The next king or queen of Scotland

“Scotland will be a constitutional monarchy, continuing the union of the crowns that dates back to 1603.” So said Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond in his prospectus for independence published in 2013. “For two independent states to share the same monarch is not a novel or unique situation,” he added.

Not that the chairman of his pro-independence yes campaign would appear to agree. The former Labour MP Dennis Canavan says there should be a second referendum on who should be the new head of state. His preference is for an elected leader – though of course he’s happy to see the Queen throw her crown into the ring.

But what if her majesty decides that, actually one is really quite busy. One doesn’t need another country to rule: Scotland is fine for Balmoral holidays, but actually trudging around opening Tunnocks teashops and the like?…

So if she was to turn the job down, who is best placed to be the next king – or queen – of Scotland? Who should inherit the throne of Macbeth and the Bruces?

Well first of all, let’s dismiss any claim of Scotland’s favourite actor. Sorry Sir Sean, but playing King Richard to Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood doesn’t quite cut it. The former Edinburgh milkman just doesn’t have the necessary regal blood.

The House of Stuart

The first obvious candidate is another octogenarian though. Franz, Duke of Bavaria (pictured below), is considered by Jacobites as the legitimate heir to the deposed Stuart line. The House of Stuart was founded by Robert II of Scotland, grandson of the English-conquering Robert the Bruce.

Eleven Stuarts later and after having succeeded to the English throne in 1603, they were overthrown. Famously, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender, attempted to wrest the crown back in the failed Jacobite uprising of 1745.

But could his descendant Franz actually be the man to reinvigorate the Scottish line?

Well he’s German – but then that wasn’t a problem for the Windsors. He’s also Catholic, but that will be fine too in a new inclusive Scotland. Even the English are repealing that ban. The duke – who was recently described on a German royalist website as a “confirmed bachelor”, shuns the limelight, collecting modern art and trophy dogs. Dackelmischlings to be precise – which aren’t a million miles away from a corgi.

He’s only given his opinion on the succession once, and even that was to deny any inclination. “All this interest makes him smile,” said his spokesman. “Because really, he is very happy and satisfied with being the Duke of Bavaria.”

Belgium’s Bonnie Prince?

He has a rival in the Belgian Michael Lafosse. Mr Lafosse says he’s actually the nearest living descendant of the bonnie prince through an illegitimate line. Historians have rubbished his claims, though that hasn’t stopped him styling himself HRH the 7th Count of Albany and penning a book called The Forgotten Monarchy of Scotland.

Unfortunately he was last reported fleeing his Caledonian homeland because of passport difficulties and moving back across the channel to live with his mother – a princess or a shopkeeper depending on whether you believe Lafosse or the Belgian authorities.

But if we dismiss the Stuarts, what about Scotland’s other regal family, the Bruces? Scottish constitutional expert Roddy Martine suggests the Earl of Elgin & Kincardine.

“He is certainly descended from Robert the Bruce’s grandfather, who made the claim to the Scottish throne in the first place,” he told Channel 4 News. “Unfortunately, although he is acute as ever, Andrew Elgin is now 89. His son Charlie, Lord Bruce, however is 53, and shouldn’t be passed over.”

Mr Martine also points out that the current Duke of Buccleuch is directly descended from Charles II and would be a contender.

The modern Royals

Of the current British monarchy, Viscount Linley would seem best placed to take over Scotland as his mother, Princess Margaret, was the only properly “Scottish” member of the House of Windsor.

“On a stormy August night at Glamis in 1930,” says the website of the Queen Mother’s ancestral home, “Princess Margaret was born – the first royal baby born in Scotland since the year 1600.” David Linley is a furniture maker, with bespoke pieces including whisky cabinets. That should work then.

Roddy Martine plumps for Viscount Linley’s cousin though. “The obvious choice is the Princess Royal, a no-nonsense, no-fuss character who already does an enormous amount of charity work, quietly and low profile, throughout Scotland and is generally very popular north of the border.”

Scottish Snow Queen

And then there’s the actress Tilda Swinton. She is the daughter of the Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire – the Queen’s representative in the Scottish border county. Genealogists also recently discovered she is descended from Robert the Bruce through both her parents.

She’s also the only candidate who actually lives in Scotland. And of course she famously played a kind of snow queen in the Narnia films. Now for a Scottish monarch, you couldn’t get more appropriate than that.