He told me something I was not aware of, that Princess Sophie Elisabeth Marie Gabrielle had a legitimate claim to the Crown of Scotland "except for that whole Catholic thing". Then he said "Look it up". And I did.
Here's more, from The Express, November, 2011:
The 'rightful heir' to the Scottish throne
A GERMAN who became a princess after marrying into the little-known Liechtenstein royal family would lay claim to being Scotland's next rightful hereditary queen if laws banning Catholics on the throne were repealed.In my defense, I did know that the Prince of Wales is a blood descendant of Vlad the Impaler and was quoted in the LA Times:
Interior design enthusiast Sophie Elisabeth Marie Gabrielle, 44, will one day rule over the tiny European principality following a fairytale wedding to the country's Prince Alois in 1993.
But her family tree shows she is also part of the direct lineage of the House of Stuart, which was kept off the combined thrones of England and Scotland in the late 17th century then effectively ousted by the 1701 Act of Settlement that outlawed Catholic monarchs.
Last week the Scottish Parliament debated repealing the 310-year-old legislation, which eventually led to the Jacobite Uprisings, amid widespread belief it is now outdated and discriminatory on sectarian grounds.
It is unlikely that even if it were ever abolished by Westminster there would be a challenge to the current House of Windsor, but had the Act never existed, Sophie would now be a Scottish princess and would rule as Queen on the deaths of her elderly father and uncle. "But because Princess Sophie is married to the Crown Prince of Liechtenstein and therefore to a very much alive monarchy unlike the lineage before her, it is creating a lot of added interest."...MORE
Max-Emanuel Ludwig Maria Herzog is the current Jacobite heir to the throne, with his older brother Franz, the self-styled Duke of Bavaria, unmarried and childless.
Jacobite enthusiast Stelios Rigopoulos said that while the Stuart lineage still existed there is "no way" it could ever be given the opportunity to rule the United Kingdom again.
He said: "The Duke of Bavaria is aware of his Scottish heritage but he is not going to be putting any claim for the throne, come over and start a revolution. If anything I think he is quite bemused by it all.
...Prince Charles noted that as a descendant of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Dracula,
"I have a bit of a stake in the country."
"It's in my blood," he said.
