Possble spouses for a restored King & Princess over the Water

Hello all. I am currently planning a TL that has James III & VIII aka the Old Pretender/King over the Water, restored to the throne in 1714. I won't get into details and if anyone wishes to read the planes the link to the discussion is here:http://www.gateway.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=266798 The discussion for a restoration is on the 2nd page onwards

My main problem I'm having is possible brides for James and husbands for Louisa. For James I've found many possibles but the main stumbling block I'm having is religion. Surprisingly not James's but his bride. Would a Catholic bride be acceptable or no? Here's a list of possibles I found

Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark
Sisters Archduchesses Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia
Princess Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden
Infanta Francisca Josefa of Portugal
Sisters Marie Louise Élisabeth,Charlotte Aglaé and Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans

Only two protestants and for Charlotte Amalie I feel she's much to young (8 in 1714 so a least 5-6 years before the marriage would take place)

Ulrika Eleonora would be a good choice but she's the Heiress to Sweden and IDK if James and his government would want to risk getting involved with the Northern War and a possible personal union with Sweden. Plus she's a bit old (25-26 in 1714) so I'm not sure if that would through her out or not.

The Infanta would make a good pick with the traditional alliance between England and Portugal but sense the last Portuguese Infanta was barren I feel such a marriage would be met with reluctance.

The Archduchesses would probably be the best pick. Besides the Netherlands Austria was Britain's closest continental ally. Plus it could bring trade rights in the Austrian Netherlands.

The French girls would bring the biggest Dowry but on the other hand would meet the biggest push back. After all France was at this point Britain's essentially mortal enemy. Though the marriage is delayed until after the War of the Quadruple alliance starts there could, could mind you, be an opportunity.


As for Louisa I'm not sure what would be better and make more sense: a powerful foreign match: ie Philip V of Spain or Charles XII of Sweden or a minor match that would keep her at home, like her half-sister Anne and her husband George of Denmark.

Any help and suggestions on this issue would be much appreciated.
 
Do what the Swedes always did - pick a daughter of a sovereign German prince.

You also have Hedwig Sofia of Sweden, widow since 1702 (when the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp died in battle), but she might be too old too.

Wilhelmine Charlotte of Courland, born 1695, OTL dead 1722 could also be a candidate.
 
Do what the Swedes always did - pick a daughter of a sovereign German prince.

You also have Hedwig Sofia of Sweden, widow since 1702 (when the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp died in battle), but she might be too old too.

Wilhelmine Charlotte of Courland, born 1695, OTL dead 1722 could also be a candidate.

The daughter of a German Prince seems to low ranking for the King of England Scotland and Ireland.

Hedwig Sofia would be too old. Plus she died in 1708.

Wilhelmine seems to be a far out candidate and I can't seem to find any info on her.
 
As for Louisa, how about reviving the Portuguese alliance? João V had three brothers who all died unmarried: Francisco, António, and Manuel.

A French marriage also seems plausible, perhaps with Louis Henri, duc de Bourbon.
 
As for Louisa, how about reviving the Portuguese alliance? João V had three brothers who all died unmarried: Francisco, António, and Manuel.

A French marriage also seems plausible, perhaps with Louis Henri, duc de Bourbon.

Thanks for the suggestion. I like Infante Francisco Duke of Beja for Louisa. High ranking enough for a Royal Princess and low ranking enough to live in England. Plus such a marriage wouldn't create a personal Union should James die childless.

As for a Bourbon-Conde match, I feel that he Conde's were to low ranking for the King, especially sense the Orleans girls would bring a much larger dowry and were the closest thing to direct princesses that France had (their father was a Petit-Fille de France while Conde was mearly a Prince du Sang: big difference).
 
A sovereign German prince's daughter quite often (under the Hanovers) became queen or at least a royal duchess (see Karoline of Ansbach, Auguste of Saxe-Gotha, Charlotte of Mecklenburg, Karoline of Brunswick, Adelaide of Saxe-Meinengen, Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg, Auguste of Hesse-Kassel, Friederike of Strelitz).

I don't know how the Stuarts might feel about this, though. The Hanovers at least had a home base in Germany, necessitating these minor marriages. But the Act of Settlement as it stands, severely restricts your gene pool (Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands) by saying no Catholic brides. Then again, the accession of James III or Louisa would complete invert this law since the king would be Catholic, so the law might be done away with at earliest possible opportunity.

Austria - England's ally up until the Diplomatic Revolution - is a problematic match. Not only is the archduchess Catholic, Vienna is rather far from London. Although, Richard II and Anna of Bohemia's marriage was disliked as being non-beneficial to England (before the HRE inherited Burgundy). So it might fly.

Your Portuguese infanta is not necessarily barren. There's no proof that she was. And there was a marriage idea between her and Vittorio Amadeo, Prince of Piedmont. However, he kicked before anything was on paper. After which, she was never viewed as a seriously viable candidate for marriage again. So, perhaps a double marriage (uncommon in England) between Lisbon and London could work.

Equally, England had an interest in both Spain and Portugal pre-Reformation (against France), so perhaps a marriage between James and Teresa Francisca of Portugal, and a second marriage between La Consolatrice and Philip V.

The Protestant marriages (to Charlotte and Ulrika) might not be such good ideas. Ulrika was reportedly very pious (and therefore devoted to the Protestant church) so she might not work with a Catholic husband. Louisa Maria might still be sent as a wife for Carl XII though. There was talk of such a marriage, but it foundered because Carl showed no interest in the marriage.

Then, according to Theo Aronson's "Kings over the Water", James fell in love with Benedetta d'Este, daughter of Duke Rinaldo III of Modena. However, Rinaldo refused the match and James moved on to Rome. Mary Beatrice was very much in favor of said match. Though I'm not sure what the English take on him marrying his mother's cousin would be.

A French princess is probably not going to go over well in England. Since as Thackeray said "he (James III) was a King out of St Germains with a French King's orders in his pocket, and a swarm of Jesuits in his train.". Also, few French queens of England have ever gone over well with a portion of the population (Isabelle de France, Marguerite d'Anjou and Henriette Marie de France come to mind).
 
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