Charles I dies heirless: who succeeds?

Whether he dies before OTL's Charles II is conceived, or during the Civil War as OTL (not overly plausible given the butterflies), or some other combination is up to you. But it must after the OTL death of James I and VI.
Anyway, who succeeds him? Elizabeth and her husband? (kinda *William and Mary half a century early). Or is that politically infeasible? If that solution isn't possible, who has the next best claim?
 
By the time James died in 1625, Elizabeth and Frederick had already lost Bohemia and the Palatinate, so letting Elizabeth inherit doesn't create an awkward Personal Union dragging England into the 30 Years War. I expect Elizabeth would inherit.

If Elizabeth does get skipped, the next in line is William Seymour, Duke of Somerset.
 
for simplicity, you might have gotten more replies if you gave more of a clue which Charles I you were talking about, instead of letting people guess or excepting that everyone knew exactly who you meant.
 
Elizabeth also keeps the personal union with Scotland, which Seymour wouldn't. That's going to be a significant argument in her favor.

For that matter, many of the more radical Protestants (the ones who would be most likely to cause trouble) were actually highly sympathetic to the Winter King during the Thirty Years War, so they probably wouldn't object as much as you'd expect.
 
Who would be next in line in Scotland?

James Stuart, 3rd Earl of Moray was a decendent of King James V of Scotland, his grandfather was assassinated so he would not de-throne Mary Queen of Scots.
James would make the highest claim.
 
Who would be next in line in Scotland?

The Marquis of Hamilton (later Duke of Hamilton) has the strongest geneological claim (descent from James II of Scotland, making him the heir by proximity of blood or by male-preference primogeniture), and his grandfather had been James's official heir before James produced children of his own.

The Duke of Lennox is another possibility. His line's claim came from being the senior surviving legitimate male-line branch of the Stuarts/Stewarts, although they descended from a pre-royal branch. There were times when the Lennoxes were in a stronger position to inherit than the Hamiltons (particularly around the time of the Gunpowder Plot, when the senior Hamilton heir was a confined lunatic and the runners-up were a young child and an outspoken Catholic respectively, while the Duke of Lennox was a senior member of James's government), but I don't know if this was one of those times.

The Earl of Moray was also in the mix, being descended from Robert II of Scotland along a female line on his father's size, and from James V of Scotland along a bastard line on his mother's side. His claims were weaker than those the other two lines, so he's only be a serious contender if there were major political problems I'm not aware of with the other potential heirs.

Unless someone who knows a lot more about Scottish politics during this period than I do wants to correct me, I think Hamilton is the likely heir if Elizabeth and her children were for some reason to be skipped.
 
The Marquis of Hamilton (later Duke of Hamilton) has the strongest geneological claim (descent from James II of Scotland, making him the heir by proximity of blood or by male-preference primogeniture), and his grandfather had been James's official heir before James produced children of his own.

The Duke of Lennox is another possibility. His line's claim came from being the senior surviving legitimate male-line branch of the Stuarts/Stewarts, although they descended from a pre-royal branch. There were times when the Lennoxes were in a stronger position to inherit than the Hamiltons (particularly around the time of the Gunpowder Plot, when the senior Hamilton heir was a confined lunatic and the runners-up were a young child and an outspoken Catholic respectively, while the Duke of Lennox was a senior member of James's government), but I don't know if this was one of those times.

The Earl of Moray was also in the mix, being descended from Robert II of Scotland along a female line on his father's size, and from James V of Scotland along a bastard line on his mother's side. His claims were weaker than those the other two lines, so he's only be a serious contender if there were major political problems I'm not aware of with the other potential heirs.

Unless someone who knows a lot more about Scottish politics during this period than I do wants to correct me, I think Hamilton is the likely heir if Elizabeth and her children were for some reason to be skipped.

I forgot about Hamilton, that's the problem when Cromwell executed people, he seemed to make people forget about them lol so he would be the main candidate. He would stay as heir presume in the event of no heirs and would try and marry Elizabeth in an attempt to rule.

Lennox would most likely stay in politics. Its easier for him to stay in parliament rather then on the throne.
 
The Marquis of Hamilton (later Duke of Hamilton) has the strongest geneological claim (descent from James II of Scotland, making him the heir by proximity of blood or by male-preference primogeniture), and his grandfather had been James's official heir before James produced children of his own.

The Duke of Lennox is another possibility. His line's claim came from being the senior surviving legitimate male-line branch of the Stuarts/Stewarts, although they descended from a pre-royal branch. There were times when the Lennoxes were in a stronger position to inherit than the Hamiltons (particularly around the time of the Gunpowder Plot, when the senior Hamilton heir was a confined lunatic and the runners-up were a young child and an outspoken Catholic respectively, while the Duke of Lennox was a senior member of James's government), but I don't know if this was one of those times.

The Earl of Moray was also in the mix, being descended from Robert II of Scotland along a female line on his father's size, and from James V of Scotland along a bastard line on his mother's side. His claims were weaker than those the other two lines, so he's only be a serious contender if there were major political problems I'm not aware of with the other potential heirs.

Unless someone who knows a lot more about Scottish politics during this period than I do wants to correct me, I think Hamilton is the likely heir if Elizabeth and her children were for some reason to be skipped.

I forgot about Hamilton, that's the problem when Cromwell executed people, he seemed to make people forget about them lol so he would be the main candidate. He would stay as heir presume in the event of no heirs and would try and marry Elizabeth in an attempt to rule.

Lennox would most likely stay in politics. Its easier for him to stay in parliament rather then on the throne.
 
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