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Up for sale "Count of Barcelona" Don Juan De Borbon Hand Signed 3X5 Card. This item is
certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate
of Authenticity.
ES-3143
Infante
Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona (Juan
Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1
April 1993), also known as Don Juan, 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,
and under his son, Juan Carlos I, a constitutional monarchy was
installed. Juan was born at the Palace of
San Ildefonso. His father was forced into exile when the Second Spanish Republic was
proclaimed on 14 April 1931. Owing to the renunciations of his brothers Alfonso of Spain, 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 British Royal Navy in Bombay. In March 1935, he passed his naval exams in gunnery
and navigation, which would have entitled him to become a
lieutenant in the Royal Navy if he gave up his Spanish nationality. This,
however, he refused to do. He met his future wife at a party hosted by Victor Emmanuel III of
Italy on the day before his sister (Infanta Beatriz) was to be
married. He married Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (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. Juan
became heir apparent to the
defunct Spanish throne after the renunciations of his two older brothers, Alfonso and Jaime, in 1933.
To assert his claim to the throne, following his father's death he used the
title of Count of Barcelona, a
sovereign title associated with the Spanish crown. In 1936, his father sent him
to participate in the Spanish Civil War but he was arrested near the French
border, and sent back by General Emilio Mola. When General Francisco Franco declared Spain a monarchy in 1947, he
characterized it as a "restoration". However, Franco was afraid that
Juan would roll back the Spanish State due to differing political views.[citation needed] 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 Francoist
State 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. He was buried with honours due a King, in the Royal
Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial,
near Madrid. His wife survived him by seven years. He was fond of
the sea, and joined the Naval School at San Fernando, Cádiz, and
had tattoos of a marine theme from his time in the
British Royal Navy.
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