James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales (10 June 1688 – 1 January 1766), nicknamed the
Old Pretender, was the son of the deposed
James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland. As such, he claimed the English, Scottish and Irish thrones (as
James III of England and Ireland and
James VIII of Scotland) from the death of his father in 1701, when he was recognised as king of England, Scotland and Ireland by his cousin
Louis XIV of France. Following his death in 1766, he was succeeded by his son
Charles Edward Stuart in the
Jacobite Succession. Had his father not been deposed, Great Britain would have had only two monarchs during his lifetime; his father and himself, but instead there were seven; his father,
William III,
Mary II,
Anne,
George I,
George II and
George III. Although the ruling Protestant Stuarts died out with his half-sister, Queen Anne, the last remaining Stuarts were James and his sons, and their endeavours to reclaim the throne while remaining devoted to their Catholic faith are remembered in history as
Jacobitism.