Alternative history

Arthur, Prince of Wales
Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486–1502)

Had Henry VIII's elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, not died before their father, Henry VII, he would have become King Arthur.

But, seeing as how the Tudors believed that the King Arthur of legend had been a genuine King of England, the new Arthur would presumably have been crowned Arthur II (not to be confused with Arthur 2, an indescribably bad film starring the late Dudley Moore).

This would mean that, for modern scholars, there would have been a King Arthur II, but not a King Arthur I. Which would have been pretty confusing, if you think about it. Which I have been doing—because I tend to worry about these sorts of things.

Perhaps it's just as well that Arthur, Prince of Wales popped his clogs when he did.

I'm just saying, that's all.

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

11 comments

  1. It's only right and proper to worry about these things. I'm still baffled by the fact that Edward 1 comes after Edward the Confessor (not to mention Edward the Martyr and Edward the Elder).

  2. Arthur, Prince of Wales was married to Bo Derek. She changed Her name to Catherine of Aragon. Henry wasn't bothered by a bit of bigamy & married her himself. He used that to divorce her when she ate crackers in bed. She went on to marry Dudley Moore & Henry gave them a step ladder for a wedding present dot dot dot...

  3. Nothing to do with alternative history but an idle thought: when you do the next Gruts poll (surely the announcement of Alice Roberts' surprising victory over Stense in the race for Lambeth Place must be imminent) how wonderful would it be if one of the options were to be Owl - and if it were to secure 2% of the votes...

  4. I'll have you know that my real first name is Tuesday.
    That's because when my parents first saw me they said it's time to call it a day!

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