Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 597 The Weight of the Crown
Although Carlo had not initially decided to strictly adhere to primogeniture in passing down the throne, after carefully nurturing his eldest son, Prince Juan Fernando, Carlo ultimately decided to pass the throne to him.

After all, if the eldest son is capable, adhering to the primogeniture system is indeed a more stable way to ensure the succession of the throne.

Prince Juan Fernando, who was originally granted the title of Duke of Monteblanc, was granted the title of Prince of Asturias after passing Carlo's test.

The title of Prince of Asturias has been the exclusive title of the heir to the Spanish throne since the establishment of Spain.

The nature of this title is the same as that of the Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom; it is only a symbolic title of heir apparent and does not have the actual significance of a prince.

Even after being granted the title of Prince of Asturias and having been designated as the Crown Prince, Prince Juan Fernando has never become arrogant or complacent over the years. Instead, he has always humbly accepted Carlo's teachings, been friendly to his brothers and sisters, and cared for the Spanish people.

Carlo is quite satisfied with his successor. Prince Juan Fernando, born in 1875, is now 41 years old.

If it weren't for the possibility of a second world war, Carlo would have long ago passed the throne to his son.

After all, Carlo didn't want his son to wait decades as the heir to the throne, only to be old and gray by the time he finally inherited it.

Consider a famous crown prince in later generations: when he finally got to become King of England after his mother's death, he was almost 74 years old.

What good would it do to ascend the throne at such an age? Being too old and frail would make it impossible to have any ambition, and the country's development would inevitably stagnate.

More importantly, given the advanced age of the new king, the throne will most likely be passed on again in a short period of time.

Too frequent changes of throne are not good news for the power of the royal family. This is why Carlos wanted to pass the throne to his son as soon as possible; regardless of his own health, the succession to the throne was always more important.

Looking at his 41-year-old son, Carlo was filled with emotion. Once upon a time, Carlo was also a young prince with extraordinary ambition.

Looking at Prince Juan Fernando, who bore a striking resemblance to himself, Carlo couldn't help but marvel at how quickly time flies.

“After the establishment of the Empire, your title of Prince of Asturias will not change. This title will continue to be the exclusive title of the heir to the throne of the Empire. After you become Emperor of Spain, little Christian will automatically become Prince of Asturias.” Carlo looked at his son and explained the situation of the title of Prince of Asturias to Prince Juan Fernando.

Prince Juan Fernando nodded, then asked, "Father, when will your coronation ceremony be held?"
Should all countries be invited to the coronation ceremony, or only a select few?

The scale of the coronation ceremony could vary, but Carlo's attitude was crucial. Prince Juan Fernando dared not make a decision on his own and could only consult Carlo's opinion.

"Spain has already made a name for itself at the Olympics, and it is not suitable for it to host another large-scale event in the short term. This coronation ceremony invited several major powers and some of the more important European countries."

Of course, the opinions of the people also need to be considered. Faced with such a momentous event as the founding of the Spanish Empire, we still need to share in the joy with the people.

While we don't need to invite too many countries, we can invite more people to come and celebrate the founding of our empire with us.

"Furthermore, the situation in Portugal requires close monitoring during this period, and I certainly don't want any unexpected incidents to occur during the coronation ceremony." Carlo considered for a moment before speaking to Prince Juan Fernando.

Spain had already been too high-profile in 1917, and it was indeed inappropriate for it to continue doing so. Such frequent high-profile announcements would only make the great powers such as Britain and France more wary of Spain.

Conversely, within Spain, there was ample opportunity for celebration. After all, the establishment of the Spanish Empire was incredibly good news for the Spanish people.

Gathering more people to celebrate the founding of the empire would not only increase the Spanish people's recognition of the newly established empire, but also enhance their sense of national pride and cohesion.

This coronation ceremony did not involve many countries and will not affect Spain's and Carlos's status in Europe or the world.

After all, the participation of major powers in this coronation ceremony was enough, and only these major powers truly understood Spain's current strength.

Prince Juan Fernando nodded upon hearing Carlo's instructions. He had actually thought the same thing, but considering his father might want representatives from more countries to participate in the coronation ceremony, he sought his father's opinion.

Carlo's attitude also reveals that he was not particularly delighted by the coronation ceremony, and his emotions did not fluctuate much.

On this point, Prince Juan Fernando and Carlos are remarkably in agreement.

For Carlo, the throne of the Spanish Empire was already within his grasp, so there was no need for much joy.

Moreover, there was not much difference between the Spanish Emperor and the Spanish King to Carlo; Carlo was still the supreme ruler of Spain, and the only change was in the title of his official name.

Prince Juan Fernando shares this view. In his opinion, he is the undisputed heir to the throne, and inheriting the Spanish throne is only a matter of time.

Even if the Spanish throne becomes the imperial throne, he will still be the first in line to the throne, so there is no need for him to be overjoyed.

Seeing that his eldest son didn't seem particularly happy, Carlo was very satisfied with his composure, but he still couldn't help but advise him: "After becoming the heir to the throne, you need to pay more attention to your words and actions."

Although there is no difference between the throne and the royal throne, as the next emperor of Spain, you need to gain the trust of the people, which is the key to leading Spain to strength.

"I've seen your performance over the years. I believe you can lead Spain to even greater heights, and perhaps even achieve what I haven't been able to do," Carlo said to his son with a smile.

What even Carlos failed to achieve was making Spain a world superpower, or rather, the world's number one superpower. Currently, the world's number one power is Great Britain, while Spain ranks second in military strength and third in overall national power.

If Prince Juan Fernando is able to lead Spain to become the world's leading power after inheriting the throne, then he will indeed have accomplished something that even Carlos failed to do.

However, making Spain the world's number one power is no easy feat. Even though Carlos has meticulously planned for Spain's future, achieving the world's number one spot will require a confluence of favorable circumstances.

“I understand, Father.” Prince Juan Fernando nodded, not annoyed by Carlo’s frequent instruction.

He knew that Carlo's education was for his own good, and Prince Juan Fernando had also seen through Carlo's plans over the years.

Carlo's plan was not only for Spain, but also for Prince Juan Fernando, who would inherit the throne in the future.

To put it bluntly, Carlo's scheme was primarily aimed at ensuring a smooth succession to the throne for Prince Juan Fernando, and his involvement with Spain was simply because Carlo and Prince Juan Fernando were the King and Crown Prince of Spain, respectively.

Carlo nodded, offering no further instructions to his son. Prince Juan Fernando had performed exceptionally well in his education and training, and aside from some experience as a king, Carlo really had little more to teach him.

After all, Prince Juan Fernando has been handling most of Carlo's government affairs for many years. Unless it's a particularly important matter, most government affairs can be decided by Prince Juan Fernando himself.

This also shows the extent of Carlos's trust in his eldest son. The only difference between Prince Juan Fernando and the King of Spain is the title; the latter is the amount of power they wield.

As time passed, the Spanish government began to announce the specific time of Carlos's coronation as Emperor of Spain, as well as the location of the coronation ceremony.

Needless to say, the coronation ceremony was held in the square in front of the Royal Palace of Madrid, which is the largest venue in the Madrid area that can accommodate the most spectators.

After several renovations, the square in front of the Royal Palace of Madrid can now accommodate hundreds of thousands of spectators. It is also the main venue for important Spanish government events, including Carlos's annual speech, coronation ceremonies, royal weddings, and other significant national events, all of which are given priority to the square in front of the Royal Palace.

考虑到卡洛要在9月和10月分别参加亚历山大王子和维托里奥·埃马努埃莱王子的加冕典礼，因此卡洛的皇帝加冕典礼放在了11月底进行，正好与卡洛加冕西班牙国王的11月23日相对应。

The advantage of doing this is that Spain's coronation day does not need to be changed; November 23rd of each year remains Spain's national day and will not be significantly altered by the establishment of the empire.

After determining the time and place of the coronation ceremony, the next step is to invite representatives from various countries to participate and to finalize the ceremony's procedures as much as possible.

Although the Spanish government had already held a coronation ceremony for Carlos, that ceremony was decades ago, and it was only for Carlos to be crowned King of Spain, which was bound to be quite different from the coronation ceremony for him to be crowned Emperor of Spain.

Although both a king and an emperor are rulers of a country, they are ultimately one level apart in rank.

Countless kings have been born in European history, but the number of emperors is limited, and most of them have made a name for themselves in history.

As the first king of the Spanish Empire, Carlos is destined to be remembered by all Spaniards. Even the date of his coronation as King and Emperor of Spain may one day become a topic on Spanish students' exams.

Thinking about it this way, Carlo's decision to set the date of his coronation as emperor on the same day he was crowned king was, to some extent, convenient for all Spanish students.

After all, the coronation anniversary is deeply ingrained in the hearts of Spaniards today, and November 23rd has long been one of the most important holidays for them. Such a date is impossible to forget.

After news broke that the Spanish Empire was about to be established, even many foreign tourists staying in Spain showed great interest in the upcoming coronation ceremony.

Unfortunately, the coronation ceremony is still several months away; otherwise, many foreign tourists might have chosen to stay in Spain to attend the coronation ceremony on November 23.

As Spain invited the major powers to attend Carlo's coronation ceremony, the major powers quickly responded and publicly congratulated the establishment of the Spanish Empire and Carlo on becoming the emperor of the Spanish Empire.

Even though many royal families were not invited by Spain, it did not prevent them from sending congratulatory messages to Carlo, celebrating the birth of yet another empire on the European continent.

By this time, Carlo had already become a leader among European royalty. His power and status within European royalty would further increase significantly after his future coronation as Emperor of Spain.

In addition, the immense prestige brought by the Treaty of Immaculate Conception of Royal Power greatly enhanced the Savoy family's status among European royal families and the prestige of the Spanish royal family.

Even the Italian royal family has benefited greatly from this.

Before Carlos became King of Spain, the House of Savoy of Sardinia had a relatively weak presence in Europe. Even after unifying Italy and becoming the royal family of Italy, the House of Savoy remained a second-rate European royal family.

It wasn't until Carlos became King of Spain and led the country back to the throne of a great power that the House of Savoy gradually gained attention from other European families by controlling the thrones of two great powers.

With Spain's rise to become a superpower, the House of Savoy finally joined the ranks of Europe's top royal families and firmly established its position.

Nowadays, members of the Italian royal family receive high-level treatment when traveling to other European countries.

Such treatment was not secured for them by the Italian royal family, but by the Spanish royal family.

Ultimately, the Italian and Spanish royal families are still essentially one family. Although their blood ties are gradually weakening, as long as Carlos is still King of Spain, the two royal families are not significantly different and still belong to the same lineage, namely the line of Vittorio Emanuele II.

(End of this chapter)