EDWARD VI, AGE 10
Edward was the only legitimate male child of King Henry VIII. By the age of six, he was engaged to seven-month old Mary, Queen of Scots. When he was crowned at 10 years old, the ceremonies were shortened due to his “tender age”.
Even more shockingly, Edward not only became King of England and Ireland in 1547, but he became head of the Church of England as well!
IVAN THE TERRIBLE, AGE 3
This 16th-century Russian ruler lived in constant fear of assassination as a child, and at age 13 he had his chief enemy thrown to a pack of hunting dogs, which tore him limb from limb. When he was 17, Ivan had himself crowned Russia’s first Czar.
Ivan ruled until his death in 1584, which scientists later determined to likely be poisoning. Considering Ivan’s long list of crimes, including attempted rape of his daughter-in-law and the murder of his first-born son in a fit of rage, he had many enemies who could have been the culprit.
ANANDA MAHIDOL, AGE 9
“I am not happy to become King of Siam,” Ananda said after being crowned when his uncle gave up the throne in 1935. “I would rather play with trains.” Residing outside of Thailand, he did not even visit the country as its ruling monarch until three years later.
Tragically, 11 years later he was found dead of a bullet wound. Most assumed it was self-inflicted, however a number of historians believe he was murdered by a former Japanese intelligence officer.
Actually it only SEEMED that the children ruled, usually there was a group of elders either royal or church, stately advisors, or other such people that told the child what to do. For example, Ivan the Terrible who's father died young and who's mother was poisoned when he was just 8 and then of course left to rule, but contrare mon frere! It was the Boyars that guided him until his great victory as a teen at the Battle of Vaslui.
Then because they'd been such great teachers the Boyars found out what a tyrant they'd created when the boy czar returned a man and a full-on ruler.
To me, real history really is much more interesting sometimes as it really happened such as Ivan the Terrible killing his own 1st born son, Ivan Ivanovich (by accident?) over nothing more than parting his hair wrong (or was it because he wouldn't divorce his wife and marry another for political reasons? The story is gray -we may never know).
But yes, it does seem that the rulers who began their reigns at an early age were destined for the greatest fates and most interesting lives compared to those who took over in later years.