| Mercedes II | |
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 A wartime photograph of Mercedes II (before coronation) | |
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Reign |
1931-1961 |
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Coronation |
11 August 1931 |
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Predecesor |
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Successor |
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Spouse |
Andrés da Manila |
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Royal house |
House of Vergara |
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Father |
Orentio da Aquino (biological) |
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Mother |
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Issue |
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Religion |
Aetherism |
Mercedes II (Mercedes Isabel Carmen da Vergara; born 9 March 1908 in Aquino, Arveyres), commonly known as Mercedes the Brazen, was the Queen of Arveyres from her coronation in 1931 to her death in 1961.
Her reign saw the entrance of the Arveyrans into the Great War and the construction of work camps in rural Anatolia and the enslavement of the displaced Newellian and Khanite people. Following her ethnic conquests within Arveyres, she managed countless changes from a developing economy and reverting into an agrarian state, mainly breaking ties with the Magnoline Republic, which was granted full independence in 1945.
The reign of Mercedes saw the entrance of the Kingdom of Arveyres into the Great War. She oversaw many calculated oppressive acts against various ethnic groups including Newellians, Khanites, and Basques, primarily in Salamanca and Ibarra. Her reign also saw the severing of ties with the Magnoline Republic which was granted full independence in 1945, stripping the Republic of its protectorate status.
Mercedes was described by her family and close friends as a very devout and intelligent woman. Towards the later years of her life, Mercedes was diagnosed by top doctors (at the time) with a bipolar disorder, which was characterized by her occasional but intense mood swings.
The Queen navigated her adult hurts accompanied by countless advisers and courts people, as she was often viewed as indecisive. She held a very turbulent and abusive relationship with her two children, Serena and Sofia. Serena, being ten years older than Sofia, left the royal palace earlier than her sister and pursued an independent life in Alhambra; this left Sofia to be raised by her mother.
Mercedes was assassinated on May 29th, 1961 at the Savoy Palace in Cantabria while on a state visit. Her assassination was organized and orchestrated by the Palman Paramilitary Organization, a Low Navarran Christian and Muslim paramilitary group that sought the return of religious press freedoms. Her assassination is considered the start of the Arveyran Ethnic Wars and the Savoyard Unrest in Arveyres. She was succeeded by her daughter Sofia following the forfeiture of titles by Serena, which caused a succession crisis, also a part of the Ethnic Wars and Savoyard Unrest.