He was saved and went back to Kyoto when the Taira clan died out, however Emperor Gotoba had already succeeded to the throne in Kyoto. (in "Masukagami" (The Clear Mirror) it is said Imperial Prince Morisada and Imperial Prince Takahira (Emperor Gotoba) were called in by the Cloistered Emperor Goshirakawa, and Takahira, who took to the Emperor before Morisada, was appointed to succeed to the throne, however there was another theory that it was Morisada's half younger brother, Imperial Prince Koreaki (Emperor Takakura's third Prince) who was called with Takahira, but there were two different theories of the author of 'Masukagami,' one was 'the direction theory' and another one was 'the misunderstanding theory.'
平家滅亡時に救出されて帰京するが、都では既に後鳥羽天皇が即位していた（ちなみに『増鏡』では、守貞親王と尊成親王（後鳥羽天皇）が後白河法皇の前に呼ばれて、すぐに法皇に懐いた尊成が皇位に立てられたとする記述があるが、実際に尊成とともに呼ばれたのは守貞親王の異母弟惟明親王（高倉天皇第三皇子）といわれており、これについては『増鏡』作者による「演出説」と「勘違い説」に分かれている）。