Aristocratic Row in Spain...

Spanish aristocrats row over rights of succession

Noble families feud over law abolishing male primogeniture

 

 

Male primogeniture survives in the royal family of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. But even though the king's oldest child is a daughter, he has made it clear that the rebels do not have his support. Photograph: Daniel Ochoa De Olza/Associated Press For centuries Spain's senior aristocrats, the grandees, ruled in feudal glory but a recent split in their governing body reveals they can no longer run even themselves. A faction of grandees and nobles have walked out of the Deputation of the Grandees, the body that has represented them for the past two centuries, as tempers fray over changes to the rules governing the way titles are handed down. "There is a split. Some of the oldest families are involved," said one of their leaders, the count of Bilbao, who did not want to give names. At the root of the rebels' decision to abandon the governing body lies a 2006 law that abolished male primogeniture. Titles must now be passed down the eldest child, regardless of sex. "I don't think it is fair that my son, who grew up expecting the title, should not get it," said the count. "My daughters don't want the title, but there are three of them and they are all older." The count complained that the Deputation of the Grandees, which unites 900 of the country's 2,300 titled aristocrats and acts as a consultant body to the interior ministry, has done nothing to defend inheritance by primogeniture laid down in the individual charters for each title. For more, click on the link... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/03/spanish-nobility-feud-heritage