One can ask similar questions about him -- whether he, hampered all his life with health problems, would have predeceased his father, had not King Ludwig I been forced to abdicate the throne after getting messed up in a romantic scandal with Lola Montez.

There is no doubt, however, that the stress and burden of sovereignty shortened the life of Maximilian II (leaving aside the question of how long), since he was facing a major crisis over the Schleswig-Holstein situation at the time of his death (March 1864). As for his father, it's possible that Ludwig I would have been done in sooner, had he been in his son's shoes and been made to confront the said crisis in his stead.

Kingship is not an easy thing -- especially in the days when royal sovereigns wielded SOME powers (official or unofficial), even in constitutional monarchies. Such was the case in 19th century Europe.

In any case, it's very likely that Ludwig II would still have been a young man at the time of his accession to the throne of Bavaria as king. Assuming that his grandfather still managed to live until 1868, even if not forced to abdicate, and that his father still predeceased him despite not being burdened with reigning as King Maximilian II, the grandson would have been only 22 at the time of succession. That was the same age that George III ascended the British throne after the death of his grandfather, King George II.

You expect that sort of thing, when a throne passes from grandparent to grandchild -- as was the case with the present Swedish king. I'm not sure how much of a difference four years would really have made, when it came to growth, development, and preparation for a young sovereign like King Ludwig II of Bavaria ...

Of course, when one is talking about late teens vs. early twenties when assuming the throne, perhaps four years WOULD have made a big difference.

Then again, Ludwig II was 18 -- the same age as Queen Victoria at the time of accession to the British throne, and Emperor Franz II Joseph at the time of accession to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Nobody questioned the readiness of either ....