This date in History: November 22, 1975. Juan Carlos becomes the King of Spain.

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Alfonso XIII of Spain, Fransisco Franco, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Kingdom of Spain, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Sofia of Spain

Juan Carlos I (Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born January 5, 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from November 1975 until his abdication in June 2014.

Juan Carlos was born to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Rome, Italy, where his grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain and other members of the Spanish royal family lived in exile following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias. He was given the name Juan Carlos after his father and maternal grandfather, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Generalísimo Francisco Franco, the Spanish head of state who initiated the civil war by means of a coup d’état against the constitutional republic in 1936, took over the government of Spain after his victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939, and in 1947 Spain’s status as a monarchy was affirmed and a law was passed allowing Franco to choose his successor. Juan Carlos’s father, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona was the third son of King Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenie (daughter of Princess Beatrice, the fifth daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) who had renounced his claims to the throne in January 1941. Juan was seen by Franco to be too liberal and in 1969 was bypassed in favour of Juan Carlos as Franco’s successor as head of state.

Juan Carlos spent his early years in Italy and came to Spain in 1947 to continue his studies. After completing his secondary education in 1955, he began his military training and entered the General Military Academy at Zaragoza. Later, he attended the Naval Military School, the General Academy of the Air, and finished his tertiary education at the University of Madrid.

In 1962, Juan Carlos married in Athens Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark daughter of King Pavlos of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover (granddaughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II) first in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Church of St. Denis, followed by a Greek Orthodox ceremony at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. She converted from her Greek Orthodox religion to Roman Catholicism. The couple had two daughters and a son together: Elena, Cristina, and Felipe.

Due to Franco’s declining health, Juan Carlos first began periodically acting as Spain’s head of state in the summer of 1974. Franco died in November the following year and Juan Carlos became king on November 22, 1975, two days after Franco’s death, the first reigning monarch since 1931; although his exiled father, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona did not formally renounce his claims to the throne in favor of his son until 1977.

Expected to continue Franco’s legacy, Juan Carlos, however, soon after his accession introduced reforms to dismantle the Francoist regime and begin the Spanish transition to democracy. This led to the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum, which re-established a constitutional monarchy. In 1981, Juan Carlos played a major role in preventing a coup that attempted to revert Spain to Francoist government in the King’s name. In 2008, he was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America.

Hailed for his role in Spain’s transition to democracy, the King and the monarchy’s reputation began to suffer after controversies surrounding his family arose, exacerbated by an elephant-hunting trip he undertook during a time of financial crisis in Spain where he broke his hip and was with his alleged mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Abdication

Spanish news media speculated about the King’s future in early 2014, following public criticism over his taking an elephant hunting safari in Botswana and an embezzlement scandal involving his daughter Cristina, and her husband Inaki Urdangarin. The King’s chief of staff in a briefing denied that the ‘abdication option’ was being considered. On the morning of June 2, 2014, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made a televised announcement that the King had told him of his intention to abdicate. Later, the King delivered a televised address and announced that he would abdicate the throne in favour of the Prince of Asturias.

Royal officials described the King’s choice as a personal decision which he had been contemplating since his 76th birthday at the start of the year. The King reportedly said, “No queremos que mi hijo se marchite esperando como el príncipe Carlos.” (English: “I do not want my son to wither waiting like Prince Charles.”) As required by the Spanish constitution, any abdication would be settled by means of an organic law. A draft law was passed with 299 in favour, 19 against and 23 abstaining.

On June 18, he signed the organic law passed by parliament several hours before his abdication took effect. The Prince of Asturias was enthroned on June 19, 2014, as King Felipe VI of Spain and the new Kings daughter, Leonor became the new Princess of Asturias.

Juan Carlos thus became the fourth European monarch to abdicate in just over a year, following Pope Benedict XVI (February 28, 2013), Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (April 30, 2013), and King Albert II of Belgium (July 21, 2013).

Since his abdication King Juan Carlos has retained, by courtesy, the title and style of King that he enjoyed during his reign.

Royal Marriages

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Duke of Cambridge, House of Battenberg, House of Burbon, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George III, King George V of Great Britain, Mary of Teck, Prince Adolphus, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Royal Marriages

My wife Sarah, and our dog Amadeus

I have always been a romantic at heart and the issue of royal marriages has always fascinated me. I robbed the cradle when I got married. My wife is 18 years younger than I am. There have been many marriages between kings and would-be king and princesses where age has been an issue. I can relate to the issues around marriages between spouses when age is a factor. Even when age has not been an issue these marriages were often arranged. For the most part they were arranged for political motivations, to shore up a treaty or to gain an alliance or to end a feud or to pass on the succession. Love was not a consideration although it was a positive side effect if and when it happened. Given the propensity for kings to collect mistresses, even if they did love their queens, the rules of marriage for royalty seem quite different to what the untitled person would expect. As time marched on and arranged marriages for political purposes waned, marriages for social status become the primary focus in selecting a suitable spouse.

Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, seem to be a mixture of alliances, social obligation and love. Clearly Victoria was in love with Albert and Albert, for his part, does seem to have had fond feelings for his first cousin, but love was something that grew later for him. The Coburg family, Victoria’s maternal family, favored the match. With her uncle King Leopold I of the Belgians leading the charge, there was a desire to maintain some sense of power. Indeed prior to her accession Victoria was used as a pawn by many within the Coburg and Hanoverian families trying to maintain some type of control over her.

Her grandson, King George V, married his dead brothers fiancé, Mary of Teck. This marriage was based solely on the fact that Mary of Teck was seen as a person who would make an excellent queen consort and the British royal family did not want to loose her. The Teck family was “tainted”by the morganatic marriage of Mary’s grandfather, Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804-1885), so her prospects within on the continent among the various German royal families were not good. In Britain, where she was born and raised, her mother being Princess Mary-Adelaide of Cambridge a daughter of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (7th son of King George III of Great Britain), were not against morganatic marriages.

George V’s cousin, Princess Victoria-Eugenie of Battenberg, (called Ena within the family) is a prime example of “rushing” into a marriage. I don’t blame her for this is how royal marriages were conducted many years ago. As royal marriages moved away from being political alliances the need for the marriage to meet social standards was emphasized more. King Alfonso XIII of Spain was one of those rare princes to be born a king. When he reached the age to marry he went bride shopping. He was attracted to Princess Ena and selected her to be his queen and they were wed on May 31, 1906. Princess Ena was the only daughter of Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, and her husband , prince Henry of Battenberg. The Battenberg clan was a morganatic scion of the House of Hesse and by Rhine. This taint of morganatic blood would cause undue suffering in Spain by those courtiers who were prejudiced toward the Battenbergs. The Spanish aristocracy saw the Battenbergs as semi-royal and were used to their queens coming from what was in their eyes the more noble houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg.

This situation paints a picture of what was problematic in these types of alliances. There was a growing allowance in these families that the future bride and groom have some type of feelings for one another prior to the marriage. What would often occur is that the prospective parties would meet and have some type of sexual chemistry between them and develop what we would call either a crush or lust for one-another. Other than social obligations, which required them to marry someone of equal or near equal status, these marriages were often moved forward based on these initial physical attractions. I don’t think a crush or initial sexual chemistry…or equal social rank…is a strong foundation on which to build a marriage. The case of Ena and Alphonse is a good example of this.

I will stop here. I enjoy this topic so I will continue looking at royal marriages on Tuesdays for a while.

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.