History of the English line of succession of succession was governed by the Third Succession Act: Upon Henry's death, the throne passed to Henry's son, who became Edward VI. On the day of Edward VI's death, 6 July 1553, the line of succession to the English throne was as follows according to the will of Henry VIII, which excluded the descendants of his elder sister, Margaret, Queen of Scotland (note: Henry VIII's will was signed with a dry stamp rather than his hand, a technicality that eventually allowed the Stuarts to succeed): Edward VI left a Device for the Succession, in an attempt to remove the peculiarity
Edward of Angoulême a member of the House of Plantagenet and the second, but eldest surviving grandson of the reigning English monarch, Edward III. Edward was related to the reigning French royal House of Valois through his paternal grandmother, Philippa of Hainault. His mother, Joan, was his father's first cousin once removed, and was "suo jure" Countess of Kent. Edward's date of birth has been a matter of debate. In the Dictionary of National Biography article for his father, Edward's birth year is given as 1363, 1364 or 1365, based on three contemporary chronicles, including that of Jean Froissart. A letter sent by