Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1 April 1993), also known as Don Juan, was a claimant to the

Spanish throne , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

as Juan III. He was the third son and designated heir of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. His father was replaced by the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

in 1931. Juan's son

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

became king when Spain's

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

was restored in 1975.

Early life

Juan was born at the Palace of San Ildefonso. His father was forced into exile when the

was proclaimed on 14 April 1931. Owing to the renunciations of his brothers Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, and Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, Infante Juan was thus next in line to the defunct Spanish throne. He thus received the title Prince of Asturias when he was serving with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. In March 1935, he passed his naval exams in gunnery and

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

, which would have entitled him to a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

’s commission in the

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 Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. He also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–1941) and K ...

on the day before his sister (Infanta Beatriz) was to be married. He married

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona (María de las Mercedes Cristina Genara Isabel Luisa Carolina Victoria y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Orléans ; 23 December 1910 – 2 January 2000) was a Spanis ...

(1910–2000), known in Spain as Doña María de las Mercedes de Borbón Dos-Sicilias y Orleans, in Rome on 12 October 1935. Just before the birth of the Infante Juan Carlos, the Count of Barcelona decided to go hunting, with the doctor telling him and his wife that the future king would not be born for weeks. When he was told of the birth, he drove to the hospital so quickly that he broke an axle spring.

Children

They had four children: * Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (30 July 1936 – 8 January 2020), 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 (born 5 January 1938), who married

Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

on 14 May 1962, and had three children *

Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria Infanta Margarita of Spain, Duchess of Soria, 2nd Duchess of Hernani, Grandee of Spain (Margarita María de la Victoria Esperanza Jacoba Felicidad Perpetua de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón; born 6 March 1939), is the younger sister of K ...

and Duchess of Hernani (born 6 March 1939), who married Don Carlos Zurita y Delgado on 12 October 1972, and had two children * Infante Alfonso of Spain (3 October 1941 – 29 March 1956) They lived in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

and Rome, and, with the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, they moved to

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

to live with his mother,

Queen Victoria Eugenie Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was Queen consort of Spain, Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic wa ...

. Afterwards, they resided at Estoril, on the

Portuguese Riviera The Portuguese Riviera (Portuguese: '' Riviera Portuguesa'') is a term used in the tourist industry for the affluent coastal region to the west of Lisbon, Portugal, centered on the coastal municipalities of Cascais (including Estoril), Oeiras ...

Claim to the Spanish throne

In 1931 Juan was subject to dynastic negotiations between the Alfonsists and the Carlists, concluded in so-called

Pact of Territet Pact of Territet ( es, El Pacto de Territet) was an attempt to mend the long-standing dynastic feud between two Spanish House of Bourbon, Borbón branches and their supporters, known as the Alfonsism, Alfonsists and the Carlism, Carlists. In Septe ...

; it has never been implemented. Juan became

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the defunct Spanish throne after the renunciations of his two older brothers, Alfonso and

Jaime Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...

, in 1933. To assert his claim to the throne, following his father's death he used the title of

Count of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

, a sovereign title associated with the Spanish crown. In 1936, his father sent him to participate in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

but he was arrested near the French border, and sent back by General

Emilio Mola Emilio Mola y Vidal, 1st Duke of Mola, Grandee of Spain (9 July 1887 – 3 June 1937) was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936, which started the Spanish Civil War. After the death of Sanjurjo on 20 July 1936, M ...

. On 19 March 1945 he announced a manifesto in Lausanne, demanding he replace Franco: When General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

declared Spain a monarchy in 1947, he characterized it as a "restoration". However, Franco was afraid that Juan would roll back the

Spanish State Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...

because he favoured

, which would restore

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

. 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 A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

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'' (his title if he had become king) in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, near

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. His wife survived him by seven years. He was fond of the sea, and joined the Naval School at

San Fernando, Cádiz San Fernando (, "Saint Ferdinand") is a town in the province of Cádiz, Spain. It is home to more than 97,500 inhabitants. The city also uses the name "''La Isla''" (The Island). The people from San Fernando are locally known as "''Cañaíllas''" ...

, and had

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

s of a marine theme from his time in the British

Honours and arms

Honours

Arms

File:Coat of Arms of Infante Juan of Spain (1927-1931 1933).svg, Arms as Infante of Spain
(1927–1931/''1933'') File:Greater Royal Coat of Arms of Spain (1931)-Escutcheon of France and Golden Fleece Variant.svg, Royal Coat of Arms of Spain
Version of 1924/''1931''
Used as Pretender and Head of the Royal House.
(1941–1977)García-Mechano y Osset, Eduardo (2010). ''Introducción a la heráldica y manual de heráldica militar española''. Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa. . pp. 105–107 File:Coat of Arms of Spain (c.1883-1931) Golden Fleece Variant.svg, Lesser Royal Coat of Arms of Spain
Also used by Don Juan as Pretender.
(1941–1977) File:Coat of Arms of Juan, Count of Barcelona, after the renounce of his claim to the Throne.svg, Arms after the renunciation of the Throne
(1977–1993)

Ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juan of Barcelona, Infante 1913 births 1993 deaths People from the Province of Segovia Francoist Spain House of Bourbon (Spain) Spanish infantes Heirs apparent who never acceded Captain generals of the Navy Burials in the Pantheon of Kings at El Escorial Spanish monarchists Navarrese titular monarchs Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Grand Crosses of Naval Merit Grand Crosses of Military Merit Crosses of Aeronautical Merit Grand Crosses of the Order of Saints George and Constantine Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa Bailiffs Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Sons of kings