List of Heirs of Scotland - Heirs To James V

Heirs To James V

The new King's mother Margaret Tudor was still pregnant at his accession, so the unborn child was heir-presumptive. He was born on 30 April 1514 and given the name

• Alexander and the title Duke of Ross. He only survived until 8 December 1515, so
• the Duke of Albany again became heir-presumptive. He served intermittently as Regent for the young King, opposed by the Queen and her new husband the Earl of Angus, and later returned to France, where he died without issue on 2 July 1536.

The King was now the only surviving male member of the Royal Family, as had been the case from 1437 to 1451, and it was arguable who should be legally next in line under the 1373 Act as heir general of Robert II (see above).

The senior representative of Robert II's legitimate children by his second wife was

• William Graham, third Earl of Menteith, the great-grandson of the first Earl who had been a possible heir-presumptive to James II.

The senior representative of Robert II's legitimated children by his first wife was

• James Hamilton, second Earl of Arran, grandson of James II's elder daughter Mary. He was a much closer relative of the King, and was regarded as heir-presumptive until the birth of the King's son
• James, Duke of Rothesay on 22 May 1540. He and his brother Arthur, Duke of Albany both died in infancy, leaving
• the Earl of Arran again as next in line until the birth of a daughter
• Mary, on 8 December 1542.

King James V died only days later on 14 December 1542 and Mary succeeded as Queen of Scots under the Earl of Arran's regency. This was not disputed by the contemporary Earl of Menteith, the other potential claimant. However, when the third Earl's great-grandson William was confirmed as Earl of Strathearn and heir-of-line of Robert II's eldest unquestionably legitimate son David in 1631, he began to boast that he had a better claim to the throne than the then King, Charles I. He was swiftly removed from his offices and deprived of the Earldom of Strathearn in 1633, being given the inferior title of Earl of Airth.