A Lasting Stuart Pretension

Just thinking out loud here, but I've since been thinking that perhaps a girl/girls would somehow end up in a convent/Stuart mesdames given that there weren't even enough princes for the princesses whose fathers ACTUALLY were ass-warming thrones - Portugal, France and Savoy.

And also, I think these girls might end up the same as James II's kids with Mary of Modena, "not important enough but too important". Plus, does anyone know what the financial situation of the Stuarts in Rome was? And obviously a landless princess is acceptable if she's bringing a large enough dowry, but would these girls even be able to afford that?

I believe the popes were supplying a large degree of the Stuarts finances (and palazzo). I think Clementina had some kind of inheritance and of course the Williamite/Anne/Hanoverian govt. never returned Mary of Modena's dowry. Perhaps a Stuart princess would be relevant to her Sobieski heritage? Perhaps to help a prince of Saxony or a Russian client prince eyeing a decreasing Polish throne give some prestige?

If it's a boy in 1729, I don't think that changes anything. The Jacobite chances died at Culloden so the boy (call him James) wouldn't be able to do anything. But he WOULD be able to keep the Stuart claim going, perhaps entering the service of Austria or Russia, or moving to Modena, and not entering the clergy (like Henry) or becoming a dissolute embarrassment (like BPC). Perhaps he could even be used himself a potential candidate for Polish king?
 
I believe the popes were supplying a large degree of the Stuarts finances (and palazzo). I think Clementina had some kind of inheritance and of course the Williamite/Anne/Hanoverian govt. never returned Mary of Modena's dowry. Perhaps a Stuart princess would be relevant to her Sobieski heritage? Perhaps to help a prince of Saxony or a Russian client prince eyeing a decreasing Polish throne give some prestige?

If it's a boy in 1729, I don't think that changes anything. The Jacobite chances died at Culloden so the boy (call him James) wouldn't be able to do anything. But he WOULD be able to keep the Stuart claim going, perhaps entering the service of Austria or Russia, or moving to Modena, and not entering the clergy (like Henry) or becoming a dissolute embarrassment (like BPC). Perhaps he could even be used himself a potential candidate for Polish king?

A Stuart PLC could prove interesting. Whether its Friedrich Christian of Saxony marrying a Princess over the Water 2.0 or Prince James becoming King of Poland. Though wasn't there a "foreigners need not apply" clause in the '63 elections?
 
Just thinking out loud here, but I've since been thinking that perhaps a girl/girls would somehow end up in a convent/Stuart mesdames given that there weren't even enough princes for the princesses whose fathers ACTUALLY were ass-warming thrones - Portugal, France and Savoy.

And also, I think these girls might end up the same as James II's kids with Mary of Modena, "not important enough but too important". Plus, does anyone know what the financial situation of the Stuarts in Rome was? And obviously a landless princess is acceptable if she's bringing a large enough dowry, but would these girls even be able to afford that?

I think a Stuart Princess, assuming she doesn't remain in a convent, would most likely marry an Italian. James III was close to many Italian nobles while in Rome and was related to most of the Italian sovereigns as well. A Princess Royal's marital value was less dependent on the actual chances of a restoration and more of the perceived chances of a restoration. That's what helped make the Stuart Court in Rome a center of society and culture, the potential value of the exiled King returning home.

As for the Stuart financial situation, it was stable but not the best. They were dependent on pensions from the Pope (regularly paid but not large) and France (large but not regularly paid). Clementina did bring a massive dowry (25 million francs!), many jewels and other valuables, but I'm not entirely sure what happened to the dowry. I guess it was invested as James III is mentioned as owning lands in France, Poland (I assume his wife's inheritance) and I believe Italy. But these seem to be more properties than anything else, as the man income from them seems to have been rents from tenants. So for the most part the value of a Stuart Princess would have been her blood and her father's close connection with the Popes. The main problem is I can't think of any available reigning Princes in Italy close to her age.
 
I think a Stuart Princess, assuming she doesn't remain in a convent, would most likely marry an Italian. James III was close to many Italian nobles while in Rome and was related to most of the Italian sovereigns as well. A Princess Royal's marital value was less dependent on the actual chances of a restoration and more of the perceived chances of a restoration. That's what helped make the Stuart Court in Rome a center of society and culture, the potential value of the exiled King returning home.

As for the Stuart financial situation, it was stable but not the best. They were dependent on pensions from the Pope (regularly paid but not large) and France (large but not regularly paid). Clementina did bring a massive dowry (25 million francs!), many jewels and other valuables, but I'm not entirely sure what happened to the dowry. I guess it was invested as James III is mentioned as owning lands in France, Poland (I assume his wife's inheritance) and I believe Italy. But these seem to be more properties than anything else, as the man income from them seems to have been rents from tenants. So for the most part the value of a Stuart Princess would have been her blood and her father's close connection with the Popes. The main problem is I can't think of any available reigning Princes in Italy close to her age.

What about the dukes of Modena (Ercole III) or Savoy (VAIII)? Or even Philip of Spain (duke of Parma) might be a good choice.
 
What about the dukes of Modena (Ercole III) or Savoy (VAIII)? Or even Philip of Spain (duke of Parma) might be a good choice.

I'd say Victor Amadeus III, followed by Ercole III. Duca Felipe was simply to old. Plus his OTL bride was Madame Royale, a Stuart Princess in exile isn't going to beat out the oldest daughter of the King of France. However, the big issue is time. By the time a Stuart Princess would come of age (1750/51) the Jacobite cause had collapsed, so no reigning Prince is going to want to marry her. You'd get various nobles wanting a chance to be the son-in-law of the King of Great Britain, but not much else.
 
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