November 28, 1857: Birth of Alfonso XII, King of Spain. Part II.

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Alfonso XII of Spain, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, Infanta María de las Mercedes, Princess María de las Mercedes of Orléans, Princess of Asturias, Spanish Republic

On December 1, 1874, Alfonso issued the Sandhurst Manifesto, where he set the ideological basis of the Bourbon Restoration. It was drafted in reply to a birthday greeting from his followers, a manifesto proclaiming himself the sole representative of the Spanish monarchy.

At the end of 1874, Brigadier Martínez Campos, who had long been working more or less openly for the king, led some battalions of the central army to Sagunto, rallied the troops sent against him to his own flag, and entered Valencia in the king’s name.

King Alfonso XII of Spain

Thereupon the President resigned, and his power was transferred to the king’s plenipotentiary and adviser, Cánovas. The December 29, 1874 military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ended the failed republic and meant the rise of the young Prince Alfonso.

Within a few days after Canovas del Castillo took power as Premier, the new king, proclaimed on December 29, 1874, arrived at Madrid, passing through Barcelona and Valencia and was acclaimed everywhere (1875). In 1876, a vigorous campaign against the Carlists, in which the young king took part, resulted in the defeat of Don Carlos and the Duke’s abandonment of the struggle.

Initially led by Canovas del Castillo as moderate prime minister, what was thought at one time as a coup aimed at placing the military in the political-administrative positions of power, in reality ushered in a civilian regime that lasted until Primo de Rivera’s 1923 coup d’état. Cánovas was the real architect of the new regime of the Restoration.

In order to eliminate one of the problems of the reign of Isabel II, the single party and its destabilizing consequences, the Liberal Party was allowed to incorporate and participate in national politics, and the ‘turnismo’ or alternation was to become the new system. Turnismo would be endorsed in the Constitution of 1876 and the Pact of El Pardo (1885). It meant that liberal and conservative prime ministers would succeed each other ending thus the troubles.

This led to the end of the Carlist revolts and the victory over the New York-backed Cuban revolutionaries, and led to a huge backing both by insular and peninsular Spaniards of Alfonso. His government continued the operations of the Ministry for Overseas Affairs which began under his mother’s reign.

The ministry was responsible for the theft of indigenous human remains and artifacts throughout colonized lands from 1863 to 1899. To this day, the majority of the stolen bodies of indigenous peoples, some still displayed in Spanish museums, have yet to be returned to their ancestral lands.

Alfonso XII’s short reign established the foundations for the final socioeconomic recuperation of Spain after the 1808–1874 crisis. Both European (the coastal regions, such as the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Asturias) and Overseas – Antilles and Pacific were able to grow steadily.

Cuba and Puerto Rico prospered to the point that Spain’s first train was between Havana and Camagüey, and the first telegraph in Latin America was in Puerto Rico, established by Samuel Morse, whose daughter lived there with her husband. Upon the American invasion of Puerto Rico, ten US dollars were needed to buy one Puerto Rican peso.

First marriage

On January 23, 1878 at the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid, the 22 year old Alfonso XII married his 17 year old first cousin, Princess María de las Mercedes of Orléans.

Princess María de las Mercedes of Orléans

Princess María de las Mercedes of Orléans (June 24, 1860 – June 26, 1878) was the daughter of Prince Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, the youngest son of King Louis Philippe of France and his wife Maria Amelia Teresa of the Two Sicilies, and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain the younger sister of Alfonso XII’s mother, Queen Isabella II of Spain.

Although Mercedes was patrilineally a French princess, she was also a Spanish infanta and spent the first eight years of her life in Spain.

Shortly after their honeymoon, it became evident that Queen Mercedes suffered from typhoid fever. The marriage would last only six months, during which she reportedly had a miscarriage. She died due to the fever on June 26, 1878, at 18 years old.

Second marriage and rule

On 29 November 1879 at the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid, Alfonso married his double third cousin, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, daughter of Archduke Charles Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria.

During the honeymoon, a pastry cook named Otero fired at the young sovereign and his wife as they were driving in Madrid.

The children of this marriage were:

1. María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, (1880 – 1904), titular heir from the death of her father until the posthumous birth of her brother.
2. María Teresa, (1882 – 1912),
3. Alfonso XIII (1886 – 1941). Born posthumously.

Alfonso XII had two sons by Elena Armanda Nicolasa Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (1849 – 1898):

1. Alfonso Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (1880 – 1970)
2. Fernando Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (1881– 1925)

In 1881 Alfonso XII refused to sanction a law by which the ministers were to remain in office for a fixed term of 18 months. Upon the consequent resignation of Canovas del Castillo, he summoned Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, the Liberal leader, to form a new cabinet.

Death and impact

On November 25, 1885, Alfonso XII died, just three days short of his 28th birthday, at the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid. He had been suffering from tuberculosis, but the immediate cause of his death was a recurrence of dysentery.

Infanta María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias

Succession

The marriage of King Alfonso XII and Archduchess Maria Christina was unhappy. Alfonso had married Maria Christina in order to secure the succession to the throne. He did not love his wife and was disappointed after she gave birth to two daughters, while he already had two extramarital sons. In July 1883, Maria Christina left the Spanish court and traveled with her daughters to visit her own family in Austria.

By the summer of 1884, Alfonso XII’s health had deteriorated and he had tuberculosis. After a brief improvement, the 27-year-old king died on November 25, 1885, leaving behind the widowed Queen Maria Christina who was three months pregnant.

At the death of King Alfonso XII his heir was his eldest daughter InfantavMaría de las Mercedes (September 11, 1880 – October 17, 1904) She was Princess of Asturias, the heir presumptive to the Crown of Spain, for all 24 years of her life.

Mercedes was not declared queen upon the death of her father because she would be displaced if a son was born, or had the pregnancy been lost. However had the pregnancy or resulted in another daughter, Mercedes would have become queen regnant and been retroactively recognized as such during the interregnum.

The sibling proved to be a boy, Alfonso XIII, and on his birth in 1886, Mercedes turned out not to be queen.

His successor King Alfonso XIII was born at Royal Palace of Madrid on May 17, 1886. He was the posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain and became King upon his birth. Just after he was born, he was carried naked to the prime minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta on a silver tray.

The infant King’s sister, Infanta María de las Mercedes
resumed the position of heir presumptive, which she held until her own death in October 1904 at the tender age of 24.

María de las Mercedes had married in Madrid on February 14, 1901, her second cousin, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a nephew of King Francesco II of the then-defunct Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, who was elevated to the rank of Infante of Spain. The marriage was highly controversial due to her father-in-law’s ties with the Carlists.

After the death of María de las Mercedes in 1904 she was succeeded as heir to the Spanish throne by her own infant son, Prince Alfonso of the Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, because Alfonso XIII having not yet married and fathered a legitimate child.

April 22, 1451: Birth of Queen Isabella I of Castile.

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Carlos I of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Henry IV of Castile, House of Trastámara, Infanta Joanna la Beltraneja, Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of Spain, Philip I of Austria, Prince of Asturias, Princess of Asturias, Queen Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I (April 22, 1451 – November 26, 1504) was Queen of Castile from 1474 and Queen consort of Aragon from 1479, reigning over a dynastically unified Spain jointly with her husband Fernando II.

Isabella I,

Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to King Juan II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal on April 22, 1451. At the time of her birth, she was second in line to the throne after her older half-brother Infante Enrique of Castile. Enrique was 26 at that time and married, but childless. Isabella’s younger brother Alfonso of Castile was born two years later on November 17, 1453, lowering her position to third in line.

Infante Enrique, Prince of Asturias celebrated had his marriage to Blanche of Navarre in 1440, when he was 15 years old. Blanche of Navarre Was the daughter of John II of Aragon and Blanche I of Navarre.

The Cardinal Juan de Cervantes presided over the official ceremony. The marriage had been agreed in 1436 as part of the peace negotiations between Castille and Navarre.

Enrique alleged that he had been incapable of sexually consummating the marriage, despite having tried for over three years, the minimum period required by the church. Other women, prostitutes from Segovia, testified that they had had sexual relations with Enrique, which is why he blamed his inability to consummate the marriage on a curse.

Enrique IV, King of Castile

Enrique’s claim of “permanent impotence” only affected his relations with Blanche. Blanche and Enrique were cousins, and he was also a cousin of Joan of Portugal, whom he wanted to marry instead. Therefore, the reason he used to seek the annulment was the sort of curse that only affected his ability to consummate this one marriage, and would not cause any problems for him with other women. Pope Nicholas V corroborated the decision in December of the same year in a papal bull and provided a papal dispensation for Enrique’s new marriage with the sister of the Portuguese king.

When Isabella’s father, King Juan II died on July 20, 1454 her half-brother ascended to the throne as King Enrique IV of Castile. Isabella and her brother Infante Alfonso were left in King Enrique IV’s care. Isabella, her mother, and Alfonso then moved to Arévalo.

Infanta Joan of Portugal was the the posthumous daughter of King Duarte of Portugal and his wife Infanta Eleanor of Aragon, the daughter of Fernando I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque. The wedding was celebrated in May 1455, but without an affidavit of official bull authorizing the wedding between them, although they were first cousins (their mothers were sisters) and second cousins (their paternal grandmothers were half-sisters). On February 28, 1462, the queen gave birth to a daughter Infanta Joanna la Beltraneja. On May 9, 1462, Joanna was officially proclaimed heir to the throne of Castile and created Princess of Asturias. Enrique had the nobles of Castile swear allegiance to her and promise that they would support her as monarch.

Infanta Joanna la Beltraneja, Princess of Asturias.

These were times of turmoil for Isabella. The living conditions at their castle in Arévalo were poor, and they suffered from a shortage of money. Although her father arranged in his will for his children to be financially well taken care of, King Enrique did not comply with their father’s wishes, either from a desire to keep his half-siblings restricted, or from ineptitude. Even though living conditions were difficult, under the careful eye of her mother, Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in a deep reverence for religion.

Some of Isabella’s living conditions improved once they moved to Segovia. She always had food and clothing and lived in a castle that was adorned with gold and silver. Isabella’s basic education consisted of reading, spelling, writing, grammar, history, mathematics, art, chess, dancing, embroidery, music, and religious instruction. She and her ladies-in-waiting entertained themselves with art, embroidery, and music. She lived a relaxed lifestyle, but she rarely left Segovia since King Enrique forbade this.

In early 1460s, Castilian nobles became dissatisfied with the rule of King Enrique IV and believed that Queen Joan’s child (Joanna, Princess of Asturias) had not been sired by Enrique. Propaganda and rumour, encouraged by the league of rebellious nobles, argued that her father was Beltrán de la Cueva, a royal favorite of low background whom Henry had elevated to enormous power and who, as suggested by Alfonso de Palencia and others, may have been Enrique’s lover. This resulted in giving Infanta Joanna, Princess of Asturias the name “Juana la Beltraneja”, which has stuck with the girl throughout history. If Joanna was illegitimate, the next in line was Alfonso. If she was legitimate—which is entirely possible—then Alfonso and, ultimately, his famous sister Isabella were both usurpers. Considering Isabella’s impact on world history, this question has fascinated historians for centuries.

The question of Isabella’s marriage was not a new one. She had made her debut in the matrimonial market at the age of six with a betrothal to Infante Fernando of Aragon, the younger son of King Juan II of Aragon and Navarre (whose family was a cadet branch of the House of Trastámara) and Juana Enriquez de Córdoba, 5th Lady of Casarrubios del Monte. At that time, the two kings, Enrique IV and Juan II, were eager to show their mutual love and confidence and they believed that this double alliance would make their eternal friendship obvious to the world. This arrangement, however, did not last long.

In 1465, an attempt was made to marry Isabella to King Alfonso V of Portugal, Enrique IV’s brother-in-law. Through the medium of the Queen and Count of Ledesma, a Portuguese alliance was made. Isabella, however, was wary of the marriage and refused to consent.

A civil war broke out in Castile over King Enrique IV’s inability to act as sovereign. Enrique now needed a quick way to please the rebels of the kingdom. As part of an agreement to restore peace, Isabella was to be betrothed to Pedro Girón Acuña Pacheco, Master of the Order of Calatrava and brother to the King’s favourite, Juan Pacheco. In return, Don Pedro would pay into the impoverished royal treasury an enormous sum of money. Seeing no alternative, Enrique IV agreed to the marriage. Isabella was aghast and prayed to God that the marriage would not come to pass. Her prayers were answered when Don Pedro suddenly fell ill and died while on his way to meet his fiancée.

In 1464 the league of nobles with the Representation of Burgos controlling Isabella’s younger brother, Alfonso, forced Enrique IV to repudiate Joanna and recognize Alfonso as his official heir. Alfonso then became Prince of Asturias, a title previously held by Joanna. Enrique agreed to the compromise with the stipulation that Alfonso someday marry Joanna, to ensure that they both would one day receive the crown.

However, in 1468 at the age of only 14, Alfonso suddenly died. The cause of death is not known, but it likely to have been an illness such as consumption or plague (although it is rumored that he had been deliberately poisoned by his enemies).

When King Enrique IV had recognised Isabella as his heir-presumptive on September 19, 1468, he had also promised that his sister should not be compelled to marry against her will, while she in return had agreed to obtain his consent. It seemed that finally the years of failed attempts at political marriages were over.

There was talk of a marriage to Edward IV of England or to one of his brothers, probably Richard, Duke of Gloucester,(future Richard III); but this alliance was never seriously considered. Once again in 1468, a marriage proposal arrived from Alfonso V of Portugal. Going against his promises made in September, Enrique IV tried to make the marriage a reality. If Isabella married Alfonso, Enrique IV’s daughter Joanna, would marry Alfonso’s son Juan II of Portugal and thus, after the death of the old king, Juan II and Joanna could inherit Portugal and Castile. Isabella refused and made a secret promise to marry her cousin and very first betrothed, Fernando of Aragon.

On May 10, 1475, King Afonso V of Portugal invaded Castile and married Joanna in Plasencia, 15 days later, making her Queen of Portugal.

On October 18, 1469, the formal betrothal took place. Because Isabella and Fernando were second cousins, they stood within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and the marriage would not be legal unless a dispensation from the Pope was obtained. With the help of the Valencian Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI), Isabella and Fernando were presented with a supposed papal bull by Pius II (who had died in 1464), authorizing Fernando to marry within the third degree of consanguinity, making their marriage legal. Afraid of opposition, Isabella eloped from the court of Enrique IV with the excuse of visiting her brother Alfonso’s tomb in Ávila. Fernando, on the other hand, crossed Castile in secret disguised as a servant. They were married immediately upon reuniting, on October 19, 1469, in the Palacio de los Vivero in the city of Valladolid.

Fernando II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile

When Isabella came to the throne in 1474, upon the death of King Enrique IV of Castile was in a state of despair due to her brother Enrique’s reign. It was not unknown that Enrique IV was a big spender and did little to enforce the laws of his kingdom. It was even said by one Castilian denizen of the time that murder, rape, and robbery happened without punishment. Because of this, Isabella needed desperately to find a way to reform her kingdom.

Queen Isabella reorganized the governmental system, brought the crime rate to the lowest it had been in years, and unburdened the kingdom of the enormous debt her brother had left behind. Isabella’s marriage to Fernando II of Aragon in 1469 created the basis of the de facto unification of Spain. Her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms.

Isabella and Fernando are known for completing the Reconquista, ordering conversion or exile to their Jewish and Muslim subjects, and for supporting and financing Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the New World and to the establishment of Spain as a major power in Europe and much of the world for more than a century. Isabella, granted together with her husband the title “the Catholic” by Pope Alexander VI, was recognized as a Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1494.

In later years Isabella and Fernando were consumed with administration and politics over the Empire they had forged; they were concerned with the succession and worked to link the Spanish crown to the other rulers in Europe. By early 1497, all the pieces seemed to be in place: The son and heir Infanta Juan, Prince of Asturias, married a Habsburg princess, Archduchess Margaret of Austria, establishing the connection to the Habsburgs. The eldest daughter, Isabella of Aragon, married King Manuel I of Portugal, and the younger daughter, Joanna of Castile, was married to a Habsburg prince, Archduke Philipp of Habsburg, the son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife, Duchess Mary of Burgundy. These marriages were one of a set of family alliances between the Habsburgs and the Trastámaras designed to strengthen both against growing French power.

However, Isabella’s plans for her eldest two children did not work out. Her only son, John of Asturias, died shortly after his marriage. Her daughter Isabella of Aragon, whose son Miguel da Paz died at the age of two, died in childbirth. Queen Isabella I’s crowns passed to her third child Joanna and her son-in-law, Philip who is recognized as King Felipe I.

Isabella did, however, make successful dynastic matches for her two youngest daughters. The death of Isabella of Aragon created a necessity for Manuel I of Portugal to remarry, and Isabella’s third daughter, Maria of Aragon, became his next bride. Isabella’s youngest daughter, Catherine of Aragon, married England’s Arthur, Prince of Wales, but his early death resulted in her being married to his younger brother, King Henry VIII of England.

Isabella officially withdrew from governmental affairs on 14 September 14, 1504 and she died that same year on November 26 at the Medina del Campo Royal Palace. She had already been in decline since the deaths of her son Prince Juan of Asturias in 1497, her mother Isabella of Portugal in 1496, and her daughter Princess Isabella of Asturias in 1498.

She is entombed in Granada in the Capilla Real, which was built by her grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Carlos I of Spain), alongside her husband Ferdinand, her daughter Joanna and Joanna’s husband Felipe I; and Isabella’s 2-year-old grandson, Miguel da Paz (the son of Isabella’s daughter, also named Isabella, and King Manuel I of Portugal). The museum next to the Capilla Real holds her crown and scepter.

Absolute Primogeniture and future Queen Regnants in Europe: Part II.

Tags

Duchess of Brabant, Duke of Cambridge, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Philippe of the Belgians, Lenor of Spain, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, Princess Amalia of Nassau, Princess Carlotte of Cambridge, Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Elisabeth, Princess of Asturias, Princess of Orange, Willem-Alexander of the netherlands

Part II

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange was born on December 7, 2003 in the HMC Bronovo in The Hague, the first child of the then Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima (now King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima).

The Netherlands is used to female monarch. Since Queen Wilhelmina ascended the throne in 1890 with the death of her father, King Willem IV, until the accession of King Willem-Alexander in 2013 upon the abdication of his mother his mother Queen Beatrix, the Netherlands has had women reigning queens for a total of 123 years. Once Willem-Alexander’s reign ends and Princess Catharina-Amalia becomes queen the Netherlands will once again have a queen reigning over the nation.

The monarchy of the Netherlands passes by right of succession to the heirs of King Willem I of the Netherlands. The heir is determined through two mechanisms: absolute cognatic primogeniture and proximity of blood. The Netherlands established absolute cognatic primogeniture instead of male preference primogeniture by law in 1983. Proximity of blood is a topic for another day.

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant was born October 25, 2001 and is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, she acquired her position after her grandfather King Albert II abdicated in favour of her father on 21 July 2013.

In 2003, ten years prior to Elisabeth’s birth, a new act of succession was put into effect which introduced absolute primogeniture, meaning that Elisabeth comes first in the line of succession because she is the eldest child. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Belgium’s first queen regnant. The Belgian monarchy descends from the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha whose succession was governed by Salic-Primogeniture which also became the rules governing the succession to the Belgian throne. In 1991 the act of succession was passed which established absolute (gender-neutral) primogeniture, altering the order of succession from “eldest son” to “eldest child”. This is the first example of a crown going from Salic-Primogeniture to absolute cognatic primogeniture.

Leonor, Princess of Asturias born 31 October 2005, is the heir presumptive to the throne of the Kingdom of Spain as the elder child of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. In addition to the official title of Princess of Asturias, she bears the historical titles of Princess of Girona, Princess of Viana, Duchess of Montblanc, Countess of Cerveraand Lady of Balaguer. If Leonor ascended the throne, she would be Spain’s first queen regnant since Isabella II, who reigned from 1833 to 1868.

The Spanish monarchy is the only existing European monarchy that doesn’t operate under absolute cognatic primogeniture. Instead the Spanish monarchy operates under a system of male-preference cognatic primogeniture, meaning that Leonor, as the elder of Felipe’s two daughters, is first in line to inherit the throne. Under the current law, however, if her father has a legitimate son while still being king, Leonor would be displaced in the line of succession and again become an infanta. There have been discussions about changing the succession law to absolute primogeniture, allowing for the inheritance of the eldest child, regardless of sex; however, the birth of Leonor, followed by that of her younger sister Sofía, stalled these plans. Despite a change from male-preference to absolute primogeniture for Spanish titles of nobility in 2009, as of 2019 no legislation has been passed affecting the succession to the throne.

This concludes the women who will be Queen Regnants in the future. Since the majority of the European monarchies have changed their succession laws to absolute cognatic primogeniture, I’d like to mention three princesses that were effected by this change.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Succession to the throne was governed by Salic law, as dictated by the Nassau Family Pact, first adopted on 30 June 1783. The right to reign over Luxembourg was until June 2011 passed by agnatic-cognatic primogeniture within the House of Nassau, as stipulated under the 1815 Final Act of the Congress of Vienna and as confirmed by the 1867 Treaty of London. The Nassau Family Pact itself can be amended by the usual legislative process, having been so on 10 July 1907 to exclude the Count of Merenberg branch of the House, which was descended from a morganatic marriage.

An heir apparent may be granted the style ‘Hereditary Grand Duke’. The current heir apparent is Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. In June 2011, agnatic primogeniture was dropped in favour of absolute primogeniture, allowing any legitimate female descendants within the House of Nassau to be included in the line of Succession.

Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, born 16 February 1991 is the fourth child and only daughter of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. She has three older brothers: Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Prince Félix, and Prince Louis, and one younger: Prince Sébastien. She was excluded from the line of succession from birth until 2011, when absolute primogeniture was adopted in respect to Grand Duke Henri’s descendants, she is currently fifth in the line. Prince Louis gave up his place in the line of succession when he married Tessy Antony.

Princess Amalia of Nassau was born June 15, 2014 the eldest child of Prince Félix and Princess Claire of Luxembourg. She is the only granddaughter and third grandchild of Grand Duke Henri. She is currently third in the line of succession, behind her paternal uncle Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and her father. She has a brother, Prince Liam of Nassau. She was the first princess of Luxembourg to be born with hereditary rights to the crown after the change to absolute cognatic primogeniture in 2011.

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born May 2, 2015 is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. She is fourth in the line of succession to the British throne. Prince Charlotte is fourth in the line of succession to the British throne, after her grandfather, father, and elder brother. Due to the implementation of the Perth Agreement, which replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture, she did not move down the line of succession when her younger brother, Prince Louis of Cambridge, was born on April 23, 2018; this makes her the first elder sister of a British prince to be ranked above him in the line of succession.

Absolute Primogeniture and future Queen Regnants in Europe: Part I.

Tags

Absolute cognatic primogeniture, Crown Princess of Sweden Princess Estelle of Sweden, Duchess of Östergötland Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherla, Duchess of Brabant Infanta Leonor of Spain, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King Harald V of Norway, Primogeniture, Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway Princess Victoria of Sweden, Princess of Asturias, Princess of Orange Princess Elisabeth of Belgium

The principles governing the succession to crowns and aristocratic titles was Primogeniture which is was the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate son to inherit his parent’s entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relative. In some contexts it instead means the inheritance of the firstborn child (absolute primogeniture) or the firstborn daughter (matrilineal primogeniture).

The first definition given is also known as male-line primogeniture, the classical form popular in European jurisdictions among others until into the 20th century. In the absence of male-line offspring, variations were expounded to entitle a daughter or a brother or, in the absence of either, to another collateral relative, in a specified order (e.g. male-preference primogeniture, Salic primogeniture, semi-Salic primogeniture). The French throne adhered to Salic primogeniture, while the majority of the extinct German monarchies were either Salic or semi-Salic in their primogeniture laws and traditions.

During the 20th and early 21st century many monarchies have eliminated the preference for males over females (absolute male-preference primogeniture). and have implemented absolute primogeniture in succession. The following extant throne now follow absolute primogeniture Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

With absolute primogeniture now in place in the near future thrones of Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden will be occupied by women. Below is the list of the future Queen Regnants that will occupy European thrones, followed by some biographical info on each of them.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess of Sweden
Princess Estelle of Sweden, Duchess of Östergötland
Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherla, Princess of Orange
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant
Infanta Leonor of Spain, Princess of Asturias

HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway: Born on 21 January 2004 at 9:13 am in The National Hospital the Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Princess Ingrid Alexandra is the first child and only daughter of Crown Prince Haakon, heir apparent to the throne, and the second granddaughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Her mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has a son named Marius Borg Høiby, born in 1997 from a previous relationship. Following Ingrid Alexandra’s birth, the already well-regarded royal family experienced an upsurge of popularity.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, King Harald V of Norway

The Constitution of Norway was altered in 1990 to introduce absolute primogeniture, ensuring that the crown would pass to the eldest child regardless of sex but keeping the Crown Prince ahead of his elder sister, Princess Märtha Louise; the change was to apply for the first time to their children. Princess Ingrid Alexandra has thus been second in the line of succession since birth, preceded only by her father. Because of the reform, her status was not affected by the subsequent birth of her brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, in 2005. The Princess is expected to become Norway’s first female monarch since Queen Margarethe who reigned over Norway, Denmark and Sweden from the late 1380s until her death in 1412.

HRH Princess Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland

HRH Princess Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland: born July 14, 1977, is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Sweden’s fourth queen regnant (after Margarethe, Christina and Ulrika Eleonora) and the first since 1720. She is a member of the House of Bernadotte. Born as a princess of Sweden, she was designated crown princess in 1979 ahead of her younger brother. Her place as first in the line of succession formally went into effect on January 1, 1980 with the parliamentary change to the Act of Succession that introduced absolute primogeniture. This Act of Succession supplanted her younger brother, Prince Carl Philip who had been heir to the throne since his birth on May 13, 1979. As of 2016, Prince Carl Philip is fourth in the line of succession.

Princess Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden married Daniel Westling on June 19, 2010, and on February 23, 2012 at Victoria gave birth to Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland, in the Karolinska University Hospital. Princess Estelle is second in line to the Swedish throne.

King Carl XVI Gustafson of Sweden, Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Estelle

Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland was born February 23, 2012, is the elder child and only daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. She is the eldest grandchild of King Carl XVI Gustaf, and is second in line of succession to the Swedish throne.

Princess Estelle is second in the line of succession to the Swedish throne and the first female in Swedish history to be born with a right to inherit the crown that cannot be superseded by the birth of a male heir, as well as the first person in Swedish history to be born of a female heir apparent. The only two princesses of Sweden to be born first in line for the throne were heir presumptive at their birth: Christina (who eventually became queen regnant) and Hedwig Sophia (who was superseded by a younger brother). Her status was not altered when on March 2, 2016, her brother Prince Oscar, Duke of Skåne was born.

Part II will be tomorrow.