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| Infante Juan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count of Barcelona | |||||
.jpg) Juan in 1946 | |||||
| Head of the Royal House of Spain | |||||
| Tenure | 15 January 1941 – 14 May 1977 | ||||
| Predecessor | Alfonso XIII | ||||
| Successor | Juan Carlos I | ||||
| Born | (1913-06-20)20 June 1913 Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso,San Ildefonso, Spain | ||||
| Died | 1 April 1993(1993-04-01) (aged 79) Navarra University Hospital,Pamplona, Spain | ||||
| Burial | 7 April 1993 El Escorial,Community of Madrid, Spain | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | |||||
| |||||
| House | Bourbon | ||||
| Father | Alfonso XIII | ||||
| Mother | Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
| Military career | |||||
| Allegiance | Spain | ||||
| Branch | Spanish Navy | ||||
| Rank | Captain general | ||||
Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1 April 1993), was a claimant to theSpanish throne asJuan III.[2] He was the third son and designated heir of KingAlfonso XIII and QueenVictoria Eugenie of Battenberg. His father was replaced by theSecond Spanish Republic in 1931. Juan's sonJuan Carlos I becameKing of Spain when Spain'sconstitutional monarchy was restored in 1975.
Infante Juan was born at thePalace of San Ildefonso. His father was forced into exile when theSecond Spanish Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931. Owing to the renunciations in 1933 of his brothersAlfonso, Prince of Asturias, andInfante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, Infante Juan became first in line to the defunct Spanish throne. He thus received the titlePrince of Asturias while serving with theRoyal Navy inBombay.
In March 1935, he was appointed honorarysub-lieutenant[3] and passed naval exams in gunnery andnavigation, which would have entitled him to alieutenant’s commission in theRoyal Navy if he gave up his Spanish nationality. This, however, he refused to do.
He met his future wife at a party hosted byVictor Emmanuel III of Italy on the day before his sister (Infanta Beatriz) was to be married. He marriedPrincess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1910–2000), known in Spain as Doña María de las Mercedes de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y Orleans, in Rome on 12 October 1935.
They had four children:
They lived inCannes and Rome, and, with the outbreak ofWorld War II, they moved toLausanne to live with his mother,Victoria Eugenie. Afterwards, they resided atEstoril, on thePortuguese Riviera. Together with their children Pilar and Juan Carlos, they took part in the ship tour organized byQueen Frederica and her husband KingPaul of Greece in 1954, which became known as the “Cruise of the Kings” and was attended by over 100 royals from all over Europe. On this trip, Juan Carlos met the hosts' 15-year-old daughter,Sofia, his future wife, for the first time.[4]
In 1931, Juan was subject to dynastic negotiations between theAlfonsists and theCarlists, concluded in so-calledPact of Territet, which was never implemented. Juan becameheir apparent to the defunct Spanish throne after the renunciations of his two older brothers,Alfonso andJaime, in 1933. To assert his claim to the throne, following his father's death (in 1941) he used the title ofCount of Barcelona, a sovereign title associated with the Spanish crown.
In 1936, his father sent him to participate in theSpanish Civil War but he was arrested near the French border, and sent back by GeneralEmilio Mola.
On 19 March 1945, he announced a manifesto inLausanne, demanding he replaceFrancisco Franco:
Today, six years after the Civil War, the regime established by General Franco, inspired from the start by the totalitarian systems and the Axis powers, so contrary to the character and tradition of our people, is fundamentally incompatible with the circumstances, which the present war is creating in the world. The foreign policy followed by the regime is compromising the future of the nation. Spain runs the risk of being dragged into a new fratricidal conflict and of finding itself totally isolated from the world. The present regime, however hard it tries to adapt to the new situation, is responsible for this double danger. Moreover, a new republic, however moderate in its beginnings and its intentions, will not be long in shifting to one of the extremes, thus strengthening the other and finishing up in a new civil war. Only the traditional monarchy can be an instrument of peace and concord to reconcile Spaniards; it alone can obtain respect from abroad, by means of an effective state of law, and realize a harmonious synthesis of that order and freedom upon which is based the Christian concept of the state. Millions of Spaniards of the most varied ideologies are convinced of this truth and see in the monarchy the only saving institution.[5]
When General Franco declared Spain a monarchy in 1947, he characterized it as a "restoration". However, Franco was afraid that Juan would roll back theSpanish State because he favouredconstitutional monarchy, which would restoreparliamentary democracy. As a result, in 1969, Franco passed over Juan in favour of Juan's son, Juan Carlos, who Franco believed would be more likely to continue thedictatorship after his death. Juan Carlos later surprised many byhis support of democratising Spain. Franco and Juan did not have a good relationship, with the latter constantly pressing Franco to restore the monarchy. Relations soured further when Juan called Franco an "illegitimate usurper".
Juan formally renounced his rights to the Spanish throne eight years after being displaced as recognised heir to the throne by Franco, and two years after his son, Juan Carlos, had become king. In return, his son officially granted him the title of Count of Barcelona, which he had claimed for so long.
After his death in 1993, he was buried with honours due a king, under the nameJuan III (his title if he had become king) in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo deEl Escorial, nearMadrid.[2] His wife survived him by seven years.
He was fond of the sea, and joined the Naval School atSan Fernando, Cádiz, and hadtattoos of a marine theme from his time in the BritishRoyal Navy. He was appointed an honoraryadmiral of the Royal Navy on 31 July 1987.[6]
Spain :
Greek Royal Family:
Portuguese Royal Family:Grand Cross of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa,8 December 1983
Portuguese Republic: Grand Cross of theOrder of Christ,31 January 1986[10]
Italian Royal Family:
Two Sicilian Royal Family:Grand Cross of the Constantinian Order of St. George,12 March 1960[12]
Monaco: Grand Cross of theOrder of Saint-Charles,11 May 1962[13].svg)
![Royal Coat of Arms of Spain Version of 1924/1931 Used as Pretender and Head of the Royal House. (1941–1977)[14]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aGreater_Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_Spain_(1931)-Escutcheon_of_France_and_Golden_Fleece_Variant.svg)
![Lesser Royal Coat of Arms of Spain Also used by Don Juan as Pretender. (1941–1977)[14]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCoat_of_Arms_of_Spain_(c.1883-1931)_Golden_Fleece_Variant.svg)
![Arms after the renunciation of the Throne (1977–1993)[15]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCoat_of_Arms_of_Juan%2c_Count_of_Barcelona%2c_after_the_renounce_of_his_claim_to_the_Throne.svg)
| Ancestors of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona |
|---|
Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona Cadet branch of theHouse of Capet Born: 20 June 1913 Died: 1 April 1993 | ||
| Spanish nobility | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Count of Barcelona 8 March 1941 – 1 April 1993 | Succeeded by |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — King of Spain 15 January 1941 – 14 May 1977 Reason for succession failure: Republic proclaimed in 1931 | Succeeded by |
| Senior Carlists |
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|---|---|---|
| Bourbon-Parma claimants |
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| Bourbon claimants |
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| Alternative Bourbon claimant |
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| Habsburg claimants |
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_Version_with_Golden_Fleece_and_Charles_III_Orders.svg)
