When I was in college, I was reading a book about the Tudors, and was surprised to learn that Henry VIII did in fact have two sons born of Catherine of Aragon. Both were sickly and died in infancy. How different the history of England would be (and America, for that matter) had at least one of these youngsters been robust. Same goes for his elder brother Arthur.
Though England didn't have Salic law as did France (i.e. women could inhert the throne in England) Henry was a worry wart that the crown was still not totally secure given all the civil wars in the past century. Then after all the machinations brought about when Henry did produce a male by Jane Seymour, Edward VI, HE turned out sickly too. Didn't even reach his majority and had a regency. Who lived? The girls. Upon whom did the throne devolve upon? Mary I then Elizabeth I. Neither died with an heir ... so who did the throne fall to? A great grandson of Henry VII ... where it would have eventually gone anyway had Henry just minded his own beeswax.
If you have teenage kids though, they may well have something in common with Henry, sartorially speaking. Henry had his jacket dagged. Your kids might have the knees in their jeans dagged.
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