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 | HRH Infante Don Carlos + |
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His Royal Highness Don Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Bourbon-Parma Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria, Count of Caserta + (5.10.2015)
His Royal Highness the Infante Don Carlos, Duke of Calabria, Count of Caserta, was born in Lausanne, Switzerland on 16 January 1938, died on october 5th 2015, where his parents the Infante Don Alfonso and Infanta Doña Alicia (born a Princess of Parma) were living in exile. They returned to Spain in 1941 where the young Prince went to school at las Jarillas as the companion of his first cousin, Don Juan Carlos de Borbon (Prince of the Asturias and later Prince, then King of Spain) and then to the Institute San Isidro, in Madrid. He subsequently trained as a lawyer working briefly in New York with the Chase Manhattan Bank.
He is the doyen of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, Dean President of the Council of the four Military Orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara and Montesa, Grand Commander of Alcántara, Grand Cross of Military Merit con distintivo blanco, Grand Cross of Naval Merit, Grand Cross of Agricultural Merit, Maestrante of Sevilla, Zaragoza, Granada, Valencia and Ronda, Protector of the Real Cuerpo de la Nobleza de Madrid, Member of the Real Cuerpo de la Nobleza de Cataluña, Member of the Cofradía del Santo Cáliz de Valencia, Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Banda (Grand Cross) of the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa, Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Star of Karageorge of Yugoslavia, former President of the Asociación de Hidalgos a Fuero de España, Patron-President of the Foundation of the Military Orders Hospital of Santiago de Cuenca, President of the Patrons of the Royal Naval Museum, President of the Iberoamericana Confederation of Foundations, of the Spanish Foundation Committee of the United World College and the Spanish Foundation for the Defence of Nature (WWF), Patron of the Foundation San Benito de Alcántara, Patron of the Banesto Foundation.
Don Carlos received the title of Duke of Noto in 1960 when Infante Don Alfonso succeeded his uncle, Ferdinando Pio, Duke of Calabria. In 1964 his father died and he succeeded him in turn, becoming Duke of Calabria. In 1994 he was appointed an Infante of Spain, by Royal Decree of HM King Juan Carlos I.
The following year he married Princess Anne of Orléans, daughter of the late Count and late Countess of Paris; they live in Madrid and have five children, a son (Pedro, Duke of Noto) four daughters and nineteen grandchildren.
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The last King, Francis II, stated that he wished his successors to use the title of Duke of Castro, an inheritance that had come from the Farnese and was independent from the Two Sicilies, with the title of Duke of Calabria for the heir apparent and duke of Noto for the eldest son of the latter. The Count of Caserta, however, decided to retain the title he had used for decades and his heir continued to use the title Duke of Calabria after his succession. The title of Duke of Castro has been used since 1960 by the head of the line descended from Prince Don Ranieri and today by the latter's grandson, HRH Prince Don Carlo, Duke of Castro, who is married with two daughters, Princess Maria Carolina, Duchess of Palermo and Princess Maria Chiara, Duchess of Capri.
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About the Royal House of Bourbon - Two Sicilies
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Calabria
Since the end of the Two Sicilies Monarchy in 1860 the head of the Bourbon-Two Sicilies royal house has lived in exile. The last reigning King, Francis II, and his brother and successor (in 1894) Alfonso, Count of Caserta, continued to maintain their claim to be the legitimate successors to the throne of the Two Sicilies and refused to recognize the unification of Italy.
With the succession in 1934 of Ferdinand-Pius, Duke of Calabria (1869-1960), the active claim to the Two Sicilies was abandoned and soon afterwards the Duke of Calabria traveled to Italy and met with the Italian King, on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Princess Lucia to the Duke of Ancona, a member of the Italian royal family. The process of reconciliation between the Bourbon and Savoy royal houses has continued although the Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies continues to represent the traditions of that ancient Monarchy.
"The members of the Royal House continue to affirm their deep affection for the Kingdom over which their ancestors reigned and are determined to continue to cement their links with southern Italy."
 
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