Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Alfonso denies son royal title

June 8, 1935

The Paris edition of the London Daily Mail quotes "former King Alfonso today as denying the right of his eldest son, the Count of Covadonga, to the title of Prince of the Asturias," reports the Associated Press.

The title Prince of Asturias is reserved for the heir to the Spanish throne.   The King and the Royal family have been in exile since the spring of 1931.

King Alfonso's office in Rome issued a statement asserted that the Count is still a prince and his wife a princess.  Alfonso had stripped his son of the Asturias title when his son, Alfonso, married a Cuban commoner "against his wishes."

The Count of Covadonga, who is currently in New York City, claimed that he was forced to live on $200 a month.  The King responded to this by stating that his son's allowance was more than $1,000 a month, "This is much greater than the allowance allotted his brothers and sisters,"  the statement said.  

The statement also noted that the count "renounced his right to the title of Prince of Asturias 'in writing June 13, 1932.'"

King Alfonso's statement concluded: "Any hereditary principal who makes a mesalliance or contracts a morganatic marriage without the sovereign's royal authority loses his rights to the throne."


The Count arrived in New York on May 30 to rejoin his wife, Edelmira Sampedro. He also hopes to "obtain a motion picture contract."

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