Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia

Born in 1878 as the youngest son of Alexander III, Michael spent most of his life climbing and falling in the succession: third in line after his grandfather's assassination in 1881, second after his father's death in 1894, heir presumptive when his brother George died in 1899. The arrival of Nicholas II's son Alexei in 1904 pushed him back, but the boy's haemophilia left Michael expecting to inherit anyway. He wrecked his standing at court by taking a married woman, Natalia Wulfert, as his lover, fathering a son with her in 1910, then marrying her in 1912 - hoping the scandal would remove him from succession. It earned him exile instead, bouncing between France, Switzerland, and England until World War I pulled him home to command a cavalry division. When Nicholas abdicated on 15 March 1917 and named Michael as his successor rather than Alexei, Michael deferred acceptance until an elected assembly could ratify it. No assembly came. He was imprisoned after the revolution and murdered in June 1918.