1) Duke Franz von Bayern is considered by Jacobites to be the rightful king of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland as the senior descendant of the last Stuart king, James II. 2) The Royal Stuart Society, based in London, maintains the line of succession which now rests with Duke Franz as the head of the House of Wittelsbach in Bavaria. 3) Despite past interest, Duke Franz is happy in his role as the Duke of Bavaria and does not make claims to the British throne, seeing it as an internal British issue.

1. The King who never was
Russell Grenning
As the vote against the independence proposalfor Scotland piled up last week
– the “no” vote winning by 55% to 45% - an elderly, unmarried and childless
German may well have been watching the resultwith a muted, albeit sad,
senseof final loss.
If you are a believer in the Jacobite cause, that German who goes by the
snappy title of His Royal Highness Franz Bonaventura AdalbertMaria von
Bayern, Dukeof Bavaria, Duke in Franconia and Swabia and Count-Palatine of
the Rhine, should be the UK’s rightfulking as King Francis 11.
Now 81, he is the great-great-great-great-great-great-greatgrandson of the
last Stuart king, James 11 and, as he is also the great grandson of Ludwig 111
of Bavaria and head of the Royal Houseof Wittelsbach, he is the pretender to
the Bavarian throne.
The Jacobites, a diehard group if ever there was one, believe that DukeFranz is
the legitimate heir to the thrones of England, Scotland, Franceand Ireland
which is a pretty big ask. Jacobitism takes its name from Jacobus, theLatinised
formof James and refers to the long line of failed Jacobite risings againstthe
English from1688 to 1746. They cling to the belief that the last Stuart
monarch, James 11, was not legally deprived of his throne and that it was all a
dastardly English plot. In that, they may havesome justcause.
When the rebellion by Charles Edward Stuart, aka Bonnie Prince Charles or The
Young Pretender, achieved someinitial and alarming success againstthe
English, a patriotic song became popular in London – the second versewas
“Lord grantthatMarshallWade, Shallby thy mighty aid, Victory bring, May
sedition hush, And like a torrentrush, Rebellious Scotsto crush, God save the
king.”
And, yes, it became the National Anthem although, rather understandably,
that second verseis rarely used anywhereand probably never used in
Scotland.

2. Reminding Scots of it in recent times may well have dented the “No” case.
Wade was the first English commander in Scotland and who was replaced after
his failure to stem the tide of the rebellion. Itwas finally crushed at the Battle
of Culloden on 17 April, 1746 which is still a date that evokes sadness and
defiance in Jacobite hearts.
The Stuart monarchy had a generally unhappy time ruling England and
Scotland from1603 to 1688 (with the interregnum of the de facto republic of
Cromwell, the so-called Lord Protector) – the second monarch Charles 1 was
executed and the fourth, James 11 was overthrown.
The Royal StuartSociety is the keeper of the flame for the Jacobite causeand,
oddly enough, is based in London. Its “Governor-General” is the 14th
Dukeof
Albans, Murray de Vere Beauclerk, who is actually the 7th
ranked English duke
although descended from Charles 11 – the so-called “merry monarch” who
fathered many children by his mistress Nell Gwynne (and other ladies)
including the firstDuke, born in 1670. Charles quite generously created many
of his male bastard children dukes and had a lovely, lovely time as King. It’s just
what the kingdomneeded after the dreary rule of Cromwell and the Puritans.
The Royal Stuart Society helpfully provides on its website, the line of
succession – “The direct legitimate male line of the RoyalHouse of Stuart
ended in 1807 with the death of Henry 1X, the CardinalDuke of York. The senior
descendentof the RoyalHouse from thatdate is well documented. The
Headship of the House of Stuarttakes its descentfrom Henrietta-Anne (1644–
1670), daughter of King Charles1, and her husband Philippe, Duke of Orleans
and wasinherited by their heir, the House of Savoy. Marriagesof the
subsequentheirs then saw it pass to the House of Modena-Este and later to the
House of Wittelsbach (Bavaria) with whom it rests today and the Head of which
is Duke Franz.”
Well that clears that up, doesn’tit?

3. You have to wonder at why the Royal StuartSociety – founded in 1926 –really
bothers anymoreas its websitesadly continues, “It should be noted that none
of these representativesof King Charles1 since 1807 have attempted to claim
the British throne. The late Prince Rupprechtof Bavaria (1869 –1955) strongly
discouraged supportersfrom making claimson his behalf.”
Given that if there is ever going to be a Stuart revival, you would have to think
that the best hope would have to be in Scotland fromwhencethey firstcame
but, again perhaps oddly, the Royal Stuart Society didn’t breathe one word of
supportfor the independence cause. Maybe having an English dukerunning
the show dampened pro-independencesentiment somewhat.
In 2008 when then Labour British PMGordon Brown floated the idea of
abolishing the 1701 Actof Settlement– the Act that banned Catholics fromthe
throne which in those days meant the Stuarts – there weresome musings that
if this was achieved (and it wasn’t), then Duke Franz, who is a Catholic, could
return in triumph, reclaim the throne and send Elizabeth 11 to a retirement
home.
After all, it was argued this restoration would substitute one German Royal
Housewith another – The Houseof Windsor used to be the Houseof Saxe-
Coburg and Gotha until George V wisely changed the name during World War
1.
However, DukeFranz’s spokesman, Baron Marcus Bechtolskeimsaid at the
time, “The Duke generally doesnotcommenton this issue because he sees it as
an entirely British question. All this interest in his opinion makeshim smile
because, really, he is very happy and satisfied with being Duke of Bavaria.”
There was another brief flurry of mild interest – curiosity really - in Duke
Franz’s possiblerolewhen, during the Scottish independence campaign, First
Minister Alex Salmond made some vaguenoises about how an independent
Scotland could possibly or maybeor even might have its own monarch. That
idea was quickly dumped when it provoked a bad reaction and Salmond
quickly said that Queen Elizabeth 11 would be Queen of Scotland. Following
the vote, she is still UK Queen and Salmond has resigned.

4. In fact, Royal titles in Germany wereabolished after Germany lost the war in
1918 butDukeFranz – who became Head of the Houseof Wittelsbach in 1996
after the death of his father – managed to get around that technicality by
changing his surnameto Herzog von Bayern, the German for Dukeof Bavaria.
And perhaps he has had enough excitement in his life.
His family were always strongly anti-Naziand when he was 11, he and his
whole family weresent to a series of concentration camps including Dachau. It
was a miracle they survived.
Itwas his great grandfather – Ludwig 111, the last King of Bavaria – who
graciously granted the petition of a 25 year old Austrian painter living in
Munich in 1914 who was keen to sign up to the Bavarian Army, a part of the
ImperialGerman Army. That Austrian had a creditable military career, being
awarded the Iron Cross Firstand Second Class, and it provided the springboard
for his later political career.
So you can add a distinct lack of gratitude to Adolf Hitler’s long list of character
failings.