Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona
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Infante Juan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kingdom of Spain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Burial | 7 April 1993 , Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early lifeJuan was born at the Bombay .
In March 1935, he was appointed honorary sub-lieutenant[3] and passed his naval exams in gunnery and navigation, which would have entitled him to a lieutenant’s commission in the Royal Navy if he gave up his Spanish nationality. This, however, he refused to do. MarriageHe met his future wife at a party hosted by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy on the day before his sister (Infanta Beatriz) was to be married. He married Princess 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.
Just before the birth of the Infante Juan Carlos, the Count of Barcelona decided to go hunting, with the doctor telling him and his wife that the future king would not be born for weeks. When he was told of the birth, he drove to the hospital so quickly that he broke an axle spring. ChildrenThey had four children:
They lived in Cannes and Rome, and, with the outbreak of World War II, they moved to Lausanne to live with his mother, Victoria Eugenie. Afterwards, they resided at Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera. Claim to the Spanish throneIn 1931, Juan was subject to dynastic negotiations between the Alfonso and Jaime, in 1933. To assert his claim to the throne, following his father's death (in 1941) he used the title of Count of Barcelona , a sovereign title associated with the Spanish crown.
In 1936, his father sent him to participate in the Spanish Civil War but he was arrested near the French border, and sent back by General Emilio Mola. On 19 March 1945, he announced a manifesto in Lausanne, demanding he replace Francisco Franco:
When General Franco declared Spain a monarchy in 1947, he characterized it as a "restoration". However, Franco was afraid that Juan would roll back the parliamentary 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 the dictatorship after his death. Juan Carlos later surprised many by his 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 name Juan III (his title if he had become king) in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid.[2] His wife survived him by seven years. He was fond of the sea, and joined the Naval School at San Fernando, Cádiz, and had tattoos of a marine theme from his time in the British Royal Navy. He was appointed an Honorary Admiral in the Royal Navy on 31 July 1987.[5] Honours and armsHonours
Arms
Ancestors
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