Prince of Asturias

The coat of arms of the Prince of Asturias

Prince of Asturias (Spanish: Príncipe de Asturias ) is the historical (and under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the official) title given to the heir apparent to the Spanish throne. It was also the title under the earlier kingdom of Castille. The current Prince of Asturias is Felipe, son of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia. Contrary to practice in other than Iberian countries, in the event of there is no heir apparent, the title can be (but is not necessarily) given to the heir presumptive. Examples of heirs presumptive who received the title are the Miguel de la Paz, Infante of Portugal, grandson and heir presumptive of Queen Isabella I, the only son of the Queen's deceased eldest daughter, who was styled Prince of Asturias sometime during his two-year long life, and Infanta Maria de las Mercedes of Spain, eldest daughter of Alfonso XII, was styled Princess of Asturias during her childhood, particularly when her posthumous brother Alfonso XIII was not yet born.

Other associated titles originate from the rest of the kingdoms that formed Spain: Prince of Viana, Prince of Girona, Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera and Lord of Balaguer.

Military dictator Francisco Franco appointed Juan Carlos de Borbón as his "successor with the title of King" but gave him the new title of Prince of Spain instead of Prince of Asturias.

The current Prince of Asturias has instituted the Prince of Asturias Awards.

History and list of the Princes of Asturias

The Standard of the Prince of Asturias

After the death of Pedro of Castile in 1369, the kingdom was drawn yet deeper in a civil war, disputes and long rivalled between English claimant, John, Duke of Lancaster, and two successive Trastamare claimants, Kings Henry II of Castile and his son John I of Castile. After two decades of conflicts of varying intensity, the parties arrived at compromise through means of marriage: the future Henry III of Castile (1379-1406) was married to Katherine of Lancaster in 1388. A part of the pact ("Accord of Bayonne") was to elevate the young couple to a title, Prince and Princess of Asturias, which was modelled after that of Prince of Wales in English kingdom. The title was to belong to the official successor of the Castilian throne. Thus the first holders of the princedom was the young don Enrique de Castilla y de Aragon and his wife dona Catalina de Lancastre y de Castilla.

In the first years the title was not only honorary, as it included the ownership of the territory of Asturias; the Prince ruled the Principality in representation of the King and was able to appoint judges, mayors... This was changed by the Catholic Monarchs, who limited the scope of the title making it merely honorary; this decision was upheld by the Austrias (as the Habsburg are commonly known in Spain) and the House of Bourbon, till the present day.

Picture	Name	Heir of	Birth	Became Heir to the Throne	Created Prince of Asturias	Ceased to be Prince of Asturias	Other Titles before/whilst Prince	Death	Princess of Asturias
	Prince Henry later Henry III	John I	4 October 1379		17 September 1388	9 October 1390 became King		25 December 1406	Katherine of Lancaster
	Infanta Maria	Henry III	1 September 1401		1402	6 March 1405 brother's birth	4 October 1458		-
	Prince John later John II		6 March 1405			25 December 1406 became King	20 July 1454		-
	Infanta Catalina	John II	5 October 1422			17 September 1424			-
	Infanta Leonor		10 September 1423	17 September 1424 sister's death		1425 own death or brother's birth			-
	Prince Henry later Henry IV		5 January 1425			20 July 1454 became King	11 December 1474	King-consort of Navarre	Blanche II of Navarre
	Infanta Joanna [1]	Henry IV	28 February 1462			1464 desposed	1530		-
	Prince Alfonso		15 September 1453	1464		5 July 1468			-
	Infanta Isabella later Isabella I		22 April 1451	5 July 1468 brother's death		10 December 1474 became Queen-regnant	26 November 1504	Queen consort of Sicily	-
	Infanta Isabella	Isabella I	2 October 1470			28 June 1478 brother's birth	28 August 1498		-
	Prince Juan		28 June 1478			4 October 1497 death		Prince of Girona	Margaret of Austria
	Infanta Isabella (second time)		2 October 1470	4 October 1497 brother's death		28 August 1498		Princess of Portugal Queen consort of Portugal	-
	Prince Miguel		24 August 1498	28 August 1498		19 July 1500 death		Prince of Portugal	-
	Infanta Joanna later Joanna I		6 November 1479	28 August 1498	1502	26 November 1504 became Queen-regnant	12 April 1555	Princess of Girona Duchess consort of Burgundy, Brabant, Limburg, Lothier, Luxemburg; Countess consort of Artois, Flanders, Charolais, Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, Burgundy; Margravine consort of Namur	-
	Prince Charles later Charles I	Joanna I	24 February 1500	26 November 1504		14 March 1516 became King	21 September 1558	Prince of Girona Prince of Viana Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Limburg, Lothier and Luxembourg, Count of Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Hainaut, Holland, Namur and Zeeland	-
	Prince Philip later Philip II	Charles I	21 May 1527			16 January 1556 became King	13 September 1598	Prince of Girona Prince of Viana King of Naples King of England and Ireland	Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal
									Mary I of England
	Prince Carlos	Philip II	8 July 1545	16 January 1556		24 July 1568		Prince of Girona Prince of Viana	-
	Prince Ferdinand		4 December 1571			18 October 1578		Prince of Girona Prince of Viana	-
	Prince Diego		15 August 1575	18 October 1578 brother's death		21 November 1582		Prince of Girona Prince of Viana Prince of Portugal	-
	Prince Philip later Philip III		14 April 1578	21 November 1582 brother's death		14 April 1598 became King	31 March 1621	Prince of Girona Prince of Viana Prince of Portugal	-
	Prince Philip later Philip IV	Philip III	8 April 1605			31 March 1621 became King	17 September 1665	Prince of Girona Prince of Viana	Elisabeth of Bourbon
	Prince Baltasar Carlos	Philip IV	17 October 1629			9 October 1646		Prince of Girona Prince of Viana Prince of Portugal	-
	Prince Philip Prospero		20 November 1657			1 November 1661		Prince of Girona Prince of Viana	-
	Prince Charles later Charles II		6 November 1661			17 September 1665 became King	1 November 1700	Prince of Girona Prince of Viana	-
	Prince Joseph Ferdinand	Charles II	28 October 1692	1698		6 February 1699		Prince of Girona Prince of Viana	-
	Prince Louis later Louis I	Philip V	25 August 1707		1709	14 January 1724 became King	31 August 1724	Prince of Viana	Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans
	Prince Ferdinand later Ferdinand VI		23 September 1713	31 August 1724		9 July 1746 became King	10 August 1759	Prince of Viana	Barbara of Portugal
	Prince Charles later Charles III	Ferdinand VI	20 January 1716	9 July 1746		10 August 1759 became King	14 December 1788	Prince of Viana Duke of Parma and Piacenza	Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily
	Prince Charles later Charles IV	Charles III	11 November 1748	10 August 1759		14 December 1788 became King	20 January 1819	Prince of Viana	Maria Luisa of Parma
	Prince Ferdinand later Ferdinand VII	Charles IV	14 October 1784	14 December 1788		19 March 1808 became King	29 September 1833	Prince of Viana	Maria Luisa of Parma
	Infanta Isabella later Isabella II	Ferdinand VII	10 October 1830			29 September 1833 became Queen-regnant	10 April 1904	Princess of Viana Duchess consort of Cádiz	-
	Infanta Isabella	Isabella II	20 December 1851			28 November 1857 brother's birth	23 Abril 1931	Princess of Viana	-
	Prince Alfonso later Alfonso XII		28 November 1857			29 December 1874 became King	25 November 1885	Prince of Viana	-
	Infanta Isabella	Alfonso XII	20 December 1851	29 December 1874 brother's became King		11 September 1880 niece's birth	23 April 1931	Princess of Viana Countess of Girgenti	-
	Infanta Mercedes		11 September 1880			17 October 1904		Princess of Viana	-
	Prince Alfonso		30 November 1901	17 October 1904 mother's death		10 May 1907 cousin's birth	3 February 1964	Prince of Viana	-
	Prince Alfonso		10 May 1907			14 April 1931 renounced right	6 September 1938	Prince of Viana	-
	Prince Felipe	Juan Carlos I	30 January 1968	22 November 1975	21 January 1977	Incumbent		Prince of Viana Prince of Girona Duke of Montblanc Count of Cervera Lord of Balaguer	Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano

See also

• Asturias
• Asturias, Cebu, Philippines
• Spanish monarchy
• Prince of Asturias Awards
• Spanish aircraft carrier Principe de Asturias
• List of titles and honours of the Heir Apparent to the Spanish Throne

References

External links

• The title of Prince of Asturias (in Spanish)