The nuances of all this were beyond the understanding of many European observers raised in the presumably less complicated tradition of primogeniture, in which the oldest male heir always succeeds by right of lineage. In the eyes of some Westerners, it appeared that new king had usurped the throne. Later, Rama III's own succession nearly became a crisis. As his health continued to deteriorate in 1851 following months of fruitless discussions about possible successors, the heir to the throne remained unnamed. A foreign observer of the time recounted that: "All parties concerning the question of the succession were preparing themselves with arms and troops for self-defence and resistance." Before they could come to blows, "there was convened at the king's palace ... a meeting of all the princes, nobles, and chief rulers of the land to confer on the all engrossing question of who shall become the successor to the present king."