The liberal King: Juan III
(1861-1866)
Don Juan was born at the royal palace at Aranjuez on 15 May 1822. He was the second son of Carlos V and Doña Maria Francisca de Asis de Braganza. He shared the same teachers, education, ups and downs and exile with his brother but never showed much interest for matters concerning the fatherland so that many contest his inclusion in the list of Carlist Kings of Spain. Count de Rodezno is more explicit:"The frivolous character of this infante who tends to let himself be led by erratic influences and who has an urge for contradiction has been a source of concern to his august father on many occasions." In 1847 he married Archduchess Maria Beatriz of Austria Este, daughter of the Grand Duke of Modena, Francis IV who gave him two children, Don Carlos and Don Alfonso before they separated. From the start they were never able to get along due to the intellectual whims of the infante who boasted revolutionary and voltairian ideas at the rigid court of Modena.
Following the death of Carlos VI Don Juan inherited his brother’s Throne but in view of the principles of legitimacy could not be King given his constant manifestations of extreme liberalism. On 16 February 1861, Juan III issued an ambiguously worded manifesto to his countrymen in which he stated that he maintained the principles which he had outlined in earlier documents.
It was on the very 15 September 1861 that the Princess of Beira wrote him an admirable letter which is a model for all traditionalists which states:
"All, for many solid reasons agree that they can not recognize in you the right to the throne of your ancestors in spite of the fact you are the one called to occupy it, for having despoiled yourself of said right. The democratic principles which you have proclaimed, they say, destroy the foundation of all legitimacy and by your proclaiming them you have renounced your rights to the Crown. By stating in one of your manifestos that you owed everything to national sovereignty you have de facto abdicated." And she added: "Thus, when one who is called to wear the Crown cannot or does not wish to subject himself to these conditions, he cannot be given possession of the Throne, and the Crown must pass to the most immediate successor who can and is willing to rule over the Kingdom according to the laws and articles of the oath he has sworn".
Don Juan, also known as Count of Montizón at the time replied admitting his faults and shortly thereafter recognized his cousin the Infanta Isabel as his queen, begging for a post at Court which he never obtained. In 1868 he officially renounced his rights to the Crown in favor of his son Don Carlos. In 1874 when the latter reigned on part of the national territory, he visted Estella where he was known as the "old king" . He passed away in England on 18 November 1887 and was buried in Trieste in the Cathedral that some had named the "Carlist Escorial". His tombstone read Juan III . He was a miserable, fickle prince whose life was dominated by a fate which made him turn away from his family, friends and the faithful followers of the Holy Cause, which he never understood.