Can you solve the tricky chess rebus puzzle below by ciphering the hidden meaning?

There was a kingdom in which the king had no heir to take over his thrown. Even the queen was dead and he himself was on the verge of dying. He thought about it and then summoned all of the teenagers. He gave one seed each to all of them and asked them to grow the plant. He announced that the one with the most beautiful plant will become the king/queen of the empire after the death of the king.

After a month, all of them were called. The king looked at all of the plants but announced the girl with an empty pot as the queen of the empire. Why?

Is the statement valid that it does not matter how much older a sibling is, eventually the younger one will be half as old as the older one?

A man who was outside in the rain without an umbrella or hat didn’t get a single hair on his head wet. Why?

John’s parents have three sons: Snap, Crackle, and what’s the name of the third son?

What do you see in the image below

Andrew sees a very rare bird named "Ruppell's vulture". Soon Andrew was dead. Can you explain the mystery, Mr. Sherlock?

Mr. Buttons was all set to go to the village of Buttonland to meet his friend. So, he packed his bags and left for the village at 5 in the morning. Upon travelling on a road for miles, he came across a point where the road diverged into two. He was confused on which road to take. He gazed around and he saw two owls sitting on a branch. He thought he could ask for directions for the village from the two owls. So he went to the tree. There he saw a sign which read, "One owl always lies, and one is always truthful. They both fly away if you ask them more than 1 question."
Mr. Buttons was caught in the dilemma of what to ask? And from which owl to ask, since he only had one question. What should Mr. Buttons ask?

How many cubic feet of dirt are in a hole of one foot deep, three feet long, and two feet wide?

Take away my first letter, then take away my second letter. Then take away the rest of my letters, yet I remain the same. What am I?