Duke of Suárez () is a hereditary title in the

Spanish nobility The Spanish nobility are people who possess a title of nobility confirmed by the Spanish Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, as well as those individuals appointed to one of Spain's three highest orders of knightho ...

. The

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

dom was bestowed by

King Juan Carlos King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

on Adolfo Suárez González on 25 February 1981, following his resignation as Spanish Prime Minister, in recognition of his role in the

Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

. The Duke of Suárez is also a

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

. The current holder of the title is Alejandra Romero Suárez, Adolfo Suárez's granddaughter.

Unsuccessful petition

Shortly after the first Duke's death in 2014, it was reported that in 2009 his son Adolfo Suárez Illana had unsuccessfully written to King

Juan Carlos I Juan 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 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

to ask him to use the supposed historic powers of the Crown to alter the legal line of succession to make him heir to his father's title of Duke of Suárez instead of his niece Alejandra Suárez Romero, daughter and heir of Mariam Suárez Illana (his father's eldest child, who had died in 2004). This was on the basis that, although he himself cared little or nothing for the title, this had been the repeatedly expressed desire of his father, supported by the depositions of five witnesses. His father allegedly wanted the Dukes of Suárez to have his surname Suárez for many future generations, but

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

had made him both unable to decide the succession himself (as is permitted by Spanish law through ''Succession by Assignment''), and also made him unaware that in 2006 the Equity Act for the Succession of Titles of Nobility () had removed

male-preference cognatic primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit all or most of their parent's estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relat ...

, thereby ensuring that the title would pass to his granddaughter rather than to his son. The failure of the petition was unsurprising given that the royal family itself had already expressed its support for a constitutional change to eliminate the preference for male rather than female

succession to the Spanish throne Succession to the Spanish throne follows male-preference cognatic primogeniture. A dynast who marries against the express prohibition of the monarch and the Cortes Generales, the legislative chamber of Spain, is excluded from the succession. Up ...

, a matter which

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

included in his inaugural speech in 2004.

List of dukes of Suárez

* Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (1932–2014) * Alejandra Romero Suárez, 2nd Duchess of Suárez (born 1990)

References

Dukedoms of Spain Noble titles created in 1981 Grandees of Spain {{Spain-noble-stub