Another challenge pointed to Don Carlos having been the fifth son of Doña Blanca. The response read that while the oldest brother died with no issue, the other three have excluded themselves from heritage either by concluding morganatic marriages or by non-compliance with double legitimacy theory. The first of these arguments turned against Carlos Pio in 1938, when he concluded a morganatic marriage as well; the issue was then played down until 1949, when abandoned by his wife he requested in Vatican that the marriage be declared invalid. Finally, there were other counter-arguments quoted. From the Alfonsist perspective all the above was irrelevant debates between supporters of usurper dynasty. The Alfonsists were almost entirely united behind their candidate, Don Juan; only minor controversies related to his older brother, who on basis of his disability renounced all heritage rights in 1933 to backtrack in 1941 and to declare himself head of the House of Bourbon and legitimate heir to the French throne. Franco's views on monarchy are not entirely clear. He was a loyal subject of Alfonso XIII, who sort of courted his young officer personally. Hence, during the Republic years the Alfonsists were somewhat disappointed by Franco standing clear of monarchist initiatives. His engagement in military plot of 1936 was not motivated by monarchist zeal; like most of the plotters he was bent on confronting proto-revolutionary Left and preventing apparent implosion of the state. During the Civil War he remained highly ambiguous about a would-be restoration, at some stage concluding that sort of it might be necessary as means of sustaining the regime. He cared little about dynastical debates and it seems compliance with his own vision and acceptance of his own leadership were the key criteria of choice. The dictator appreciated Carlism as its anti-democratic outlook to a large extent overlapped his own, but realized also that within the Spanish society it was a minority option and an Alfonsist candidate was more practicable, especially that Alfonsist sympathies prevailed among the top military. Since heads of both branches, Don Juan and Don Javier, refused to be domesticated, caudillo concluded he should proceed on monarchist path as slowly as possible and keeping all options opened. It seems that at that stage Franco considered nothing settled except that a future king is appointed on his own terms. Since mid-1938 Don Carlos lived o. None of the sources clarifies origins of his move back to Spain in early 1943; in particular it remains obscure whether it was himself or the Francoist authorities who initiated the transfer.