Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona
Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, was a claimant to the Spanish throne as Juan III. He was the third son and designated heir of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. His father was replaced by the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. Juan's son Juan Carlos I became King of Spain when Spain's constitutional monarchy was restored in 1975.
Early life
Infante Juan was born at the Palace of San Ildefonso. His father was forced into exile when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931. Owing to the renunciations in 1933 of his brothers Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, and Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, Infante Juan became first in line to the defunct Spanish throne. He thus received the title Prince of Asturias while serving with the Royal Navy in Bombay.In March 1935, he was appointed honorary sub-lieutenant and passed 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.
Marriage
He met his future wife at a party hosted by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy on the day before his sister was to be married. He married Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, known in Spain as Doña María de las Mercedes de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y Orleans, in Rome on 12 October 1935.Children
They had four children:- Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz, who married Luis Gomez-Acebo y de Estrada, Viscount de la Torre, on 6 May 1967, and had five children
- Juan Carlos I of Spain, who married Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark on 14 May 1962, and had three children
- Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria and Duchess of Hernani, who married Don Carlos Zurita y Delgado on 12 October 1972, and had two children
- Infante Alfonso of Spain
Claim to the Spanish throne
In 1931, Juan was subject to dynastic negotiations between the Alfonsists and the Carlists, concluded in the so-called Pact of Territet, which was never implemented. Juan became heir apparent to the defunct Spanish throne after the renunciations of his two older brothers, Alfonso and Jaime, in 1933. To assert his claim to the throne, following his father's death 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 Spanish State because he favoured constitutional monarchy, which would restore 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 in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid. 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 of the Royal Navy on 31 July 1987.