Cayetana, Queen of Scots: Spain's Duchess of Alba would be direct heiress to throne of an independent Scotland
Friday, February 21, 2014 @ 9:58 AM
A HIGH-PROFILE member of the Spanish aristocracy and the woman who holds the world record for the longest list of nobility titles could be first in line to Scotland's throne if it succeeds in its bid for independence from Britain.
The Duchess of Alba, 87, one of Spain's richest landed gentry holds 18 Marquess titles, 20 Countess titles, is a Viscountess, five times a Duchess, a Countess-Duchess and 'Constabless' as well as holding 14 Great of Spain titles.
María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva – Cayetana to her friends and family, and 'the Duchess of Alba' for ease of reference in public address – is a direct descendent of King James II of England and VII of Scotland, the last Monarch to reign north of the Hadrian's Wall.
She is the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of James Fitz-James, the illegitimate son of King James VII of Scotland, the result of an extra-marital affair by the Monarch and his lover, Arabella Churchill, and is the XI Duchess of Berwick as well as XVIII Duchess of Alba.
And she is the oldest surviving direct descendent of the last Scottish King, who reigned between 1685 and 1688 and was the last Catholic Monarch of what was soon to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain, before fleeing to France where King Louis XIV, also Catholic, took him under his wing.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com