Agustín de Iturbide y Green

Agustín de Iturbide y Green, also known as Agustín III, was born on April 2, 1863, in Washington, D.C. He came from Mexico’s Imperial House of Iturbide and later became its head and a claimant to the Mexican throne. His father was Prince Ángel María de Iturbide, the second son of Mexican Emperor Agustín I. His mother, Alice, née Green, came from a prominent American family; she was the granddaughter of congressman and general Uriah Forrest and the great-granddaughter of Maryland Governor George Plater. A year after Agustín’s birth, Mexico once again became a monarchy. The throne was not assumed by the legitimate heir, Imperial Prince Agustín II, but by the Austrian Archduke Maximilian, who became Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Maximilian and his wife, Empress Charlotte, had no children of their own and therefore decided to adopt young members of the House of Iturbide. At the time, Agustín was second in the Mexican line of succession after his father. With the approval of the head of the dynasty and the consent of his parents, he and his cousin Prince Salvador—the only child of Prince Salvador, a son of Agustín I—were taken in by the imperial couple. Both children were raised in Mexico City. On September 13, 1864, Maximilian officially declared Agustín de Iturbide his heir. This decision was recognized by Agustín II, head of the House of Iturbide. When Agustín II died in New York on November 11, 1866, he designated his nephew Agustín as his dynastic successor. The political situation in Mexico soon deteriorated, however. The revolution led to the overthrow of the Second Mexican Empire and the execution of Maximilian I. Before this happened, Empress Charlotte had taken the two children out of Mexico and returned them to their biological families. Agustín and Salvador lived in England for a time, but soon returned to Washington, where Agustín had grown up. After reaching adulthood, Agustín studied at Georgetown University in Washington, the oldest Catholic university in the United States. Following his bachelor’s degree, he returned to Mexico and entered the civil service of the Mexican army. There he became a leading figure in the monarchist movement. In opposition to the authoritarian rule of President Porfirio Díaz, he received support from broad sections of conservative society, including the Church. His growing popularity increasingly made him a threat to the regime. After publishing several articles criticizing Díaz’s policies, Agustín was arrested on charges of sedition and sentenced to fourteen months in prison. After serving his sentence, he was forced to leave Mexico. The ordeal led to two nervous breakdowns, but after receiving the necessary treatment he was able to stabilize and return to his home city of Washington. During the twentieth century, he worked as a professor of Spanish and French at Georgetown University. Agustín married Lucy Eleanor in 1894. The marriage was later dissolved. On July 5, 1915, he entered into a second marriage with Maria Luisa Kearney, who lived from 1872 to 1967. Neither marriage produced children. Agustín III de Iturbide died in Washington on March 3, 1925. As head of the Mexican Imperial House, he was buried in the Church of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His grave is beside that of his grandmother, Empress Anna Maria, the wife of Agustín I. After his death, the dynastic claims to the Mexican imperial throne passed to Maria, the eldest daughter of his cousin Prince Salvador. As head of the dynasty, Agustín bore the title “His Imperial Highness Prince Iturbide.”