Hereditary Princess Sophie with her parents and sisters in 2007
Let me just quickly jump on the bandwagon that is the Scottish independence referendum as seemingly everyone is talking about it (and so they should). As of late, we are getting a great number of hits for "Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein" and I don't think I'm wrong in assuming that it is due to his Jacobite heritage. (Either that or there is a whole new generation of young teenage girls looking for their unmarried prince charming.)
For those not too well versed in British royal history and resulting
other succession claims than those of the House of Windsor, Jacobitism is a movement supporting the restoration of the main line of the
Scottish Stuart dynasty to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. Early
Jacobites sought to restore the Catholic King James II and his
descendants as Kings after the thrones had passed to the Protestant
House of Hanover under the terms of the Act of Settlement of 1701.
The modern day heir of the Jacobite claim is Duke Franz of Bavaria, uncle of Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein. As Duke Franz has no children of his own, the claim then passes via his brother Duke Max in Bavaria to the Hereditary Princess. Next in line would then be her oldest son, Prince Wenzel.
The modern day heir of the Jacobite claim is Duke Franz of Bavaria, uncle of Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein. As Duke Franz has no children of his own, the claim then passes via his brother Duke Max in Bavaria to the Hereditary Princess. Next in line would then be her oldest son, Prince Wenzel.
Over the years, there has always been the odd occasional newspaper article about the matter but during the last few weeks, there have been quite a number of them. However personally, I'm not holding my breath for a Jacobite King of Scotland from either Bavaria or Liechtenstein. I think we are luckily long past the time when the government of a country would simply invite a foreign royal to become their head of state - sometimes with more, other times with less success.
Plus if you think about it, would you take the "job" if you were them? Both the Wittelsbach and Liechtenstein families live relatively quiet and private lives. If they'd become Scotland's first family, all of that would change in a heartbeat. Of the interviews I have seen and read of Duke Franz of Bavaria, he seems more bemused by the suggestion than anything.
In addition, they'd also eventually run into a bit of trouble logistically: A husband (Hereditary Prince Alois), who is the head of state of one country (Liechtenstein), and a wife (Hereditary Princess Sophie), who is the head of state of another country (Scotland). At some point in time, a personal union would become inevitable if Prince Wenzel wouldn't decide to give up his 'claim' to one of the thrones to either his sister Princess Marie-Caroline or his brother Prince Georg (depending of Scotland's succession law). And who knows, maybe this whole post is obsolete as of tomorrow morning once the voting results are in.
The Liechtensteins would do just about as well in Scotland as the Stuarts did in England.
ReplyDeleteWell of course, the Scots did not vote to leave the Union, but perhaps these "claimants" should remember that Her Majesty; her heirs and successors reign by consent of the Parliament of this country as laid down in the Act of Settlement of 1701.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to inform you, that there does not seem to be any wish are interest in replacing the House of Windsor, with Prince Joseph-Wenzel or any other member of the Liechtenstein Royal family or that of Bavaria.
I'm neither a Jacobite nor did I claim that there is a strong Jacobite movement. I merely picked up a few newspaper headlines and an increased number of people googling for this topic.
ReplyDeleteIf you read the article carefully, you will both find that I neither believe that the Scottish people would go for a Bavarian or Liechtenstein royal as a head of state nor that they would be very interested in becoming the Scottish head of state.