When Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne on 6 February 1952, her heir was her young son, Prince Charles—The Prince of Wales. He has since become the longest-serving heir apparent in history. But let’s take a look at who else occupied his position as heir to the throne in 1952.
Prince Albert, Prince of Liège (later King Albert II)
The young Belgian king’s reign began only months before Queen Elizabeth II’s, under much more political circumstances. King Baudouin began his reign on 17 July 1951 following the abdication of his father, Leopold III, whose reputation and conduct during the Second World War never recovered in peacetime.
Prince Knud of Denmark (later Prince Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark)
At the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession, there was another Danish heir—and the young princess who would eventually become the first modern queen regnant of Denmark wasn’t even in the line of succession to the throne!
Instead, it was Prince Knud, the king’s younger brother, who was expected to someday inherit the Danish throne. King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid welcomed three children between 1940 and 1946, however they were all daughters: Princesses Margrethe, Benedikte, and Anne-Marie.
The Danish Act of Succession at the time of King Frederick’s 1947 accession was one that followed agnatic primogeniture, meaning that only males could be in the line of succession. Prince Knud became the heir apparent to his older brother, and it appeared that he would someday be king. However, by 1953, the Danish Act of Succession was updated when it became apparent that the king would not have a son, and male-preference primogeniture was enacted. This meant that women could be in the line of succession (though they’d still be displaced by the birth of younger brothers—as was the case with Princess Anne in the United Kingdom after her younger brothers were born in 1960 and 1964), and it meant that Princess Margrethe became the heiress presumptive to her father.
To say Prince Knud took this change well would be a lie. He reportedly called the people who voted for the change a “shower of bastards”, and relations between his family and Frederick’s was strained afterwards. He took on the title of Hereditary Prince of Denmark and died in 1976, four years after his older brother.
Prince Hans-Adam (later Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein)
The current Prince of Liechtenstein was still heir to the throne at the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession.
Prince Hans-Adam was the eldest child of Prince Franz-Joseph and Princess Georgina, born on 14 February 1945. From birth, he was the Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein, and was educated within the principality to prepare him for his eventual role. He later received a degree in business and economic studies from the Swiss University of St. Gallen.
Prince Hans-Adam’s personal fortune has been estimated to be around £6.22 billion, which makes him one of Europe’s richest monarchs. In 1967, he married Countess Marie Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau—later Princess Marie of Liechtenstein—and they had four children together, including Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein.
In 1984, Hans-Adams’s father handed over his powers to his son while retaining the position as head of state. This allowed Hans-Adam to make decisions and begin the process of starting a new reign. Prince Franz-Joseph passed away in November 1989, and Hans-Adam officially became the Prince of Liechtenstein from that date.
In 2003, Hans-Adam followed the tradition set by his father and turned over the decision-making powers over to Alois, Hereditary Prince, who also serves as regent, however, Hans-Adam remains the head of state.
Hereditary Grand Duke Jean (later Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg)
Only a few years older than Queen Elizabeth II, at the time of her accession, Hereditary Grand Duke Jean was already familiar with the United Kingdom, having attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served with the Irish Guards in 1942.
Hereditary Grand Duke Jean was born in 1921 as the eldest son of Grand Duchess Charlotte. Though he began his education in Luxembourg, he later attended boarding school in the UK. He saw active service during the Second World War even as the rest of his family were forced to leave Luxembourg to set up a government-in-exile.
Following the war, Jean retained his links to the British Army, and was often seen riding at Trooping the Colour behind The Queen from 1984 onward as Colonel of the Irish Guards (a position he held until his abdication).
Jean married Joséphine-Charlotte in 1953 and together they had five children, including the current Grand Duke Henri. On 12 November 1964, he inherited his throne upon the abdication of his mother, and became the General of the Armed Forces of Luxembourg from that date.
During his reign, he focused on European unity, leading to one world leader to theorise that if Europe could choose an overall president, it would have certainly been Grand Duke Jean. The principality also saw periods of great prosperity during his reign in all aspects of life, from the political to the social and economic.
On 7 October 2000, Jean abdicated in favour of his son, Henri, and died at the age of 98 on 23 April 2019.
Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness of Massy
Princess Antoinette’s life has about as many twists and turns as a soap opera—reportedly hatching a scheme with her husband to have her brother declared unfit to rule and, since he lacked an heir at the time, to install her young son on the throne with herself as his regent.
Princess Antoinette was born on 28 December 1920, the oldest child of Princess Charlotte and Prince Pierre of Monaco; she was later displaced in the line of succession by her younger brother, Prince Rainier, who was born in 1923.
After a relationship with Alexandre-Athenase Noghès resulted in the birth of three children out of wedlock—and therefore not in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne—Antoinette married Alexandre-Athenase in 1951, which legitimised her children. The couple were married until 1954.
With her next partner, Jean-Charles Rey (who she eventually married in 1961 and divorced in 1974), she schemed to have her brother replaced by her son Christian-Louis, and spread rumours that Rainier’s then-girlfriend was infertile, leading to the breakdown of the relationship. However, when Rainier married the American actress Grace Kelly in 1956 and later had three children, it was assured that no plan to have him removed would work.
Antoinette would marry once more, with her final husband dying six weeks after the wedding. She was devoted to animals and supported many animal charities. In 2005, upon the accession of Prince Albert II, her nephew, she and her descendants lost their places in the line of succession, as Monaco limits the throne to the sovereign’s descendants, siblings, and siblings’ children.
Princess Antoinette died at the age of 90 on 18 March 2011.
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (later Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands)
The last queen of the Netherlands was a teenager when Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne, the third in a string of queen regnants.
Born on 31 January 1938 as the eldest daughter of Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard, Beatrix was the heiress presumptive from 1947. Her early years were spent in Canada, as Juliana and her children were evacuated to North America following the outbreak of war. By the time she returned, her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina was in the final years of her reign, ultimately abdicating in 1947 due to poor health.
Beatrix was educated in the Netherlands, receiving a law degree from Leiden University in 1961. From her 18th birthday she was entitled to a seat on the Council of State and took her role as heir seriously.
She married Claus von Amsberg, a controversial German nobleman with a checkered past due to having been a member of the Hitler Youth during the Second World War, in 1966. Claus would become the Prince Consort of the Netherlands in due time, and became a popular member of the Royal Family before his death in 2002. Together, the royal couple had three children: King Willem-Alexander, the late Prince Friso, and Prince Constantijn.
Beatrix succeeded her mother on 30 April 1980 and reigned for 33 years, abdicating on the same date in 2013 in favour of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, making him the first Dutch King since 1890. Today, she carries out engagements with the title Princess Beatrix.
Crown Prince Olav of Norway (later King Olav V of Norway)
For a young prince who’d been born at Sandringham to go on to become “The People’s King” in Norway, Olav’s life is one of great intrigue.
Prince Olav was born Prince Alexander of Denmark in 1903, to Prince Carl of Denmark and his wife, Princess Maude of Wales, daughter of King Edward VIII. In 1905, his father was invited to become the King of Norway, which he accepted. He changed his name to Haakon and his son’s name to Olav, and Olav later became the first heir to the Norwegian throne who’d been raised within the country since the Middle Ages.
At the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession, Crown Prince Olav was nearly 50 years old, and had been a champion for his adopted homeland. He’d served in the Norwegian Armed Forces and was a great support for his father and the government. In fact, he even offered to stay behind while the rest of the Norwegian Royal Family were evacuated during the German Occupation, but his offer was declined, and he supported a government-in-exile.
Crown Prince Olav had married Princess Märtha of Sweden, making her Crown Princess, in 1929. Together they had three children: current King Harald, Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid. Sadly, Crown Princess Märtha passed away in 1954, and by the time Olav inherited his throne, the role of first lady of Norway was occupied by his daughter, Astrid (later Crown Princess Sonja, who married Harald in 1968, would assume the role).
Olav came to the throne in 1957 and immediately became a popular and beloved figure nicknamed “The People’s King.” He was often seen in public without bodyguards, and when pressed as to why he dared to travel without a retinue, would claim that he had “four million bodyguards” or the entire population of the country.
In 1990, Olav’s health began to decline, and he later died on 17 January 1991 from a myocardial infarction. He was succeeded by his son, Harald V.
Prince Carl Gustaf of Sweden (later King Carl XVI Gustaf)
The current king of Sweden was heir to the Swedish throne at the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession, owing to the death of his father in a plane crash in 1947.
The young prince Carl Gustaf, the only son of the late Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sybilla, was only nine months old at the time of his father’s death; and became heir apparent to the Swedish throne in 1950, upon the accession of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf. Remarkably, he wasn’t told about his father’s death until he was seven years old.
As a young man who would likely inherit his throne early on in life, Prince Carl Gustaf was trained and educated in all manner of subjects relevant to someday being the King of Sweden. He also served with the Swedish Armed Forces, and studied the various government departments and leaders he’d one day work in tandem with.
On 15 September 1973, at the age of 27, King Carl XVI Gustaf succeeded to the Swedish throne following the death of his 90-year-old grandfather. Three years later, he married Silvia Sommerlath and together they have three children: Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip, and Princess Madeleine.
In 2023, he will celebrate his Golden Jubilee.
