20 Royal Siblings Who Cordially Hated Each Other

Although relations between Henry VIII and Margaret Tudor were not always strained, they were warm toward one another only to keep up appearances, when it served their respective political interests. Their relationship was marked by diplomacy, ego, and the fact that they both came from families where personal feelings rarely remained private for very long. Margaret often had her own political ambitions in Scotland, and Henry was not exactly known for his flexibility when members of his family complicated his plans.

Richard the Lionheart and his brother John were a particularly disastrous pair. While Richard was away on a crusade, John spent his time circling the throne, like a man who had already begun taking measurements for the curtains. Richard never really trusted him, and, to be honest, everything suggests that this mistrust was entirely justified. 

Edward IV and George of Clarence gave England one of the most bitter brotherly rivalries of the War of the Roses. Clarence constantly switched sides, rebelled against Edward, and generally behaved like a man for whom betrayal was a source of intellectual stimulation. Edward eventually had enough and had him executed, which clearly shows just how serious this rivalry was.

George IV and Frederick did not always come to blows as they do in the movies, but there was a great deal of rivalry between them and little reason to assume any deep affection. As sons of George III, they grew up in a court marked by pressure, comparisons, and public scrutiny. George was vain, extravagant, and politically inept, while Frederick had to manage his own reputation and ambitions. 

Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh took their brotherly hatred to a typically Mughal level—that is, it was accompanied by military campaigns and a war of succession. Dara was Shah Jahan’s favorite son, cultured and charismatic, while Aurangzeb was colder, more strategic, and far less inclined to accept defeat. Their rivalry ended with Aurangzeb’s victory over Dara, who was paraded in public in humiliation before being executed. 

Aurangzeb did not reserve his cruelty for Dara alone. During the Mughal War of Succession, he also used and then cast aside his other brother, Murad Baks, once the latter was no longer of any political use to him. They briefly cooperated when it served Aurangzeb’s interests, but he subsequently betrayed, imprisoned, and executed Murad.

Shah Shuja was another brother caught up in Aurangzeb’s sinister rise to power. Like the others, he had legitimate claims and genuine ambitions, which, at the Mughal court, essentially meant that he had doomed himself to a tragic future, whether he realized it or not. Aurangzeb confronted him, defeated him, forced him to flee, and ultimately brought about his ruin. 

Sophia was Peter the Great’s ambitious half-sister. She ruled as regent during Peter’s youth, but as soon as he began to assert himself, the rivalry between them turned into a bitter struggle for power. Peter eventually deposed her and forced her to enter a convent.

Louis XI and his brother Charles, Duke of Berry, were another pair for whom family life proved much easier when they were separated by armies and treaties. Charles became the leading figure of the opposition among the nobles who resented Louis, which, naturally, did nothing to improve the king’s opinion of him. Louis eventually appointed his brother Duke of Aquitaine in an effort to keep him under control, but Charles continued to plot against Louis until his death, which occurred as a result of an illness.

Selim II and Bayezid were the sons of Suleiman the Magnificent, and their rivalry gave rise to one of the most violent fratricidal conflicts in the Ottoman dynasty. What had begun as a struggle for the succession eventually escalated into open conflict, with Bayezid rebelling after falling out of the sultan’s favor and realizing the danger his position now posed. Selim enjoyed official support, and Bayezid eventually fled before being captured and executed along with several of his sons. 

Caracalla and Geta were two brothers who jointly inherited the Roman Empire—a situation that already seemed like a recipe for disaster. Their mutual hatred was so intense that, after the death of their father, Septimius Severus, it is said they could not even share the palace without attempting to divide it into separate territories. This arrangement quickly fell apart, and Caracalla eventually had Geta assassinated in front of their mother. 

After their father’s death, the Inca royal brothers—Huayna Capac, Atahualpa, and Huáscar—engaged in a brutal civil war for control of the empire. The conflict took a bloody turn, marked by armies, executions, and deep personal bitterness that fueled the struggle long before the Spanish arrived to take advantage of the chaos. This was not merely a dispute over succession, but a full-blown family war that helped tear the empire apart.

Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII ruled jointly as brother and sister, in accordance with classical Ptolemaic tradition—a fact that already suggests this arrangement was unstable and deeply unusual. Their partnership devolved into open conflict, exile, political maneuvering, and, ultimately, war involving the Romans. Ptolemy’s faction attempted to remove Cleopatra from power, which she naturally did not take very well. 

Cleopatra did not have a very harmonious relationship with her sister Arsinoe IV either. Arsinoe had turned against her during the Alexandrian conflict and had become a rival center of support opposed to Cleopatra’s reign. Cleopatra ultimately emerged victorious from this power struggle, and Arsinoe was later assassinated on Cleopatra’s orders. 

Mary II and Anne were originally two sisters from the same troubled Stuart family, but their relationship deteriorated severely due to politics, loyalty, and the people around them. Anne felt neglected and disrespected, while Mary could be rigid and unsympathetic, which only widened the rift between them. Their quarrels became public and painfully personal. Although no execution order was ever issued against the other, the two sisters remained estranged until the end of their lives.

Charles II and James II did not spend their lives in a state of constant war, but the tension between them was intense and persistent, particularly because James’s Catholic faith was a source of immense political concern. Charles often had to contend with the fact that his own brother’s position threatened the stability of his reign. There was sometimes loyalty, but also mistrust, political maneuvering, and a great deal of frustration beneath the surface. 

The Ptolemies were so mired in disastrous family politics that it seems almost unfair to single out just one couple. Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII fought over power in a way that plunged the Egyptian royal house into civil war and constant instability. Their rivalry dragged co-rulers, foreign powers, and the usual toxic mix of legacy and ego into its wake. 

These two were both brother and sister, and husband and wife, for the Ptolemaic dynasty never encountered a familial boundary that it could not push even further. Their relationship degenerated into one of the most sordid power struggles in Hellenistic royal history, complete with civil war and acts of cruelty that were shocking even by royal standards. 

Sancho II and Alfonso VI were brothers in the wonderfully unstable world of medieval Iberian succession politics. After their father, Ferdinand I, had divided his kingdoms between them, the two brothers did what the sons of kings so often did: they turned their inheritance into war. Sancho forced Alfonso into exile before being assassinated himself, after which Alfonso regained power. 

Richard III and George of Clarence were brothers, both younger sons of Edward IV, and their relationship was marked by intense tensions, quite apart from the more serious misfortunes that befell George. The York family was not really a haven of emotional security, and mistrust spread through it with disconcerting ease. Clarence’s instability and his shifting allegiances gave the impression that all family ties were, at best, merely conditional.