He was not its last survivor, but he was its heir in unexpected ways.

ECONOMIST: Obituary

Last week, Gandhi's political heir, Sonia Gandhi, resigned as president of the Congress party four months before a general election.

ECONOMIST: India

Napoleon III, the last monarch of France, was the nephew and heir of Napoleon.

FORBES: Connect

Christy Walton, the richest of the new billionaires in 2006, took on her fortune from her husband John, who died last June and was himself a Wal-Mart Stores heir.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Heir designate Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, 33, died last December of cancer.

FORBES: Europe

German billionaire Berthold Albrecht, an heir to the Aldi Nord discount supermarket chain, died last month at age 58.

FORBES: German Billionaire Berthold Albrecht, Heir To Aldi Markets And Trader Joe's, Dead At Age 58

She quit the company two years later and now has her own U.K.-based production company. (Just last week, her brother Lachlan Murdoch , his father's more recent heir apparent, followed suit, quitting News Corp.) Still, it seems fairly certain that these women are making their wealthy fathers proud.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The heir to the throne has been particularly outspoken on environmental issues and in the last 12 months has visited eco-systems in Indonesia, Borneo and Brazil.

BBC: Prince fears Earth 'catastrophe'