Scottish clans: Jacobite societies still hope for House of Stuart restoration

THE Royal House of Stuart’s hopes of restoration came to an end on Culloden Moor.

When Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s attempt to regain his grandfather’s throne failed, it’s assumed Jacobite sympathies died with the Highlanders who were routed in less than an hour when they charged against the government lines.

But there were still those who toasted “the King o’er the water” though their toasts were whispered in private rooms and secret societies. And the romance continues, for though their toasts are now more open and often more elaborate, Jacobite societies still celebrate their victories, mourn the defeats and hope for their return.

The Royal House of Stuart adopted the French spelling with Mary Queen of Scots, though the clan is generally spelled Stewart. The direct royal line became extinct in 1807, when Bonnie Prince Charlie’s brother Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart died.

A monument in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome commemorates the father, the would-be James III, and his two sons and is often decorated with wreaths or small bouquets of flowers, though the monument is not their tomb. The men are buried in the crypt and a monument to their wife and mother, Maria Sobieska, one of four women buried in St Peter’s, is opposite.

Jacobite hopes for the Stuart restoration rests with the man they refer to as King Francis II of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, otherwise known as His Royal Highness Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria von Bayern, Duke of Bavaria, Duke in Franconia and Swabia, and Count-Palatine of the Rhine. He is descended from James I of Great Britain and VI of Scotland, who first united the Scottish and English thrones in 1603, and his son Charles I.

Reportedly, the Duke “never comments” on his relationship to the House of Stuart and does not use their titles. He never married and his brother Prince Max is heir to his title. But because Jacobite succession is not tied to the male line, the Stuart title would pass to Max’s eldest daughter, Sophie who is Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein through marriage.

Nearer home, Clan Stewart has no chief, but the Earls of Galloway are considered to head the clan’s main branch. Two Highland clans which bear the name Stewart are recognised by the Court of the Lord Lyon, Stuart of Bute and Stewart of Appin and only one has a chief – John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, better known as the racing driver, Johnny Dumfries.

The clan emblem is the thistle.