PART TWO
FROM CARLOS VIII
TO
FRANCISCO JOSE I
Historical Background
At the death of the last undisputed Carlist King, H.M. Don Alfonso Carlos, brother of Carlos VII who had been the leader of Carlism, the Tradition was now placed into the hands of a Prince Regent Don Javier de Borbón-Parma, who was completely alien to it and a foreigner to boot with respect to the history of our homeland.
Already in 1932, the Carlist newspaper "The Spanish Crusader" started to tackle the issue to provide the succession of Don Alfonso Carlos, who elderly and without issue was inclined to reach an understanding with Don Alfonso XIII in the sense that the latter abdicate in favor of his son Don Juan and the latter in turn respect the principles of Traditionalism (which he would do much later) and thus put a noble end to the dynastic scission. However, such a solution did not at all satisfy the aspirations of a good part of militant Carlism. These people argued that Don Alfonso XIII’s branch was lacking any dynastic legitimacy. The Spanish Crusader, logically expressed its sympathy for the children of Doña Blanca, the first born child of Don Carlos VII, sister of Don Jaime III and niece of the very Don Alfonso Carlos.
What is sure is that Don Alfonso Carlos vacillated with respect to his succession; in his manifesto on the Feast of the Kings in 1932 he stated precisely : "I call on all, first and especially on my much loved nephew Alfonso XIII, on whom at my death and by strict written application of the law, will have to consolidate my rights accepting those fundamental principles which in our traditional regime have been required of all kings ahead of their own personal rights." However, in 1933 he refers to the Princes of Parma, Don Sixto and Don Javier as "my dear good nephews", writing on 3 February of that year: "my dear good nephews, the Princes of Parma declared that they do not accept my succession, because they adhere to the Salic law and do not wish to be usurpers."
The reasoning of the Spanish Crusader and of those who supported the candidacy of Doña Blanca’s children was the following: according to the semi-salic law , once the legal male succession of Philip V extinguished itself the succession passed to the daughter or daughters, sister or sisters or collaterals next to the last reigning male male child of Phillip V ." The paper shared the opinion that : "the last reigning male heir was Don Carlos and so, the person the closest in the collateral line was his niece Doña Blanca the eldest sister of the previous King Don Jaime III.
If one takes the word "reigning" in its strictest sense, as someone who has actually reigned, Doña Blanca was the daughter by primogeniture of Don Carlos VII, King de jure and King de facto as he had legislated, administered justice, issued coin, made war and signed peae, accredited ambassadors, organized tribunals and created a system of treasury. "Thus Doña Blanca was the heir of Spanish Kings, the Traditionalist Queen of Spain, the continuator of the glorious Carlist dynasty", in the words of Francisco Javier Lizarza.
Adhering strictly to traditional doctrine, The Spanish Crusader proposed one of her children as successor.
Already the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 anticipated that "it being my will that the eldest daughter or that of her descendants restore as head of the line the strict relationship between male children in constant and legitimate wedlock." Thus, it seemed logical to name who, between the male heirs of Doña Blanca, would be restoring the strict male relationship as head of the line. The newspaper favored the candidacy of Don Carlos the youngest child, of Infanta and Archduchess, for his enthusiastic relationship with Carlism.(Note 1.)
At a meeting held on 22 July 1934 at Zumarrága it was stated openly that the successor of Don Alfonso Carlos was without a doubt, the Archduke Carlos Habsburgo y de Borbón . These demonstrations of the self-styled "Core of Loyalty" were not to Don Alfonso Carlos’ liking. The group included some of the high-level and visible personalities of Carlism such as Cora y Lira, De la Cortina, Sáez, Plazaola, Lizarza, Martinez Lopez, Larraya, Zuazo and others. After trying in vain to establish a dialogue he threw them out of the Traditional Communion in a letter dated 10 April 1933 to the Count of Rodezno, President at the time of the Carlist Supreme Junta.
In 1934, the "Core of Loyalty" sent an emissary to Doña Blanca to request that upon the demise of Don Alfonso Carlos she, as the eldest member of the Spanish Borbon family, accept her rights and to transmit them to her son Don Carlos as the trunk of the new dynasty.(Note 2.)
The lady refused to anger her illustrious uncle or Don Carlos and instead decided to delay the proclamation of her rights for later wresting a letter from her son to Fal Conde which stated that according to Don Alfonso Carlos the Archduke "had not the slightest right to the succession to the throne of Spain." (Note 3.)
Despite this letter the "Core of Loyalty" held an assembly in Zaragoza in May of 1935 where the successor of Don Alfonso Carlos the Archduke was proclaimed.
After Don Alfonso Carlos had called for a Regency after his death (an act completely illegal in strict dynastic law since it is not part of the succession laws of Phillip V) Doña Blanca publicly announced that she would transmit her rights to the Crown of Spain to her son Don Carlos after the demise of her uncle.(Note 4.)
The death of Don Alfonso Carlos followed shortly on 28 September 1936 in Vienna. He was struck by a military truck near his residence as he was crossing Prince Eugene Avenue.
The death of the old king in the middle of the Spanish Civil War meant a strengthening of the Regency even though on the front many Carlist volunteers fought with the photograph of the Archduke on the headboards of their bunks and his picture became extremely popular. Don Carlos tried to join the forces of the Uprising but it was prevented by the "Javierists" who were not well-disposed to his joining the Carlist volunteers.(Note 5.)
Following the Civil War Doña Blanca was unable to personally carry out her obligations due to advanced age. Motivated by the obligation that her birth imposed and following the wishes of her adult children, in June 1943 she saw to the legitimate succession of her son Don Carlos giving the Regent Don Javier de Borbón-Parma more than enough time to comply with the oath he had sworn before the cadaver of Don Alfonso Carlos I "to implement the legitimate succession with minimum delay." Sight should not be lost of the fact that at the time, Don Javier was very busy promoting himself as a candidate to the throne of France against the Count of Paris, which might seem contradictory since he was also Prince Regent of Spanish Traditionalism. Later, in 1952 he aspired to the legitimist throne of Spain since he realized that his pretensions to the French Crown were unrealistic.
(Note 1.) As we shall see later
(Note 2.) The emissary was Don Ignacio María de Plazaola, according to Vila San-Juan in his book, "Los Reyes Carlistas".
(Note 3.) The said letter was dated in Paris on 29 November 1934.
(Note 4.) The document dated 30 May 1936 states: "As eledest daughter of my illustrious father Don Carlos VII I shall claim, in accordance with the succession laws, in case of the death without issue of my dear uncle Don Alfonso Carlos whose life I pray to God to grant many years, my rights to the Crown of Spain and to transmit them to my beloved son Carlos, my heir in view of the circumstancves appurtaining to the other brothers, praying that God grant him all grace and favour to carry out such a high mission."
(Note 5.) Don Carlos asked Don Alfonso Carlos I for permission to join the Carlist Volunteers along with his brother Don Francisco José, but the old King, undoubtedly influenced by his wife, the most energetic supporter of Don Javier, refused threatening to write Generalissimo Franco for the latter's express prohibition.
When the Spanish Blue Division was formed during the Second World War, Don Carlos attempted to enlist at the Spanish Consulate at Genova and at the Spanish Embassy in Rome at the time Don Raimundo Fernández Cuesta was ambassador, but Franco instructed the ambassador personally to refuse the enlistment with thanks.