The supporters of the exiled king and his heirs were called "Jacobites", derived from "Jacobus", the Latin for the English "James". The political doctrine of the Jacobite Court presided over by King James II in exile was the "Divine Right of Kings", that is, that the king holds his authority directly from God, not that this authority has been delegated to the king by "the people", or parliament, or the pope. The "Court of Saint James" was a government in exile. It was visited by ambassadors from nations worldwide. Philip M. Brown, the international lawyer, in his article "Sovereignty in Exile", in "American Journal of International Law", vol. 35 (1941), pp 666-668, compares the situation to sending ambassadors to eighth legitimate sovereigns and governments-in-exile, driven from their countries during World War Two. See, also, F.E. Oppenheimer's important article, "Governments and Authorities in Exile", supra., pp 581-2.

Upon the death of King James II in 1701 his son, James Francis Edward, the Prince of Wales, called "Chevalier de St. George", was styled King James III. He died in 1766 and was survived by two sons, Charles Edward Louis and Henry Benedict Xavier, of whom the eldest son was styled King Charles III. Meantime, in Britain, the Hanoverian King George II was seen as an usurper by the Jacobites, who referred to him simply as the "Elector of Hanover".

The Stuarts maintained a rival court in exile and continued to challenge the position of the Hanoverians for many years to come. For nearly a century the Jacobites kept alive the hope of the restoration of the Stuarts. The fears in Britain over the next century of any Jacobite uprisings are proof that the general feeling was that the dispossessed Stuarts alone possessed a lawful title to the throne. The traditional "international law" which upholds the validity of "de jure" kings in exile can be found in Grotius’ work "De Jure Belli ac Pacis, Libri Tres". In Book I, Chapter 4, Nos. 15-19, it says "a ruler who is deprived of the actual control of his/or her country by either an invader or by revolutionaries nevertheless remains the legitimate "de jure" sovereign of his country and people, while the "de facto" government set up by the invader or revolutionaries is considered as an usurper, both constitutionally and internationally", which applies also to the 1776 Rebellion in America.

Charles Stuart, called "Bonnie Prince Charlie", styled king as Charles III [after his father’s death] while in exile, also called "The Young Pretender" in contrast to his father, the Prince of Wales, who was called "The Old Pretender", came to Britain in 1745 asserting his claim to the throne. He rallied supporters and marched on London, however, the failure of the general population to rise up in his favor compelled him to withdraw, which was a mistake for London was in panic, and, King George, alarmed by the dashing young prince’s popularity, was even then packing his bags and making arrangements to flee the country. London was there for his taking, however, the "Bonnie Prince" did not know this and at the decisive moment made the wrong decision, and lost his chance at restoration. His retreat rallied the spirits of King George who assembled an army to oppose him. Prince Charles gained a victory at Falkirk over troops sent by King George, but was utterly defeated and routed in another battle at Culloden (1746), and the movement to restore the hereditary-line was brutally crushed more or less ending the hopes of the dispossessed Stuarts for another restoration. In 1782 the "Continental Congress" in America sent a delegation to San Clemente Palazzo in Florence, the residence of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" in exile, and according to the U.S. archives, invited him to come to America and set-up a rival court there, but he declined the offer due to ill health and premature old age from many years of heavy drinking. Here was still another chance at restoration, however, the prince lacked "faith" in God to take the adventure. He had taken to the bottle during his failed marriage, which ruined his promising-future, and died in 1788 in Rome. He left no issue of his wife, Louise of Stolberg-Guedern, however, begot an illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, of his mistress, Clementine Walkinshaw. Though his illegitimate daughter Charlotte had been formally legitimized by her father (1784), it was his brother Prince Henry Benedict Xavier, Cardinal York, who was regarded by the "Jacobites" as the next heir, ignoring Princess Charlotte altogether.

Henry Benedict Xavier, the last of the Stuarts in the male-line, was styled king as Henry IX upon his brother’s death. Henry Stuart [King Henry IX] had entered the service of the Church and had become a priest, and eventually became a cardinal, and once was a candidate for the pontificate. After he retired he found himself deep in poverty, and, in 1799, resolved the "succession issue" in Britain by exchanging his title and rights for a pension from King George III, thus, abdicating in King George III’s favor for the price of a yearly pay-check, which legally transferred the title to the British throne to the Hanoverians giving them legitimacy and sanctioning their occupancy of the throne. King George granted Prince Henry Benedict Xavier [formerly King Henry IX] the title "Count of Albany", which thereafter was his official style, and thus reconciled invited him to return to Britain from exile. He thought the invitation safe enough since Prince Henry was an old man, unwed and childless, and had no immediate heir. Prince Henry declined the invitation for health reasons preferring the warm Mediterranean climate, and later died in Rome unwed and celibate in 1807.

With the extinction of the exiled Stuarts the claim of the Hanoverians to the British throne was no longer in dispute. Prince Henry bequeathed his personal papers and the crown jewels to King George in his last will and testament, according to the phrase "the hereditary heirs". His will is debated as to whom the prince was referring to: if his, then, who would they be?; or probably King George’s heirs; however, some argue the reference is to the royal Sardine’s heirs. The three Stuart pretenders were all buried in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and above the entrance to the crypt there is a stone on which is carved their names [in Latin], Jacobus III, Carolus III, and Henricus IX.

The legacy of the Stuarts was not inherited by the ex-king of Sardinia [Charles Emmanuel IV], descended through female-links from Henriette-Anne, King James II's sister, which the Jacobites claimed after Prince Henry's death for the royal Sardine’s heirs [passing through the families of Savoy, Hapsburg, and Wittelsbach], who themselves [the royal Sardine's heirs] have never made any pretensions to the Stuarts' inheritance or to the British throne and therefore according to "international law" have no legitimate claim according to Grotius' treatise, "De Jure Belli ac Pacis, Libri Tres", which means that James III, and his two sons, Charles III and Henry IX, were the true kings of Britain and the early Hanoverians were usurpers. The question of how long a "de jure" king may continue in this status is answered in Textor’s "Synopsis Juris Gentium", which says that "de jure" sovereigns in exile retain their status as long as they do not surrender their sovereignty to the "de facto" government, which King Henry IX did in 1799. The article says that a dispossessed dynasty may keep its claims alive by filing diplomatic protests against the usurpers, which the Stuarts did every generation and/or with every Hanoverian succession as required by "international law". However, none of the heirs of the royal Sardine have ever made any claims to the Stuart inheritance; and, that a claim is deemed abandoned only when the protests cease. The failure of the heirs of the royal Sardine to prosecute or in any way assert the Stuarts’ claims disqualifies them from any consideration to the Jacobite inheritance according to "international law". The point is elaborated on in Vattel's "Le droit des gens, ou principes de la roi naturelle appliqués a la conduite et aux affaires des nations et des souverains", which says that only when such protests cease does a prescription arise against the "de jure" rights of a legitimate claimant; upon what occurrence sovereignty passes either back to God, who gave it, or in some cases to the "de facto" government which at that point would be legitimized and acquire the full "de jure" rights of the former sovereign. Too, the recognition of the later Hanoverians by the heirs of the Royal Sardine on several occasions have in fact confirmed the invalidation of modern Jacobites' claims. The heir of the Royal Sardine today is Duke Franz [Francis] of Bavaria, who is considered by some to be the legal Jacobite heir; however, he can not make that claim according to international law [noted above]. He is unmarried and childless. His heir, therefore, is his younger brother, Max-Emanuel. Max-Emanuel has five daughters, the eldest of whom, Sophie, is married to Prince Alois of Liechtenstein. They have three sons, Joseph-Wenzel, George, and Nicholas. The right of the Bavarian duke, sometimes styled "Francis II" by Jacobites, to claim the Stuart legacy, has no basis according to "international law" due to the neglect of his ancestors to assert their claim nor protest the later Hanoverians' title. Modern Jacobites claim that King Henry IX resigned nothing to the "Elector of Hanover" [King George III] in 1799; and, one wrote that the payments King Henry IX received from the Hanoverian Elector was not a pension but rather installments on the return of the dowry of his grandmother Queen Mary-Beatrice. This explanation is a recent re-interpretation of the facts by modern Jacobites who support the candidacy of Duke Francis [Franz] of Bavaria to the British throne.

Something that modern Jacobites conveniently overlook is recorded by the Honorable Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, in his book "The Highland Clans", page 40, which is: "by the fourteenth century it had become common law [in both England and Scotland] that a person who was not born in the liegeance of the Sovereign, nor naturalized, could not have the capacity to succeed as an heir. He was in the strictest sense "illegitimate", though not of course born out of wedlock. This legal incapacity of aliens to be heirs applied to all inheritances, whether honors or lands. The effect of the succession opening to a foreigner was that, if he had not been naturalized or if his case was not covered by some special statute, the succession passed to the next heir "of the blood", who thus became the only "lawful" heir. It was of course always open to the Sovereign to confer an honor or an estate on a foreigner; the rule of law merely prevented aliens from being "lawful heirs" to existing inheritances. This "common law" principle was rigorously applied until the Whig Revolution of 1688 after which it was gradually done away with by the mid-nineteenth century. It was precisely because of this law that Queen Anne found it necessary to pass special legislation naturalizing all alien-born potential royal heirs under the "Act of Settlement" provisions. But, of course, from the Jacobite point of view, no new statute could be passed after 1688, and the old law remained static until the death of Cardinal York [King Henry IX] in 1807. At that time, his nearest heir in blood by the old [and therefore continuing Jacobite] law was not as is sometimes supposed the King of Sardinia, for the Royal Sardine had not the legal capacity to be an heir in Britain, unless naturalized which he was not. The nearest lawful heir of Prince Henry [King Henry IX], in 1807 was, in fact, curiously enough, King George III himself, who had been born in Britain and therefore in the technical liegeance of the Jacobite King James III [VIII] [whom the Hanoverians called "The Old Pretender"]. Hence, his descendant, the present Queen [Elizabeth II], is the lawful Jacobite Sovereign of the British realm!

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01. JAMES II, King 1685-88 deposed (d1701) [note: his sister, Henriette-Anne, is generally considered by Jacobites as her brother's legitimate heiress, and trace the Jacobite heirs through her descendants]

=2 Marie de Este, of Italy

02. James Francis Edward, PoW, the Old Chevalier, titular King JAMES III (d1766)

= Mary Clementina Sobieski, of Poland

(a) Charles Edward Louis, PoW, the Young Chevalier, a.k.a. "Bonnie Prince Charlie", titular King CHARLES III

(b) Henry Benedict Xavier, Duke of York (d1807), titular King HENRY IX, abdicated in exchange for a pension offered him in 1799 in which he yielded all his rights to "George, the Hanoverian Elector", the "de facto" King of Britain, who then became the "de jure" King of Britain.

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03. Charles Edward Louis, the "de jure" King CHARLES III, a.k.a. "Bonnie Prince Charlie"

x1 Elizabeth Amelie Sobieski, mistress, dau of "Prince" Jakub Ludwik Sobieski & wife Hedwig Amelie de Baviere Pfalz-Neuberg

=2 Louisa Maximiliana of Stolberg-Gedern; she re-married Vittorio, Count Alfieri

x3 Clementine Walkinshaw (d1802), mistress

issue of 1:

(?) Sophia-Sobieski-Stuart, grew-up & lived in Scotland, wife of John Chester-Bagot, an army-officer

issue of 3:

(b) Charlotte Stuart (1753-1789), legitimated by deed in 1783 (below), given title "Duchess of Albany", declared heiress by father but not recognized by uncle, the future Henry IX

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04. Charlotte (1753-1789), legitimated by deed in 1783 (above)

x Ferdinand Maxmilien Meriadec, Prince of Rohan-Guemene, A-Bp of Bordeaux (d1813)

illegitimate issue:

(a) Marie-Victoire/or Victoire-Adelaide de Rohan, the De Moiselle de Thorigny (1779-1836) (below)

(b) ["Aglae"] Charlotte Amelia (1780-1806)

= Louis de la Morliere, &, mother of a stillborn son (1806)

(c) Charles Edward de Roehenstart (1784-1854); took surname "Stuart"; married twice, no issue

05. Marie-Victoire/or Victoire-Adelaide de Rohan, the De Moiselle de Thorigny (1779-1836) (above)

=1 Paul Antony Louis de Nikorowicz (d1810); =2 Corbet James d'Auvergne;

=3 Jean de Pauw

issue by 1:

06. Antyme Marko, Chevalier de Nikorowicz (1806-1852)

= Anna Leiner von Negelfurst

issue:

(a) Charles de Nikorowicz (1830-1859); married but had no issue

(b) Julia Teresa (1833-1893)

= Leonard Pininski (d1886), a count

(c) Stanislas (1839-?), no issue

07. Julia Teresa (1833-1893)

= Leonard Pininski (d1886), a count

issue:

(a) Stanislav Antyme Pininski (1854-1911), see LINE-1

(b) Leon Jan Pininski (1875-1938), no issue

(c) Mieczyslav Pininski (1862-1918), see LINE-2

(d) Alexander Pininski (1864-1902), see LINE-3

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08. Stanislav Antyme Pininski (1854-1911) (above)

= Maria Leonia Drohojowska

09. Julia Maria (1885-1975)

= Wladyslaw Wolanski (d1940)

issue:

(10a) Anna Maria (1920-?), no issue

(10b) Stanislav Wolsanski (1922-1986); = Maria Bozena Dorpa, & begot (11) Andrzej Wolsanski (born 1953)

(10c) Teresa (1925-1991)

(10d) Jerzy (1927-?), no issue

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08. Mieczyslav (1862-1918) (above)

x Helena Gregorowicz [mistress]

(9a) Franciszek, father of two daughters, Maria & Rose-Marie

(9b) Mieczyslav

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08. Alexander Pininski (1864-1902) (above)

= Irena Martyna Wolanska

09. Mieczyslas Pininski (1895-1945), bro of Ladislas Pininski (1883-1945), who died without issue

= Janina Zywiak

10. Stanislas Pininski (born 1925)

= Jeanne Isobel Graham (1926-1999)

issue:

(11a) Genowefa Anna (b 1954), wife of Christopher John Goodman

(11b) Peter Pininski (b 1956), claimant

(11c) Victoria Carolina (b 1958), wife of Benedict Wells

11. Peter Pininski (b1956), considered Jacobite heir by some

= Marie-Terese Badeni

12. Alexander Pininski (b 1988)

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01. JAMES II, King 1685-88 deposed (d1701)

x Arabella Churchill (mistress)

02. James Fitz James (d1734), Duke of Berwick

= Honora de Burgh

03. James (d1738), Duque de Liria y Xerica

= Catalina Ventura, Duquesa de Veraguas y de La Vega

04. Jacopo Francisco Eduardo, Duque de Liria y Xerica

= Maria-Teresa de Silva y Alvarez de Toledo

05. Carlos Fernando (d1787), Duque

= Carolina Augusta zu Stolberg-Gedern

06. Jacopo Felipe (d1794), Duque

= Maria-Teresa de Silva y de Palafox

07. Carlos Miguel (d1835), Duque de Liria y Xerica & Duque de Alba de Tormes

= Rosalia de Ventimiglia

08. Jacopo Luis (d1881), Duque de Alba de Tormes

= Maria Francesca de Sales Palafox y Kirkpatrick de Closburn, Duquesa de Penaranda

09. Carlos (d1901), Duque de Alba de Tormes & 9th Duke of Berwick

= Maria del Rosario Falco y Osorio

issue:

(10A) Jacobo (1878-1953), LINE-1

(10B) Hernando (1882-1936), LINE-2

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LINE-1: descent-line divides into two, from the two sons of Carlos (d1901), Duque de Alba de Tormes & 9th Duke of Berwick (above)

10. Jacobo (1878-1953), Duque [eldest son]

= Maria del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, Marquesa de San Vicente del Barco

11. Maria (born 1926), heiress, 18th Duquesa de Alba de Tormes

=1 Pedro Luis Martinez de Irujo y Artacoz

=2 Hesus Aquirre y Ortiz de Zarate

by 1 begot

(12a) Carlos Juan Fitz-Stuart y Martinez de Irujo (b 1948)

= Matilde Solis y Martinez de Campos

issue: 2 sons, (13a) Fernando (b1990) & (13b) Carlos Arturo (b1991)

(12b) Alfonso Martinez de Irujo y Fitz James-Stuart (b 1950)

= Maria de la Santisima Trinidad de Hohenlohe y de La Cuadra

issue: 2 sons, (13a) Luis Martinez de Irujo y Hohenlohe (b1978) & (13b) Javier Martinez [de Irujo y Hohenlohe] (b1981)

(12c) Jacobo Fitz James-Stuart de Irujo y Hohenlohe (b 1954)

= Maria Eugenia de Castro y Franandez-Shaw

issue: son & dau, (13a) Jacobo Martinez de Irujo y Fernbandez de Castro (b1981) & (13b) Brenda-Eugene (b1984)

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LINE-2:

10. Hernando (1882-1936), Duque

= Maria del Carmen Saavedra y Collado, Marquesa de Villaviciosa

11. Fernando Alfonso (d1971), Duque de Penaranda del Duero, 11th Duke of Berwick

= Isabel Gomez y Ruiz

issue:

(12a) Jacobo Hernando (b1947), no issue

(12b) Luis Esteban (b 1950), heir; = Maria Calleja; &, begot a daughter, (13) Maria (b1974), heiress of line

(12c) Maria del Carmen Eugenia FitzJames-Stuart y Gomez (b1945)

12. Maria del Carmen Eugenia FitzJames-Stuart y Gomez

= Javier de Soto y Lopez-Doriga

13. Javier de Soto y FitzJames-Stuart (b1964)

= Isabel Sartorius y Zorraquin de Marino

14. Dona Mencia de Soto y Sartorius (b 1997)

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