AHC: Nominate an ideal King of Gran Colombia from a European royal lineage.

[GunterW]

Is Bolivar around? The anglophile in him would be thrilled having a connection to the house of Hannover. I’m pretty sure there must be someone not particularly important, and flexible enough, to convert and keep Gran Colombia aligned to the UK. Maybe some German relative?

Bolivar detested the Spanish, so I think any Spanish Bourbon would be ruled out, also Ferdinand VII would never allow it. As some have mentioned, an Italian Bourbon could work, but still too close connection to Spain.

The Hapsburg are too reactionary and also bring back memories of Spain, so not ideal. Any Bonaparte would be acceptable, considering the “revolutionary” background, Joseph Lucien and Jerome are around. A Beauharnais might work through the Bonaparte connection.

Alternatively, a Brazilian Braganza could also keep South America “in the family”, unfortunately Pedro I had too few sons and too many daughters. He needs more sons to spare.

Leopold of Saxe Coburg was a social climber, he aimed higher. I don’t think he would be interested and brings only a British connection through marriage. Charlotte of Wales was already gone at this point.

A native dynasty would be good PR, but as far as I know, Bolivar also detested Peru, which was a staunch royalist holdout, so I don’t know if a Spanish/Incan noble would be acceptable which you’d find in Peru.

 

[ennobee]

....If I had to say the best option would be Leopold of Saxe Coburg, somebody willing to not be an absolute monarch but who still brings a good enough alliance, I haven't really seen anybody else that could be a good alternative and is plausible. The only other one would be Napoleon II but that would be almost impossible to happen.

I was just about to nominate old Leo too. From what I recall from him being king of The Belgians (*) later on, he was quite the charmer all his life. The original 'McDreamy'. Give him one afternoon with Simon Bolivar and Bolivar will back him

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

I was just about to nominate old Leo too. From what I recall from him being king of The Belgians (*) later on, he was quite the charmer all his life. The original 'McDreamy'. Give him one afternoon with Simon Bolivar and Bolivar will back him

except he refused to convert. As pointed out, it was what made him unacceptable in Greece, and the only reason Belgium didn't mind was because it was a good way of winning over the German Confederation, the Protestants in Belgium (such as they were) and so on. On his deathbed when his Catholic daughter-in-law showed up with a Catholic priest and asked him to convert to save his immortal soul so that he could see his beloved wife, Louise, again, he replied "nein".

I’m pretty sure there must be someone not particularly important, and flexible enough, to convert and keep Gran Colombia aligned to the UK. Maybe some German relative?

if it can wait until the reign of William iV- or George IV dies sooner- what about Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar? Not frightfully important, but his daughter, Amalia- later Princess Hendrik of the Netherlands- was the goddaughter of Maria II of Portugal and named for she and the empress of Brasil (Amelie of Leuchtenberg). Bernie was William IV's candidate to become king of Belgium (due to Bill not trusting Leo of Coburg). Bernie's eldest son was also Bill's candidate for Maria II or Isabel II (against the Coburg boys). And Bernie was in talks with Stephanie de Beauharnais to marry his son to her daughter (the OTL duchess of Hamilton) when the boy died.

Not sure if Bernie would convert, but that his son was going to marry a Catholic- an Austrian archduchess if he became king of the Belgians, Maria II or Marie of Baden- and he allowed two Catholics (Maria II) to serve as godmother for his daughter- suggests that he was "religiously ambivalent" (unlike Leo).

 

[GunterW]

except he refused to convert. As pointed out, it was what made him unacceptable in Greece, and the only reason Belgium didn't mind was because it was a good way of winning over the German Confederation, the Protestants in Belgium (such as they were) and so on. On his deathbed when his Catholic daughter-in-law showed up with a Catholic priest and asked him to convert to save his immortal soul so that he could see his beloved wife, Louise, again, he replied "nein".


if it can wait until the reign of William iV- or George IV dies sooner- what about Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar? Not frightfully important, but his daughter, Amalia- later Princess Hendrik of the Netherlands- was the goddaughter of Maria II of Portugal and named for she and the empress of Brasil (Amelie of Leuchtenberg). Bernie was William IV's candidate to become king of Belgium (due to Bill not trusting Leo of Coburg). Bernie's eldest son was also Bill's candidate for Maria II or Isabel II (against the Coburg boys). And Bernie was in talks with Stephanie de Beauharnais to marry his son to her daughter (the OTL duchess of Hamilton) when the boy died.

Not sure if Bernie would convert, but that his son was going to marry a Catholic- an Austrian archduchess if he became king of the Belgians, Maria II or Marie of Baden- and he allowed two Catholics (Maria II) to serve as godmother for his daughter- suggests that he was "religiously ambivalent" (unlike Leo).

Nice alternative, in this scenario perhaps for Bernhard, Bogota is worth a mass.

 

[iddt3]

I don't think Bolivar would have tolerated a European monarch.
That said, given this is an unrealistic scenario -- maybe a Bonaparte? Austria, Russia, and Bourbon France (and Spain) would all be upset, but Napoleon was liberal and anti-Bourbon, and much-admired by liberals around the world (not universally, of course, but widely). This'd work better if the Bonapartes stay in power in France, though.

Alternatively -- maybe a member of the House of Iturbide (of the First Mexican Empire) or the House of Braganza (Kingdom of Portugal/Empire of Brazil)? Both of those had international recognition and a strong position in Latin America. The former was relatively liberal, as was the Brazilian branch of the latter. And the Braganzas were also European.

Maybe Bolivar strikes up a friendship with a young prince while he's in Europe swearing oaths to free his homeland? Given that Gran Colombia was basically his project, and everyone else wanted more decentralization, it would really have to be his choice.

Is Bolivar around? The anglophile in him would be thrilled having a connection to the house of Hannover. I’m pretty sure there must be someone not particularly important, and flexible enough, to convert and keep Gran Colombia aligned to the UK. Maybe some German relative?

Bolivar detested the Spanish, so I think any Spanish Bourbon would be ruled out, also Ferdinand VII would never allow it. As some have mentioned, an Italian Bourbon could work, but still too close connection to Spain.

If he isn't still around, Gran Colombia isn't happening anyway. You need a Monarchist Bolivar(?!?).

 

[Rattenfänger von Memphis]

The Republic of (Gran) Colombia existed from 1819 through 1831, when those who'd wanted a centralized country lost out to those who'd wanted a less-centralized one, as the latter did the ultimate in not submitting to a central government by declaring their own independence.

What European of royal lineage would you nominate to become the most entertaining possible King of (Gran) Colombia such that:

1. those European powers are satisfied and recognize the country
2. no successions of European countries change thereafter
3. the opponents of centralized government don't break up the country in 1831

?

One possible, very acceptable monarch might be Constantine, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, both because of who he was, what he did later in life and to whom he was married.

He was a German Catholic Hohenzollern and his cousins were the Hohenzollern rulers of Prussia. In his OTL later life, after the Revolution of 1848, he sold his principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen to Prussia. So, Constantine probably would not have been adverse to giving up his throne for something much more substantial like Gran Colombia.

“The principality[Hohenzollern-Hechingen] joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 and was a member state of the German Confederation between 1815 and 1850. The democratic Revolution of 1848 was relatively successful in Hohenzollern, and on 16 May 1848, the Prince was forced to accept the establishment of a constitution. However, the conflict between monarch and democrats continued, and on 6 August 1849, Hohenzollern was occupied by Prussian forces. On 7 December 1849, Prince Constantine sold the country to his relative, King Frederick William IV of Prussia. On 12 March 1850, Hohenzollern-Hechingen officially became part of Prussia, and formed together with Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen the Province of Hohenzollern.

Constantine’s wife, Eugénie_de_Beauharnais, , whom he married in 1826, would have been a further asset. She was the granddaughter of Empress of the French Joséphine and the daughter of the universally respected Eugène de Beauharnais who became a member of the Wittelsbach Royal family of Bavaria.

Eugénie had many ties to the European royal families through her siblings. One sister would become the Queen of Sweden and Norway. Her brother became the Prince Consort of Portugal. And most importantly I think, for the OP’s scenario, another sister of Eugénie’s became the Empress of Brazil opening up the possibility of royal family connections between Brazil and Gran Columbia leading to a possible alliance.

Eugénie might have played a role similar to the Austrian Empress Elisabeth (“Sissi”) in having the same effective appeal to her Latin American subjects as Elisabeth had had, especially on the Hungarians.

“Eugénie had a great lust for life and even hunted deer with her husband in 1831.”

 

[someone45356]

Is Bolivar around? The anglophile in him would be thrilled having a connection to the house of Hannover. I’m pretty sure there must be someone not particularly important, and flexible enough, to convert and keep Gran Colombia aligned to the UK. Maybe some German relative?

Bolivar detested the Spanish, so I think any Spanish Bourbon would be ruled out, also Ferdinand VII would never allow it. As some have mentioned, an Italian Bourbon could work, but still too close connection to Spain.

The Hapsburg are too reactionary and also bring back memories of Spain, so not ideal. Any Bonaparte would be acceptable, considering the “revolutionary” background, Joseph Lucien and Jerome are around. A Beauharnais might work through the Bonaparte connection.

Alternatively, a Brazilian Braganza could also keep South America “in the family”, unfortunately Pedro I had too few sons and too many daughters. He needs more sons to spare.

Leopold of Saxe Coburg was a social climber, he aimed higher. I don’t think he would be interested and brings only a British connection through marriage. Charlotte of Wales was already gone at this point.

A native dynasty would be good PR, but as far as I know, Bolivar also detested Peru, which was a staunch royalist holdout, so I don’t know if a Spanish/Incan noble would be acceptable which you’d find in Peru.

Idk if any bonaparte wouldve been considered such a great thing by the public. A portion of the motivation for the revolution all around the spanish new world originally started because the locals weren’t gonna tolerate a random french (napoleon’s brother) as their king. A bunch of years would have passed by the time a monarch would’ve been considered but I’m not sure if the idea of bringing a bonaparte of all things would’ve been so acceptable.