Up for auction"Count of Barcelona" Don Juan De Borbon Hand Signed 3X5 Card. Included is a TLS Dated 1951 Signed by his secretary.This item is certified authentic by JGAutographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-1615B
InfanteJuan of Spain, Count of Barcelona(JuanCarlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1April 1993), also known asDon Juan, was the third son anddesignated heir ofKingAlfonso XIII of SpainandVictoria Eugenie ofBattenberg. His father was replaced by theSecond Spanish Republic,and under his son,Juan Carlos I, aconstitutional monarchywasinstalled. Juan was born at thePalace ofSan Ildefonso. His father was forced into exile when theSecond Spanish Republicwasproclaimed on 14 April 1931. Owing to the renunciations of his brothersAlfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias, andInfante Jaime, Duke ofSegovia, Infante Juan was thus next in line to the defunct Spanishthrone. He thus received the titlePrince of Asturiaswhenhe was serving with the BritishRoyal NavyinBombay. In March 1935, he passed his naval exams in gunneryandnavigation, which would have entitled him to become alieutenant 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 byVictor Emmanuel III ofItalyon the day before his sister (Infanta Beatriz) was to bemarried. He marriedPrincess 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 andhis wife that the future king would not be born for weeks. When he was told ofthe birth, he drove to the hospital so quickly that he broke an axle spring. Juanbecameheir apparentto thedefunct Spanish throne after the renunciations of his two older brothers,AlfonsoandJaime, in le plus cher 1933.To assert his claim to the throne, following his fathers death he used thetitle ofCount of Barcelona, asovereign title associated with the Spanish crown. In 1936, his father sent himto participate in theSpanish Civil Warbut he was arrested near the Frenchborder, and sent back by GeneralEmilio Mola. When GeneralFrancisco Francodeclared Spain a monarchy in 1947, hecharacterized it as a "restoration". However, Franco was afraid thatJuan would roll back theSpanish Statedue to differing political views.Asa result, in 1969, Franco passed over Juan in favour of Juans son, JuanCarlos, who Franco believed would be more likely to continue the FrancoistState after his death. Juan Carlos later surprised many byhis support ofdemocratising Spain. Franco and Juan did not have a goodrelationship, with the latter constantly pressing Franco to restore themonarchy. Relations soured further when Juan called Franco an"illegitimate usurper". Juan formally renounced his rights to theSpanish throne eight years after being displaced as recognised heir to thethrone by Franco, and two years after his son, Juan Carlos, had become king. Inreturn, his son officially granted him the title of Count of Barcelona, whichhe had claimed for so long. He was buried with honours due a King, in the RoyalCrypt of themonastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial,nearMadrid. His wife survived him by seven years. He was fond ofthe sea, and joined the Naval School atSan Fernando, Cádiz, andhadtattoosof a marine theme from his time in theBritishRoyal Navy.
