Arizona republican., 1907-05-29
ROYALTIES PUT ASIDE.
Some of Those Who Have Lost Their Rank as Next Heir to the Throne.

Within an hour after the birth of his son. King Alfonzo affixed his signature to a decree transferring the title of Prince of the Asturias from his broth er-in-law, Don Carlos. of Bourbon. to the baby. By the same edict the lat ter was invested with all the honors and prerogatives of the heir apparent to the throne of Spain which for the past three years. have been enjoyed
 by little Prince Alfonzo. now aged six. This youngster is the eldest child of the kings sister. Mercedes. who died
 in 1904. At the time of her demise the king was still unmarried. and there fore. as next heir in the line Of sue
 cession to the crown, she enjoyed the title of princess of the Asturias, which she had already borne once before during the lifetime of her father. AL
 fonZo XII. Hers. indeed was a strange lot. Her brother. the king. is a posthumous child. and was only born six months after his fathers sud
 den end. During that brief interval the then -year-old princess was queen of Spain, all official documents and laws being signed in her name as such. But when her brother made his appearance in the world. she was con- pelled to step down from the throne. and to resume her status as princess of the Asturias. In accordance with that medieval custom. which formerly prevailed in England. and which still survives in Spain. whereby husbands of inferior rank share the honors and titles enjoyed by their wives. Prince Charles of Bourbon Naples. on marry ing the princess of the Asturias. be- came ipse facto himself prince of the Asturias When his wife died that dignity should strictly speaking have gone 10 his boy. Don AlfonZO. who had through his mothers demise become heir apparent But as the kings mar fiage was already on the cards. it was considered inadyisable to deprive the infant Carlos of his honOrarv status as prince of the Asturias until IL was seen whether or not the monOarch's projected union should be blessed with issue. Let me add that the kings aunt. the Infanta Isabella, celebrated as the most skillful four hard whip Sc the peninsula. has on two occasions been subjected to an experience very similar to that which has now fallen to the share of Don Carlos. She was princess of Austrias and heir ap- parent during the six years that in tervened between her own birth in 1851 as the eldest child of Queen Isabella. and the appearance on the scene of her only brother, Alfonzo XII. in 1857. Again. after her establishment on the throne in 1874. she ranked as princess
 l,a ha frfI nf iC eldest child in 1880 compelled her {, surrender the dignity to her little niece fhe late Dona Mercedes.
 The title Of prince or princess of the Ssturias has for six centuries aeen the Spanish counterpart of the dignity of prince of Wales in England. of the prince of Orange in the Netherlands, CT the cZarowitch in Russia, of the diadokos in Greece, and also of the pauphin in France, in the days when that country was still subject 10 the kway of the house of Bourbon. The rrincipality of Asturias may be sought in vain on the maps of modern Spain. since the province now figures uader tine nameof Oviedo. r forms part Of the Pyrennean system, has of fen been described as the Switzerland O. the peninsula, and its people pos sess afi the sturdy virtues of the hardy rnountaineers. ft may be described as the cradle of the Spanish monarchy, for it was in the fastnesses of the As furian mountains that the na:i Jcs sought refuge from the Roman inva- | sion and were able. to escape the ! thraIdom of the Caesars. And again, l when later on the Moors secured pos 1 session Of the remainder of the penin- | sula. the Asturias not only managed | tc retain their independence, but like l wise served as the sole remaining | stronghold of Christianity, whence the |