Abdication: What To Call A Former Monarch, Part VI.

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Abdication, Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Albert II of Belgium, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, kings and queens of the United Kingdom

As we’ve seen, the overwhelming vast majority of monarchs that were both deposed or abdicated kept their royal titles. An exception being the three monarchs of the Netherlands (all queens) whom assumed the title of Princess upon their abdications. However, when both King Juan Carlos of Spain and Albert II of the Belgians recently abdicated they retained their titles. When Pope Benedict XVI resigned his position as Pope, the Vatican bestowed on him the title pope emeritus shortly after his resignation.

HRH The Duke of Windsor

Now let us examine why Edward VIII of the United Kingdom was not allowed to retain his royal title.

Duke of Windsor

On December 12, 1936, at the accession meeting of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, George VI announced he was to make his brother the “Duke of Windsor” with the style of Royal Highness. He wanted this to be the first act of his reign, although the formal documents were not signed until March 8, 1937 that following year. During the interim, Edward was universally known as the Duke of Windsor. George VI’s decision to create Edward a royal duke ensured that he could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords.

HRH The Duke of Windsor

Letters Patent dated May 27, 1937 re-conferred the “title, style, or attribute of Royal Highness” upon the Duke of Windsor, but specifically stated that “his wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute”. Some British ministers advised that the reconfirmation was unnecessary since Edward had retained the style automatically, and further that Simpson would automatically obtain the rank of wife of a prince with the style Her Royal Highness; others maintained that he had lost all royal rank and should no longer carry any royal title or style as an abdicated king, and be referred to simply as “Mr Edward Windsor”. Personally, I am not aware of the precedent for lowering Edward VIII’s titles to either a Royal Highness or simply as “Mr Edward Windsor”.

On April 14, 1937, Attorney General Sir Donald Somervell submitted to Home Secretary Sir John Simona memorandum summarising the views of Lord Advocate T. M. Cooper, Parliamentary Counsel Sir Granville Ram, and himself:

1. We incline to the view that on his abdication the Duke of Windsor could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness. In other words, no reasonable objection could have been taken if the King had decided that his exclusion from the lineal succession excluded him from the right to this title as conferred by the existing Letters Patent.
2. The question however has to be considered on the basis of the fact that, for reasons which are readily understandable, he with the express approval of His Majesty enjoys this title and has been referred to as a Royal Highness on a formal occasion and in formal documents. In the light of precedent it seems clear that the wife of a Royal Highness enjoys the same title unless some appropriate express step can be and is taken to deprive her of it.
3. We came to the conclusion that the wife could not claim this right on any legal basis. The right to use this style or title, in our view, is within the prerogative of His Majesty and he has the power to regulate it by Letters Patent generally or in particular circumstance.

Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

As we’ve seen retaining the royal title is the established precedent. Also, if he retained the title of King that also would have ensured that he could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords. There was a great prejudice toward Edward’s spouse, Wallis Simpson, and the denial of both the kingly and royal styles and titles were an attempt to deny them to her. It is my opinion that is the main reason Edward VIII did not retain his kingly status.

By any other name. Part II.

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Carlos III of Spain, Don Juan Count of Barcelona, Ferdinand VII of Spain, General Francisco Franco, Isabel II of Spain, Juan Carlos I of Spain, Louis XVIII of France, Madrid, monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, Spain

It isn’t just the British monarchy that has names that would not be well received by future monarchs, Spain also seems to have a rather large share of names that would not be welcomed once again.

In Britain, as I mentioned last week, the name John is not a favorable name. In Spain the name Juan may be a little controversial in the future. The present king, Juan-Carlos, chose the double name instead of Juan III, in deference to his father Don Juan, Count of Barcelona. Don Juan was the heir to his father King Alfonso XIII but was bypassed for the throne by Francisco Franco for being too liberal. Instead Franco chose Juan-Carlos, the eldest son of the Count of Barcelona, as the heir to the Spanish throne. This did cause some breakdown in the relationship between Juan-Carlos and his father. The Count of Barcelona had a difficult time letting go of his place in the succession. Don Juan formally renounced his rights to the Crown eight years after being displaced as recognised heir to the throne by Franco, and two years after his son Don 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.

There were many monarchists who saw Don Juan as the rightful king. Had he reigned as king he would have been King Juan III. When the count of Barcelona died on April 1, 1993 he was treated as if he had been a reigning monarch and was buried as Juan III with honours and trappings due a king, in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, near Madrid. Although this doesn’t negate the fact that a king may rule in Spain with the name Juan, the question would be will he rule as Juan III or as Juan IV? Even though Juan III was a nominal king and never actually reigned, I feel they will follow the usual Bourbon tradition of recognizing nominal rulers. In France Prince Louis Stanislas Xavier de Bourbon ruled as King Louis XVIII despite the fact that his nephew, Louis XVII, never actually ruled France.

The Count of Barcelona’s father, King Alfonso XIII, bore a name that may no longer be popular for a Spanish monarch. Alfonso XIII lost his throne in the unrest in Spain in the 1930s. In 1923 General Miguel Primo de Rivera took control of the government in a coup with the support of King Alfonso XIII. Rivera was very unpopular in Spain and in 1931 after some economic upheavals when he was told the army no longer supported him, he fled the country. A few weeks later the king also left the country as he had become the symbol for all that was wrong in Spain at the time. Alfonso XIII never abdicated and the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed after he left. He eventually abdicated in 1941 shortly before his death in 1941, leaving the throne to Don Juan, Count of Barcelona. However, when Franco restored the monarchy in 1947 he chose the option of naming a successor later. Instead of the Count of Barcelona he chose the count’s son. Spain’s current king, Juan Carlos. Because of his actions with Rivera and the news that he was a bit of a womanizer has left the name Alfonso an unlikely choice in the near future.

Another name that may not be used for a long time is Fernando. The last king by that name, Fernando VII, was king during the Napoleonic wars. In March of 1808 King Carlos IV of Spain was forced to abdicate and by May of that Year his son and successor, Fernando VII, was forced to turn Spain over to Napoleon who placed his own brother, Joseph, onto the Spanish throne. When Joseph’s rule began falling apart in 1813 Napoleon was forced to recognize Fernando VII as king once again. Upon his restoration he abolished the liberal Constitution of 1812 and restoring the monarchy to an absolutist form. He died in 1833 and prior to his death had overturned the Salic Law which King Felipe V had instituted when the Bourbons came to power in Spain. The Salic Law barred women from inheriting the throne or passing on claims of succession. With the law overturned this allowed Fernando’s daughter, Isabel, to rule as queen of Spain in her own right. This angered the kings brother, Carlos, Duke of Madrid, who would have succeeded him. By not accepting this verdict the Duke of Madrid plunged Spain into a series of Civil Wars known as the Carlist’s Wars. This war lasted for several generations.

In 1868 and unpopular Isabel II also abdicated and her name, along with that of her fathers, may not be used again for a long long time as the name of another reigning monarch.

HM King Juan Carlos I of Spain (1938- )

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1981, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Count of Barcelona, Duchess of Lugo, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, Felipe, Guardia Civil, Infanta Cristina, Infanta Elena, Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King Pavlos of Greece, Kingdom of Spain, parliamentary monarchy, Prince of Asturias, Princess Fredericka of Hanover, Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Victoria, Spanish Cortes

The Spanish monarchy is rare in the annals of European monarchies in that it has had periods of time when it was a Republic only to return to the concept of monarchy. The first time was in 1873-1874 and then again between 1937 and 1975. King Juan Carlos I of Spain is an essential part of the success of Spain as a monarchy and the man who transitioned his country from a authoritarian dictatorship to a parliamentary monarchy.

Juan Carlos was born January 5, 1938 eldest son of Infante Don Juan, Count of Barcelona and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. The Count of Barcelona was the third son and heir to King Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941). His grandmother was Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (1887-1969) a granddaughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria.

On May 14, 1962 the future king married HRH Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark whom he met while on a cruise in Athens. Princess Sophie was the daughter of King Pavlos of Greece and Princess Fredericka of Hanover (herself a granddaughter of Germany’s last Emperor, Wilhelm II). Juan Carlos and Sophie have three children, Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (born 1963) Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca (born 1965) and Felipe, Prince of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne (born 1968)

The monarchy was restored in 1975 at the death of Francisco Franco who had designated Juan Carlos his heir bypassing the more liberal Count of Barcelona. Since then Juan Carlos steered the Spanish state toward democracy and successfully thwarted an attempted military coup on February 23,1981. The Spanish Cortes were seized by members of the Guardia Civil in the parliamentary chamber. The King appeared on public television calling for unambiguous support for the legitimate democratic government. Although the king had great powers on his succession by 1982 he had relinquished them in favor of a more ceremonial role for the monarchy. Through the years the king has been above party politics and steered clear of controversy until only recently. In April of 2012 the king came under criticism Juan Carlos faced criticism for going on an elephant hunting trip in Botswana. It was said that his actions “demonstrated a lack of ethics and respect toward many people in this country who are suffering a lot.” The trip also brought to the surface his mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, highlighting the troubles in his marriage with the queen.

Given the historical tenuousness of Spanish politics there were those that called the king “Juan Carlos the Brief” back in 1975 feeling that the monarchy would not last long. It has endured for 37 years and although Spain is undergoing hard economic times I hope the king can continue being a stable symbol for Spain and is able to pass on a stable throne to his son, Felipe, when the time comes.

 

Part of the speech during the military coup.