At the time of his birth at
St James's Palace, Charles was the second surviving child of James and Mary, a sister, Catherine Laura, having died the previous year. Another sister, Isabella, one year older than Charles, died at the age of four in 1681. At the time of Charles's birth, his uncle,
Charles II of England, had no legitimate children and his
queen consort,
Catherine of Braganza, was reaching the age of 40 and it was clear that she would have no children and that the Duke of York would succeed as King. Because all of James's sons with his first wife,
Anne Hyde, were dead, the newborn Charles was in direct line to the throne, a possibility that caused concern in
England and
Scotland because both James and Mary were
Catholics and the majority of people wanted a
Protestant monarch. Like so many of his brothers and sisters, the infant lived for a little more than a month, dying on 12 December the same year he was born. Charles was buried in
Westminster Abbey, on 13 December 1677. His younger brother was
James Francis Edward Stuart,
The Old Pretender. ==Arms==