Horse-Buck Affair

The Horse-Buck Affair was a scandal that began after the unexpected death of King Louis II on April 9th, 1845. The scandal threatened to ruin the House of Vedoys and prevented Vedoys princes from winning the subsequent two elections.

On the morning of April 9th, Louis II was preparing for a typical day's activities, which began with a quick stroll across the grounds of the Iris Palace on horseback. April 7-8 saw a heavy downpour of rain, which caused the ground to be very slippery, and on this particular morning, Louis made the rare decision to go on his morning stroll unaccompanied. As he was preparing to return and begin tending to the day's work, his horse unexpectedly reared and he was thrown from the reins when his head struck a boulder and caused overwhelming hemorrhaging in the brain. It was not long before his absence was noticed and he was located, but by that point, the damage had been done. Louis died late that morning at the age of seventy-eight.

His death meant that someone from the House of Vedoys would have to inherit the throne and carry out the remaining seventeen years of his term as king. According to the primary laws of seniority, his younger brother, Vittorio should have inherited the throne. In fact, Louis was re-elected in 1842 as a symbol of the people's adoration for him, and it was understood that Vittorio would become ruler within a few years.

However, during his last few years as king, Louis had become intimately close with his young nephew, Laurent (son of Alexandre Vedoys). In order to ensure that Laurent would inherit in case he died before the end of his term, Louis had adorned him with honorary titles and prominent positions within the Marquetien military. Invoking a technicality of the Marquetien Charter called 'titular consent,' he received approval from a royal magistrate that Laurent should inherit upon his death. This was kept a secret.

It was known that Louis II engaged in frequent orgies with young military officers and the sons of other Marquetien princes, and this continued even until his death. In the years preceding his death, rumors had been spread that Laurent and Louis had been engaged in an incestuous homosexual relationship and Laurent had inherited the throne due to Louis' tampering with the political system to reward his favorite lover. This caused outrage within Marquetien politics, and many Marquetiens openly called for Laurent to abdicate and hand the throne to his uncle, Vittorio. Louis' manipulation of the inheritance of the throne directly went against what the House of Vedoys had fought for 160 years earlier in the Marquetien Civil War, thus the family suffered immense embarrassment.

Laurent, being too proud to relinquish power, served as king in name only until 1852, leaving the Iris Palace only four times for visits to Arveyres, and didn't make a single appearance in the senate. In 1852, with ten years until the next elections, the senate unanimously decided to hold snap elections for king, leading to the rise of Leali Faustino and Laurent's fleeing to Presscia.

The repercussions from the scandal were long-lasting, and another Vedoys prince would not be elected as king until 1892. It also led to the senate passing the Inheritance Laws of 1863 that prevented the passing of power based on number or worth of titles or other dishonest means.