Born in the Purple

1. William I the Conqueror
b. 1028, r. 1066-1087

== Matilda of Flanders

2. William II Rufus
b. 1056, r. 1087-1100

Held the throne before
succession through porphyrogeniture
was established.

3. Henry I Beauclerc
b. 1068, r. 1100-1135

== Matilda of Scotland

William Adelin
1103-1120

After William's death, his father
declared that a woman with no
surviving brothers may become heir.

4. Matilda I the Empress
b. 1102, r. 1135-1167

== Geoffrey Plantagenet

William FitzEmpress
1136-1164

Matilda died with no heir born in the purple.
The throne was contested between:
-Henry, her eldest son, born two years before her reign.
-Reginald, Earl of Cornwall, illegitimate son of Henry I, born in the purple.
-Henry, Bishop of Winchester, son of Adela of Normandy, in-the-purple daughter of William the Conqueror.
The barons supported Matilda's son, as the only one likely to sire heirs in the purple.

5. Henry II Plantagenet
b. 1133, r. 1167-1189

== Eleanor of Aquitaine

Henry died without any heirs in the purple.
The throne was contested between:
-Richard, his eldest son, born 10 years before his reign.
-John, his youngest son, born 9 months before his reign.
-William Longespee, his illegitimate son, born in the purple.
Henry had made his preference for John known, and 13-year-old William supported John's claim.
John was crowned and claimed to be "raised in the purple".

6. John I Lackland
b. 1166, r. 1189-1216

== Isabella, Countess of Angouleme

John proclaimed the principle
that in the absence of a 'purple' heir,
the youngest pre-reign son should inherit.

7. Henry III of Winchester
b. 1207, r. 1216-1272

== Eleanor of Provence

8. Edward I Longshanks
b. 1239, r. 1272-1307

== Eleanor of Castile

9. Edward II of Caernarfon
b. 1284, r. 1307-1327

== Isabella of France

10. Edward III of Windsor
b. 1312, r. 1327-1377

== Philippa of Hainault

Edward the Black Prince
1330-1376

Lionel, Duke of Clarence
1338-1368

11. John II of Gaunt
b. 1340, r. 1377-1399

== Henrietta Maria

John died without any clear heirs in the purple.
The throne was contested between:
-Henry, his youngest son born legitimate, 10 years before his reign.
-Catherine, his youngest child born legitimate, 4 years before his reign.
-Joan, his legitimised daughter, born in the purple.
Joan, legitimised by Papal bull, was held to be the true heir, in part because Henry was at the time a widower.

12. Joan I of Westmorland
b. 1379, r. 1399-1440

== Ralph, Earl of Westmorland

13. Richard I of Salisbury
b. 1400, r. 1440-1460

==Alice Montacute

14. Katherine I of Hastings
b. 1442, r. 1460-1504

== William, Baron Hastings

15. Edward IV of Hastings
b. 1466, r. 1504-1506

== Mary Hungerford

16. George I
b. 1488, r. 1506-1544

== Anne Stafford

Raised in the purple

17. Francis I
b. 1514, r. 1544-1561

== Katherine Pole

18. Walter I
b. 1544, r. 1561-1616

== Joyce Roper

19. Henry IV
b. 1578, r. 1616-1649

== Dorothy Huddleston

20. Ferdinand I
b. 1617, r. 1649-?

== Mary St. George

21. Ferdinand II
b. 1650, r. ????

== Catherine Coote

From this point the line of succession is lost to history.