Simplified Succession Chart
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This simplified chart shows the major contenders to succeed Elizabeth. Descendents of Henry VIII's older sister Margaret Tudor included Lady Arabella Stuart, Mary Queen of Scots, and her son James VI of Scotland. Descendants of Henry's younger sister Mary Tudor included the sisters of Lady Jane Grey, executed by Mary I. The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia of Spain was a distant descendent of John of Gaunt (an ancestor of Henry VIII). After the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the Infanta was the favorite candidate of English Catholic exiles in Europe.

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