Albany was his whole life the next heir of the Kingdom of Scotland after male members of the king's immediate family, due to stipulations of the semi-Salic succession order enacted by King Robert II which favored male agnates over all females of the Royal House of Stewart. The sons of the immediate royal family proved to be short-lived except Albany's first cousins James, Duke of Ross, King James IV and the latter's son the future King James V (who died in 1542, only five years after Albany).