With no relatives to act as regent, the regency was occuppied by several polititians and was to endure until the child-emperor would reach 18.
But the political crisis were such that the regents opted for declare D.Pedro major at the age of 15, conferring him full powers as an adult would have.
Obviously it has to do with the legal age of the sovereign -- which varies according to jurisdiction. Spain has had royal heirs reaching their majority in only their teens (e.g. Kings Alfonso XII, Alfonso XIII), while in France King Louis IX didn't come to the throne until 20. In Sweden, it used to be 21, and actually got raised to 25 (to postpone the accession of the present king, at the time an unpopular crown prince). Perhaps the law could change in the Netherlands to raise the minimum age.
If ever there was a sovereign who would have loved to ask for a regency, during the early years of his reign, it was King Ludwig II of Bavaria. As it was, his grandfather (the abdicated King Ludwig I) obviously could not have filled that hole. So I get to wondering who that person would have been, had the young king still been a minor or been able to make such a request. It's anybody's guess as to whether it would have been his mother or uncle Luitpold (who in later years would be declared regent).
It's also anybody's guess as to when Ludwig II would have come to the Bavarian throne, had not his grandfather been forced to abdicate and his father unexpectedly succeeded as King Maximilian II. Would the succession have skipped a generation, in light of the fact that the King Ludwig I was predeceased by his son and heir? How long would he have lived and reigned, had he been allowed to remain on the throne? How long would his son have lived, had he not become king in 1848?
These are the same questions one might ask about the situations surrounding the British abdication in 1936 of King Edward VIII and accession of King George VI. Suffice it to say that Ludwig II of Bavaria would likely have been still a young man -- just not a premature 18. Four years can make a lot of difference in the growth and development of a person that age; but assuming that King Ludwig I lived and reigned until his death in 1868, and his eldest son predeceased him, the grandson would have been 22.
Certainly more ready and inclined to take the throne.
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