How can you have a Royal Army without a Royal?
Has no one gone to Bavaria to fetch home Bonnie Princess Sophie (like it or not)?
The House of Stuart
The House of Stuart ruled Scotland as an independent nation from 1371 to 1603. This came to end in 1567 with the forced abdication of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, in favor of her infant son James VI. Both Mary and her husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, were grandchildren of Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII. James VI became the heir also of childless Elizabeth I of England, and became ruler of both nations as James I, ruling Great Britain (the joined Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Wales). A lot of the political unrest in the British Isles between 1500 and 1750 were due to conflicts between the Church of England, Catholicism, and other protestant sects.
A century later, after the English Civil War, and the replacement of James II by William of Orange who was married to James’ daughter Mary, and was James’ nephew by James’ sister Mary. William and Mary died childless, followed by Mary’s sister Queen Anne. The crown of England was then passed to the (Protestant) son of a German cousin, who became George I in 1714.
Bypassed in this was (Catholic) James Francis Edward Stuart, son of James II, Prince of Wales. James had gone with his father to France when James II was deposed, and his English title removed. James put forth his claim to the English Throne and backed it with an attempted rising in Scotland in 1715. That failed, and James fled back to France; he became known as the Old Pretender. His son, Charles Edward Stuart (Bonny Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender) attempted a similar uprising in 1745, but that also failed. The Old and Young Pretenders were political bugbears for English politics until Charles Stuart died in 1788 without issue; his brother Henry became a Catholic Cardinal, dying without issue in 1808.
The Jacobite succession, following English common law, transmits the right to the throne to or through women, and their descendants, whenever they have no brothers. Henry, as the last Stuart of the Scottish line, was succeeded by his nearest blood-relative, (childless) Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia (descended from Henrietta, daughter of Charles I), then his brother Victor Emmanuel I, then his daughter Maria Beatrice of Savoy, her son, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este, his daughter Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, later Queen of Bavaria (by marriage), down the Bavarian royal line to her grandson Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (see
Pretender section below).
In addition, James II's illegitimate son, James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, founded the House of FitzJames with a branch in France and one in Spain. The last of the French branch died in 1967. The Spanish branch runs to Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba (and 39 other titles, including the 11th Duchess of Berwick), age 70 in 1996; she has six children, five of them sons (ages 48, 46,42,37, 33, sister 28 in 1996). In real life, she died in November 2014.
While one can make the case that the Scottish Crown is joined to the English Crown, one could make the argument that no one asked the Scots separately if they wanted the Elector of Hanover (German George I) as King. (Of course, the argument of supplanting the Windsors - heirs to the Elector of Hanover – because they are too German, is not enhanced with a Scottish king from Bavaria.) However, the Stuart pretense usually is for both the crown of Scotland and England.
No Wittelsbach has ever discussed in public that they have any interest in pursuing claim to the House of Stuart or Windsor.
Pretender
If the Scots want a king back, the nearest legitimate choice is Albrecht of the House of Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. The Wittlesbachs were the Royal house of Bavaria until deposed in 1918; they were demoted to Dukes. Staunchly anti-Nazi, they moved to Hungary at the beginning of WW2, and were arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp in 1944. Albrecht is an avid hunter and has written a book on hunting in the Alps.
In 1996, Duke Albrecht is 91. In real life, he died in 1996, living in a wing of the family castle in Bavaria.
Heir
Duke Albrecht’s heir is his oldest son, Franz (Prince of Bavaria). Franz, is 63 in 1996. He has never married. Franz Wittelsbach is a businessman with a passion for collecting modern art.
Franz’s heir is his younger brother Max (age 59 in 1996), who has six daughters. His eldest daughter, Sophie (29 in 1996) married the Alois, Hereditary Prince of Lichtenstein in 1993. (Hmmm, the French may well back this, if only to get Alois out of the area; the Princes of Lichtenstein are active rulers.) Sophie can be in line for the Stuart claim for the English and Scottish thrones – but not for the crown of Bavaria, which follows a semi-Salic male line preference.
Bonny Princess Sophie, anyone?
- House of Stuart from
The Crowned Heads of Europe (work in progress)
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Actually, going to fetch an unwilling Princess Sophie could make an interesting adventure for a small team, even if the French allow passage...
Quote:
"Are you mad? I am not going anywhere!" I swear, lads, she stamped her foot.
The tall, blond fellow stood from the comfortable looking wing chair by the majestic fireplace. "This is absurd. My wife stated, as her father and grandfather have said, they have no interest in pursuing a centuries old claim to an English throne, regardless of the rules you use to trace it. Now, take your documents and depart, before I call the French authorities."
Deladier, in his plain fatigues, cleared his throat. "I believe the French authorities have already sanctioned this...."
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Opposing teams of SAS, Scottish leftists, British Royalists, French secret services, Soviet spies, Lichtensteiner loyalists, a trip across the stormy North Sea, and an angry fairy tale princess.....
Uncle Ted