Spanish Line of Succession

[sproketti]

I was reading an article about the law which now entitles females to inherit nobility titles and it says that because of this law, Leonor followed by Sofia are now the direct inheritors to the throne and can't be bypassed by their male cousins. I wasn't aware that this had ever been a possibility. I was under the impression that the only way they would be passed in line would be if the prince and letizia now had a son or sons. That the only way one of their male cousins (I am assuming Felipe since he's the oldest grandson) could be King would be if Prince Felipe died childless and then his sister Elena would have been next in line followed by her son Felipe and then his sister Victoria if *he* were also childless at his own death. Or am I wrong about that?

 

[AnaC]

I was reading an article about the law which now entitles females to inherit nobility titles and it says that because of this law, Leonor followed by Sofia are now the direct inheritors to the throne and can't be bypassed by their male cousins. I wasn't aware that this had ever been a possibility. I was under the impression that the only way they would be passed in line would be if the prince and letizia now had a son or sons. That the only way one of their male cousins (I am assuming Felipe since he's the oldest grandson) could be King would be if Prince Felipe died childless and then his sister Elena would have been next in line followed by her son Felipe and then his sister Victoria if *he* were also childless at his own death. Or am I wrong about that?

You are right and the article is wrong. The law regarding nobility titles only affects those nobility titles, a change in the law of succesion(of Kings and Queens) is much more complex and not done yet.
Besides, the only way Leonor(and Sofía) would be bypassed by their male cousins would be with the Salic Law, and we don't have it in Spain.
Felipe is the heir, and Leonor and Sofía are his heiresses unless Felipe and Letizia have a son.

 

[Kasumi]

Spanish noble families feud over the law abolishing male primogeniture - The Guardian

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Spanish noble families feud over the law abolishing male primogeniture - The Guardian

Its very wise for the King not to involve in this. The SRF and the government havent made their homework yet, changing the male preferrence rule for the generation after next (Leonor, who will only become Queen if she doesnt have a brother).

In general its a bad thing to change such a law for the generation to follow where often the male heir has been groomed to take over and now is not allowed to.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

I think the international media is confused about the fact that the law was changed for nobility only and hasnt been changed for the SRF as yet.
Women inherit the nobility titles thanks to law of equality

 

[Queen Shirley]

Maybe I'm over looking it, but I can't find it. Can someone list the line for the crown of Spain for me. I was told that Prince William was in the line. Thanks

 

[American Dane]

Nope, no Prince William.

According to Wikipedia:

(1) HRH The Prince of Asturias (Felipe; b. 1968)
(2) HRH Infanta Leonor (b. 2005)
(3) HRH Infanta Sofía (b. 2007)
(4) HRH The Duchess of Lugo (Infanta Elena; b. 1963)
(5) Felipe de Marichalar y Borbón (b. 1998)
(6) Victoria de Marichalar y Borbón (b. 2000)
(7) HRH The Duchess of Palma de Mallorca (Infanta Cristina; b. 1965)
(8) Juan Urdangarín y de Borbón (b. 1999)
(9) Pablo Urdangarín y de Borbón (b. 2000)
(10) Miguel Urdangarín y de Borbón (b. 2002)
(11) Irene Urdangarín y de Borbón (b. 2005)

"Section 57 of the Spanish Constitution provides that 'The Crown of Spain shall be inherited by the successors of H. M. Juan Carlos I de Borbón.' To date, the Spanish government has not seen fit to clarify whether this provision includes anyone beyond the descendants of King Juan Carlos. 'Successor' is not the same as 'descendant' and can be understood to mean such successors as brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc"

 

[An Ard Ri]

Since the accession of King Felipe VI in June 2014

1.HRH The Princess of Asturias
2.HRH The Infanta Sofia
3.HRH The Infanta Elena,Duchess of Lugo
4.H.E. Don Felipe de Marichalar
5.H.E. Doña Victoria Federica de Marichalar
6.HRH The Infanta Cristina of Spain
7.H.E. Don Juan Valentín Urdangarín
8.H.E. Don Pablo Urdangarín
9. H.E. Don Miguel Urdangarín
10.H.E. Doña Irene Urdangarín

 

[Blog Real]

The line of succession to the throne of Spain according to the Spanish constitution.

Article 57

1. The Crown of Spain is hereditary in the successors of H.M. Don Juan Carlos I of Bourbon, rightful heir to the historical dynasty. Succession on the throne will follow the regular order of birthright and representation, and the line before subsequent ones is always preferred; on the same line, the degree closest to the most remote; to the same degree, the male to the woman, and in the same sex, the older person to the least.
   
2. The Crown Prince, from birth or since the event that gives rise to the call, will have the dignity of Prince of Asturias and the other titles traditionally linked to the successor of the Crown of Spain.
   
3. Extinguished all lines called in law, the General Courts will provide succession in the Crown in a way that best suits the interests of Spain.
   
4. Those who, having the right to succession on the throne, marry against the express prohibition of the King and the General Courts, will be excluded in succession to the Crown on their own and their descendants.
   
5. Abdications and waivers and any doubts of fact or law that occur in the order of succession to the Crown shall be resolved by an organic law.

https://app.congreso.es/consti/constitucion/indice/titulos/articulos.jsp?ini=57&tipo=2

 

[Tatiana Maria]

For the royal watchers who have said they are disappointed about the male-line descendants of the Capetian kings of France losing the Spanish throne after the anticipated accession of a future child of Leonor (unless the child's father belongs to the Capetian male line), who would be seen as the "correct" agnatic heir to the Spanish throne after Queen Leonor?



Edit: I have asked about the parallel scenario in relation to the Danish throne in its own thread.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

By my understanding the line of Don Luis Alfonso de Borbón was not excluded because of a non-dynastic marriage but because his grandfather, the Infante Don Jaime de Borbón - Duque de Cádiz renounced his rights (because he was deaf and mute). Two years later the Duque de Cádiz married Emanuelle de Dampierre (daughter of Roger, vicomte de Dampierre and of Vittoria of the princes Ruspoli).

Regarding the Spanish throne, my understanding is the same as Duc et Pair. Jaime de Borbon unequivocally renounced his rights to the throne under the laws of Spain, and that renouncement included his descendants. Thus, all of his descendants have no standing in the order of succession. Jaime later regretted his decision, and his son challenged it when Franco was in power. (Infamously, Jaime's son also married Franco's daughter at El Pardo.)

It was not the status of Jaime's wife that removed him or his descendants from the succession to the Spanish throne.

I am no legal expert, but it would seem to me that on the basis of history, there is more force in the unequal (and thus non-dynastic at the time under the Pragmatic Sanction) marriage than the renunciation as a reason for excluding Jaime's line. King Felipe V effected his claim to the Spanish crowns in spite of his grandmother's renunciation. But the "unequal marriage" laws had already been enforced to exclude numerous Borbón descendants from royal status in the decades before Jaime's renunciation.

I think the fact that Jaime was pressed to marry unequally, and the following quotation, also suggests that the family saw the non-dynastic marriage as making the exclusion of Jaime's descendants more legally sufficient.

Cuando la boda de Don Jaime con Emanuela Dampierre y Ruspoli el Rey meditó mucho lo que debía hacerse con respecto a este matrimonio, a todas luces de rango inferior. Estuve presente en varias de las discusiones para tratar el tema y la conclusión principal a que se llegó es que nunca debería darse el rango real a Emanuela y por tanto menos a sus posibles descendientes. Esto está confirmado por mi propio hermano Don Jaime en la carta que con hecha 23 de julio de 1945 me dirige, en la que textualmente, en su párrafo tercero, dice: «Precisamente para evitar toda posibilidad de futuras discusiones en cuanto a la indiscutibilidad del orden sucesorio, base fundamental de la legitimidad monárquica, cuando me resolva a contraer matrimonio con posterioridad a la renuncia que por mí y por mis descendientes había hecho a los derechos que me correspondían a la Corona de España, elegí mi esposa fuera del círculo de las Familias Reales, condición indispensable, según las seculares leyes de nuestra Patria y casa, para que nuestros descendientes puedan intentar reivindicar derecho alguno como tales personas reales.»

https://www.heraldica.org/topics/royalty/sp_succ.htm#juan1972


However, I would be very interested to hear why most people appear to feel that the renunciation is more significant than the non-dynastic marriage.

 

[Mbruno]

I am no legal expert, but it would seem to me that on the basis of history, there is more force in the non-dynastic marriage than the renunciation as a reason for excluding Jaime's line. King Felipe V effected his claim to the Spanish crowns in spite of his grandmother's renunciation. But the "unequal marriage" rules had already been enforced to exclude numerous Borbón descendants from royal status in the decades before Jaime's renunciation.

But King Charles II named Philippe d'Anjou as his successor in his will, which, in addition to his better genealogical claim than that of Archduke Charles, also strengthened Philippe's bid for the Spanish throne.

On your second point, the Duke of Segovia later retracted his renunciation, but, at that point, Franco had already sanctioned his Law of Succession of 1947, who empowered him to choose any man of "royal lineage" as his successor. As of today, Don Jaime's line is excluded from the succession neither because of his renunciation, nor because of his unequal marriage, but rather by the constitution of 1978, which vests the succession in the descendants of Don Juan Carlos I de Borbón y Borbón, and overrides any past succession rules or practices to the contrary.

At the time of Don Felipe's marriage to Doña Letizia, there was some debate about whether the Pragmatic Sanction of Carlos III on equal marriages was still in force in Spanish law or not. Whatever the arguments that may have been presented at the time to support an answer in the affirmative, the fact that Felipe VI was proclaimed King in 2014 has in practice contradicted them and we are now forced to assume that any marriage of a person in the line of succession that is not prohibited by the King and the Cortes under Art. 57(4) of the constitution of 1978 is a dynastic marriage in Spain's present legal system. A more throrough discussion, however, can be found in this reference .