Alexander, who had been named after Pope…

Alexander, who had been named after Pope Alexander II, is the fifth son of Malcolm III by his wife Margaret of Wessex, grandniece of Edward the Confessor.

He was the younger brother of King Edgar, who is unmarried, and his brother's heir presumptive by 1104 (and perhaps earlier).

In that year he was the senior layman present at the examination of the remains of Saint Cuthbert at Durham prior to their re-interment.

He holds lands in Scotland north of the Forth and in Lothian.

He succeeds to the Scottish crown in 1107 on the death of Edgar, but in accordance with Edgar's instructions, their brother David is granted an appanage in southern Scotland.

Edgar's will grants David the lands of the former kingdom of Strathclyde or Cumbria, and this is apparently agreed in advance by Edgar, Alexander, David and their brother-in-law Henry I of England.