THE Duchess of Alba, who died yesterday, was not only a grand lady of Spain she could also have had a strong claim to the Scottish throne. María del Rosario Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva was a direct descendant of King James II of Great Britain, through his illegitimate son James FitzJames. As part of her name suggests, she too was able to trace her line back to the Stuart dynasty. Some Scots looked back fondly in the history books to their Stuart kings, the first of whom was Robert II in 1371.
The last Stuart monarch was Queen Anne, who died childless in 1714. The Crown passed to the House of Hanover, but the Stuart line continued abroad. During the Scottish referendum campaign it was claimed that the people of Scotland could be denied the Queen in the same way as the Chancellor had threatened to deny them sterling, if they voted Yes for independence. There was speculation that the Duchess of Alba could stake her claim as the Queen of Scotland as she carried the Stuart name. While it was dismissed as “complete and utter nonsense,” by some it still increased interest in the Duchess in the British media who speculated that she would have a claim to the throne. The Duchess of Alba, was a grand lady and well respected across the country. Her death is a sad loss to her beloved Spain. For many years she was like a figure of living history because of her long aristocratic line. She will be sadly missed.