke of Bavaria	1933	1996	great-grandson of Ludwig III (King from 1913 to 1918)	Wittelsbach	Max, Duke in Bavaria	1937
	Hanover	Ernst August V, Prince of Hanover	1954	1987	great-great-grandson of Georg V (King from 1851 to 1866)	Hanover (a sub-line of the House of Welf, a sub-line of the House of Este)	Prince Ernst August	1983
	Prussia	Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia	1976	1994	great-great-grandson of William II (King from 1888 to 1918)	Hohenzollern	Prince Christian Sigismund	1946
	Saxony	Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen[6]	1926	1968	grandson of Frederick Augustus III (King from 1904 to 1918)	Wettin	Prince Albert	1934
	Westphalia	Charles Napoléon	1950	1997	great-great-grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte (King from 1807 to 1813)	Bonaparte	Jean-Christophe Napoléon	1986
	Württemberg	Carl, Duke of Württemberg	1936	1975	grandnephew of William II (King from 1891 to 1918)	Württemberg	Hereditary Duke Friedrich	1961
Grand Duchies
	Baden	Maximilian, Margrave of Baden	1933	1963	great-grandnephew of Frederick II (Grand Duke from 1907 to 1918)	Zähringen	Hereditary Prince Bernhard	1970
	Frankfurt	Nicolas, Duke of Leuchtenberg	1933	1988	descendant of Eugène de Beauharnais (Grand Duke in 1813)	Beauharnais	Prince Constantin	1965
	Hesse and by Rhine	Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse	1926	1968	adoptive grandson (from the elder line of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel) of Ernest Louis (Grand Duke from 1892 to 1918)	Hesse	Hereditary Prince Donatus	1966
	Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)[7]
	Mecklenburg-Strelitz	Duke Georg Borwin of Mecklenburg[8][9][10]	1956	1996	descendant of Georg (Grand Duke from 1816 to 1860)	Mecklenburg (Strelitz line)	Duke Alexander	1991
	Oldenburg	Anton-Günther, Duke of Oldenburg	1923	1970	grandson of Frederick Augustus II (Grand Duke from 1900 to 1918)	Holstein-Gottorp (a sub-line of the House of Oldenburg)	Duke Christian	1955
	Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach[11]	Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach	1946	1988	grandson of William Ernest (Grand Duke from 1901 to 1918)	Wettin	Prince Wilhelm Ernst	1946
Duchies
	Anhalt	Eduard, Prince of Anhalt	1941	1963	son of Joachim Ernst (Duke from April to November 1918)	Ascania	— (Princess Julia Katharina is styled Hereditary Princess[12] on family site)	1980
	Brunswick	Ernst August V, Prince of Hanover	1954	1987	grandson of Ernest Augustus III (Duke from 1913 to 1918)	Hanover (a sub-line of the House of Welf, a sub-line of the House of Este)	Prince Ernst August	1983
	Nassau	Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg	1955	2000	great-great-grandson of Adolphe (Duke from 1839 to 1866)	Nassau-Weilburg (a sub-line of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a sub-line of the House of Bourbon)	Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume	1981
	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	1943	1998	grandson of Charles Edward (Duke from 1900 to 1918)	Wettin	Hereditary Prince Hubertus	1975
	Saxe-Meiningen	Konrad, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen	1952	1984	grandnephew of Bernhard III (Duke from 1914 to 1918)		–
Principalities
	Hohenzollern-Hechingen	Frederick William, Prince of Hohenzollern	1924	1965	great-great-grandson of Karl Anton (Prince from 1848 to 1849)	Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen	Hereditary Prince Karl Friedrich	1952
	Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
	Lippe	Armin, Prince of Lippe	1924	1949	son of Leopold IV (Prince from 1905 to 1918)	Lippe	Hereditary Prince Stephan	1959
		Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Lippe	1947	1990	great-nephew of Leopold IV (Prince from 1905 to 1918)		–
	Reuss-Köstritz (Reuss Junior Line)	Heinrich IV, Prince of Reuss-Köstritz	1919	1946	current head of the House after the extinction of the first hereditary line in 1945	Reuss	Prince Heinrich XIV	1955
	Reuss-Greiz (Reuss Senior Line)				hereditary line ceased in 1928 through the death of Heinrich XXVII (Prince from 1908 to 1918), so the claim passed to the Köstritz line that year
	Schaumburg-Lippe	Alexander, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe	1958	2003	grandnephew of Adolf II (Prince from 1911 to 1918)	Lippe	Hereditary Prince Heinrich-Donatus	1994
	Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen	Friedrich Magnus, Count of Solms-Wildenfels	1927	1984	heir via application of semi-salic law, descendant of Friedrich Günther (Prince of Rudolstadt from 1793 to 1863)	Solms	Hereditary Count Michael	1949
		Philip, Prince of Stolberg-Wernigerode	1967	2001	heir of Count Botho of Stolberg, to whom the Schwarzburg lands would have passed on the extinction of the house via a pact between the two houses	Stolberg	Prince Georg Heinrich	1970
	Waldeck and Pyrmont	Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont	1936	1967	grandson of Friedrich Adolf (Prince from 1893 to 1918)	Waldeck	Hereditary Prince Carl Anton	1991

Italy

Modena, Naples and Parma do not mean the Italian cities but the former states on the territory of present-day's Italy.

Country		Pretender	Born	Pretender since	Link to past monarchy	House	Heir	Born
Unified Italy
	Italy	Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples	1937	1983	son of Umberto II (King from May to June 1946)	Savoy	Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont	1972
		Amedeo, Duke of Savoy	1943	2006	second cousin once removed of Umberto II (King from May to June 1946)		Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia	1967
Pre-unificarian States
	Etruria	Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma	1930	1979	great-great-grandson of Charles II (Louis II) (King from 1803 to 1807)	Bourbon	Carlos, Prince of Piacenza	1970
	Mantua	Prince Maurizio Gonzaga	1938	1943	descendant of Federico I Gonzaga (Marquess from 1478 to 1484)	Gonzaga	Prince Corrado Gonzaga	1941
	Modena and Reggio	Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este	1955	1996	head of the ducal family of Modena	Habsburg-Lorraine	Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este	1986
	Naples	Joachim, 8th Prince Murat	1944	1944	descendant of Joachim Murat (King from 1808 to 1815, appointed by Napoléon I of France)	Murat	Joachim, Prince of Pontecorvo	1973
	Parma	Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma	1930	1977	grandson of Roberto I (Duke from 1854 to 1859)	Bourbon	Carlos, Prince of Piacenza	1970
	Piombino	Prince Niccolò Boncompagni-Ludovisi	1941	1988	descendant of Antonio I Boncompagni-Ludovisi (prince from 1778 to 1801)	Boncompagni	Prince Francesco Boncompagni-Ludovisi	1965
	Tuscany	Archduke Sigismund, Grand Duke of Tuscany	1966	1993	descendant of Ferdinand IV (Grandduke from 1859 to 1860)	Habsburg-Lorraine	Archduke Amadeo, Grand Prince of Tuscany	2001
	Two Sicilies	Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria	1938	1964	descendants of Ferdinand II (King from 1830 to 1859)	Bourbon	Prince Pedro, Duke of Noto	1968
		Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro[13]	1963	2008			Prince Antoine of Bourbon Two Sicilies	1929

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	—
	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	—
	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	?
	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
	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

Country		Pretender	Born	Pretender since	Link to past monarchy	House	Heir	Born
	Aceh	Hasan di Tiro	1930	?	descendant of the Sultans of Aceh	Tiro		1925
	Afghanistan	Crown Prince Ahmad Shah	1934	2007	Eldest surviving son of Mohammed Zahir Shah, Shah from 1933 to 1973	Barakzai	Prince Muhammad Zahir Khan	1962
	Bukhara	Seyyid Mir Ibrahim Khan	1903	1944	son of Seyyid Mir Mohammed Alim Khan (Emir from 1910 to 1920)	Manġit	?
	Champasak	Keo Na Champassak	1944	1980	grandson of Ratsadanay (King from 1900 to 1904)	Na Champassak	Saysanasak na Champassak	1946
	China (Qīng)	Aisin Gioro Hengzhen	1944	1997	descendant of Dàoguāng (Emperor from 1820 to 1850)	Qīng[14]	Jin Xing (Aisin Gioro)	1977
	China (Yuán)	Vincent Yuan[15]	1947	2003	great-grandson of Yuán Shìkǎi (self-proclaimed Emperor from 1915 to 1916)	-	Jada Yuán	?
	China (Míng)	Zhu Rongji	1928	1928	descendant of Hongwu[16] (Emperor from 1368 to 1398)	Míng[17]
	Georgia	Nugzar Bagration-Gruzinsky	1950	1984	descendant of George XII (King of Georgia from 1798 to 1800)	Bagrationi	Princess Anna Bagration-Gruzinski of Georgia	1976
		David Bagrationi of Moukrani	1976	2008	descendant of Constantine II (King from 1478 to 1505)		Gourami (Ugo) Bagration of Moukhrani	1985
	Iran (Pahlavī)	Rez̤ā Pahlavī	1960	1980	son of Mohammad Rez̤ā Pahlavī (Shah from 1941 to 1979)	Pahlavī	Ali-Rez̤ā Pahlavī II	1966
	Iran (Qâjâr)	Mohammad Hassan Mirza II	1949	1988	descendant of Mohammad Ali Shah Qâjâr (Shah from 1907 to 1909)	Qâjâr	Prince Arsalan Mirza	?
	Iraq	Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid	1936	1970	cousins of Faysal II (King from 1939 to 1958)	Hāshim	Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein	1964
		Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein	1956	1958[18]			?
	Jerusalem	Juan Carlos I	1938	1975	The Kingdom of Jerusalem was abolished in 1291. There are various succession theories as to how the claim were to pass and who the rightful heir or heiress is.	Bourbon	Felipe, Prince of Asturias	1968
		Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou	1974	1989			Juan Carlos I	1938
		Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples	1937	1983		Savoia	Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont	1972
		Otto von Habsburg	1912	1922		Habsburg-Lorraine	Archduke Karl	1961
		Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria	1938	1964		Bourbon	Prince Pedro, Duke of Noto	1968
		Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro	1963	2008			Prince Antoine of Bourbon Two Sicilies	1929
		Charles-Antoine Lamoral, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoille	1946	2005		Ligne	Prince Edouard	1976
		Patrick Guinness	1956	1999		Guinness	Jasmine Guinness	1976
	Kalat	Agha Suleiman Jan	1967	1998	grandson of Ahmed Yar Khan (Khan from 1933 to 1955)	Ahmadzai	—
	Korea	Yi Haewŏn[19]	1919	2006	granddaughter of Gwangmu (Emperor from 1863 to 1907)	Yi[20]	—
		Yi Won	1962	2005	adoptive son of Prince Yi Gu, grandson of Gwangmu (Emperor from 1863 to 1907)		?
	Laos	Soulivong Savang	1963	1978/ 1984	grandson of Savang Vatthana (King from 1959 to 1975)	Khun Lo	Thayavong Savang	1964
	Maldives	Prince Muhammad Nur ud-din	?	1969	son of Hassan Nooraddeen Iskandar II (Sultan from 1935 to 1943)	Huraa	Prince Ibrahim Nur ud-din	?
	Manchukuo	Aisin Gioro Puren	1918	1994	brother of Kāngdé (Pǔyí) (Emperor from 1934 to 1945)	Qīng	Jin Yuzhang	1942
	Mongolia	Aisin Gioro Hêng Chen	1944	1997	descendant of Dàoguāng (Emperor of China from 1820 to 1850)		Aisin Gioro Chinsin	1977
	Mongolia	Jampal Namdol Chökyi Gyaltsen	1932	1936	9th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, reincarnation of Bogd Khan, 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu	—	—	—
	Myanmar	Taw Phaya	1924	1962	grandson of Thibaw Min (King from 1878 to 1885)	Konbaung	Taw Phaya Myat Gyi	1945
	Nepal	Gyanendra	1947	2008	king from 2001 to 2008	Shah	Crown Prince Paras	1971
	Qu'aiti	Ghalib II	1948	1967	Sultan from 1966 to 1967	Al-Qu'aiti	Prince Saleh bin Ghalib al-Qu'aiti	1977
	Ryūkyū	Shō Mamoru	?	1996	descendant of Shō Tai (King from 1848 to 1879)	Shō	?
	Sarawak	Anthony Brooke[21]	1912	1946	nephew of Charles Vyner Brooke (White Raja from 1917 to 1946)	Brooke	James Bertram Lionel Brooke	1940
	Singapore	Tengku Sri Indra	?	1996	descendant of Ali of Johor (Sultan from 1835-1877)	?	—
	Sulu	Jamalul Kiram III	1938	1986	grandson of Jamalul Kiram I (Sultan from 1884 to 1899)	Kiram	?
	Swat	Miangul Aurangzeb	1928	1987	son of Miangul Jahan Zeb (Wali from 1949 to 1969)	Miangul	Miangul Adnan Aurangzeb
	Tibet	Tenzin Gyatso[22]	1935	1940	Dalai Lama since 1940	—	—
	Turkey	Bayezid III	1924	2009	great-grandson of Abdülmecid I (Ottoman Sultan and Caliph from 1839 to 1861)	Osman	Dündar Aliosman	1930
	Vietnam	Bảo Thắng	1943	2007	second son of Bảo Đại (Emperor from 1925 to 1945)	Nguyễn	—
	Yemen	Ageel bin Muhammad al-Badr	1974	1996	son of Muhammad al-Badr (King from 1962 to 1970)	Al-Qasimi	Muhammad al-Hassan bin 'Ageel	?

India

Entries here refer not to Indian cities, but rather to former states in the territory of modern India.

Country		Pretender	Born	Pretender since	Link to past monarchy	House	Heir	Born
Political pensioners
	Carnatic	Muhammed Abdul Ali	1951	1993	descendant of Azimuddaula (Nawab from 1801 to 1819)	Farukhi	Muhammad Asif Ali Khan	?
	Khudadad	Shahzada Asif 'Ali	1957	1983	descendant of Tipu Sultan	Tipu Sultan	—
	Mughal Empire	Mirza Ghulam Moinuddin Muhammad[23]	1946	1975	descendant of Alam II (Shah from 1759 to 1806)	Tīmūr	Mirza Shahrukh Shah Jahan	1978
	Punjab	Beant Singh Sandhanwalia	1926	1978	heir of Duleep Singh	Sandhu Jat	Sukhdev Singh Sandhanwalia	?
	Satara	Udayanraje Maharaj Bhonsle	1966	1978	descendant of Shivaji Maharaj	Bhonsle	—
	Surat	Usman Alam Khan Sahib	1935	1989	descendant of Mir Jaafar Ali Khan head of the Surat family (1842 to 1863)	Sehswani	Maqbul Alam Khan Sahib	?
Salute states
	Alwar	Tej Singh	1911	1947	Maharaja from 1937 to 1947	Kachwaha	Jitendra Singh	1971
	Balasinor	Muhammad Salabat Khan II	1944	1947	Maharaja from 1945 to 1947	Babi	Muhammed Salauddin Khan	1979
	Banganapalle	Fazli Ali Khan IV	1959	1983	grandson of Fazli Ali Khan III (Nawab from 1937 to 1948)	Naqdi	—
	Baroda	Ranjitsinhrao Gaekwad	1938	1988	son of Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad (Maharaja Gaekwar from 1939 to 1949)	Gaekwad	Samarjitsinhrao Gaekwad	1967
	Bhopal	Begum Saleha Sultan	1940	1995	granddaughter of Hamidullah Khan (Nawab from 1926 to 1949)	Orakzai	—
	Cochin	Rama Varma	—	1978	—	Perumpadapu Swaroopam	—
	Gwalior	Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia	1971	1998	grandson of George Jiyajirao Scindia (Maharaja Scindia from 1925 to 1947)	Scindia	Mahanaryaman Scindia	1995
	Hyderabad	Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah	1933	1967	grandson of Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII (Nizam from 1911 to 1949)	Asif Jah	Prince Azmet Jah	1960
	Idar	Rajendra Singh Idar	1938	1992	grandson of Hirmat Singh Daulat Singh (Maharaja from 1925 to 1947)	Rathore	—
	Indore	Usha Devi Maharaj Sahiba Holkar XV Bahadur	1933	1961	daughter of Yeshwant Rao II (Maharaja Holkar from 1926 to 1947)	Holkar	—
	Jammu and Kashmir	Karan Singh	1931	1949	son of Hari Singh (Maharaja from 1925 to 1949)	Rathore	Vikramaditya Singh	1964
	Jodhpur	Gaj Singh	1948	1952	son of Hanwant Singh (Maharaja from 1947 to 1949)		Shivraj Singh	1975
	Kolhapur	Shahu II Bhonsle	1948	1983	son of Shahaji II Puar (Maharaja from 1947 to 1949)	Bhonsle	Shrimant Sambhaji	1971
	Mysore	Srikantha Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar	1953	1974	Son of Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur (Maharaja from 1940 to 1950)	Wodeyar	—
	Sikkim	Wangchuk Namgyal	1953	1982	Son of Palden Thondup Namgyal (Chogyal from 1963 to 1975)	Namgyal	—
	Travancore	Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma	1922	1991	brother of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma (Maharaja from 1924 to 1949)	Cheraman (Kulashekhara)	—
	Udaipur (Mewar)	Mahendra Singh	1941	1984	adoptive grandson of Bhupal Singh (Maharana from 1930 to 1949)	Sisodia	Vishvaraj Singh	—
	Ghorewaha (Ghorewaha-Jadla)	Rajeshwar Singh	1957	1993	(Grand son of Labh Singh, Raja of Ghorewaha )	Kachwaha	Sangram Singh	1990

Oceania

Country		Pretender	Born	Pretender since	Link to past monarchy	House	Heir	Born
	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 claimant of the throne of the last Greek kingdom is Constantine II, who ruled as King from 1964 to 1973 of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (a branch of the House of Oldenburg), whose designated heir is his son Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece. There are pretendenders to other Greek thrones:

The Byzantine Empire

Disputed successions to the Empire long 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. At times, some of these states and titles were subjected to multiple claims.

Cypriot pretenders

Following the defeat and death of King James III of Cyprus in 1474, his younger and illegitimate brother, Eugene Matteo de Armenia (ca. 1485-1523) removed to Sicily, then to Malta. He was acknowledged as rightful heir of the thrones Cyprus, Armenia, Jerusalem, and Antioch, though he never made serious efforts to reify the claims. The title of "Barone de Baccari" was created in 1508 for Jacques Matteo (sives Eugene Matteo) d’Armenia with the remainder to his descendants in perpetuity. Eugene, illegitimate son of King Jacques II of Cyprus, had, when his family were exiled, first gone to Naples, then Sicily, then settled on Malta, marrying a Sicilian heiress, Donna Paola Mazzara (a descendant of the Royal House of Aragon of Sicily and Aragon), with issue. ^[24]

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 in order to enter Austria

The Wittelsbachs of Bavaria

The Welfs of Hanover

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,^[25] 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

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 one's source of information. Officially, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, who died in 1282, was the only Prince of Wales whose staus as ruler was officially recognised by the English Crown, though three of the four men who claimed the throne of Gwynedd between the assumption of the title by Owain Gwynedd in the 1160s and the loss of Welsh independence in 1283 also used the title or similar. Madog ap Llywelyn also briefly used the title during his revolt of 1294-5. Since 1301, the title of Prince of Wales has been given to 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).

The various minor kingdoms that came together to form what is today known as the Principality of Wales each had their own royal dynasty. The most important of these realms were Gwynedd, Powys and Deheubarth. After 878 the ruling dynasties in these kingdoms each claimed descent from the sons of Rhodri Mawr who had conquered them or otherwise achieved their thrones during his reign. Merfyn Frych, the father of Rhodri Mawr, had come to power in Gwynedd because the native dynasty, known as the House of Cunedda had expired. Merfyn was descended from royalty through his own father Gwriad and claimed ancestors from among the rulers of British Rheged (in particular Llywarch Hen). It was acknowledged by all of the realms of Wales after the time of Rhodri Mawr that the House of Gwynedd (known as the House of Aberffraw) was senior and homage should be paid by each of them to the king of Gwynedd. After the reign of Owain ap Gruffudd of Gwynedd the realm began to merge with the concept of a Principality of Wales. This was realised by Owain's descendant Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1267. It was not to last and this new Wales was invaded by England and dismantled between 1277 and 1284. All of the descendants of Llywelyn "the last" and his brothers were either imprisoned or killed. Surviving members of the House of Aberffraw descended in the male line from Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd survived in the guise of the Wynn of Gwydir family. They proved their ancestry and maintained a succession in the male line until 1719 when the last of their line died without an heir. After this the male line succession passed to a cadet branch of the family which had become separated in the 15th Century known as the Anwyl dynasty of Park. This family survives in Gwynedd to this day.

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.

Ottoman pretenders

Cem, eldest son born during the reign of his father, Mehmet the Conqueror claimed the Sultanate although he was defeated in battle months later by his eldest brother (by birth) Bayezid II. He fled to Rhodes Island then eventually to the Papal Territories. His descendants claimed Cem rights until Malta defeated the Ottomans in the 16th century. After the Ottoman empire was abolished, and the Republic of Turkey came into power, the successive heads of the Ottoman family claimed the throne of the Turkish empire.

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
  • False Dmitriy I
  • False Dmitriy II
  • False Dmitriy III
• 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.