Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (8 April 1930 – 18 August 2010) was the head of the House of Bourbon-Parma from 1977 until his death. Carlos Hugo was the Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain and sought to change the political direction of the Carlist movement through the

Carlist Party The Carlist Party ( es, Partido Carlista, ca, Partit Carlí, eu, Karlista Alderdia, gl, Partido Carlista, ast, Partíu Carlista; PC) is a Spanish political party that considers itself as a successor to the historical tradition of Carlism. ...

, of which he was the official head during the fatal Montejurra Incident. His marriage to Princess Irene of the Netherlands in 1964 caused a constitutional crisis in the Netherlands.

Background

Carlos Hugo was the son of

Xavier, Duke of Parma Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known in France before 1974 as Prince Xavier de Bourbon-Parme, known in Spain as Francisco Javier de Borbón-Parma y de Braganza or simply as Don Javier (25 May 1889 – 7 May 1977), was the head of the ducal Ho ...

, and

Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset (23 March 1898 – 1 September 1984) was the titular Duchess of Parma and Piacenza (from 1974) and was also Carlist Queen of Spain (from 1952) as the consort of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, the Carlist pretender ...

and was baptized ''Hugues Marie Sixte Robert Louis Jean Georges Benoît Michel''. He was a direct male descendant of Louis XIV. On 28 June 1963 he was officially renamed ''Charles Hugues'', by judgment of the

court of appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

of la Seine, France. In 1977, his father died, and Carlos Hugo succeeded him claiming the thrones of Parma,

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

and Spain. He was a French citizen, and from 1980, a naturalized Spanish citizen. He studied in Paris and at the University of Oxford.

Carlism

Carlism Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

is a Spanish political movement founded in the 19th century which, since the second half of the 20th century, upholds the claim of Carlos Hugo's branch of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanis ...

to the Spanish throne. Carlos Hugo assumed Carlist leadership in August 1975. In Francoist Spain, the organization of Carlism has been known as the Traditionalist Communion. After Franco's death, the Carlist movement was split, and unable to get wide public attention again. In May 1976, a year after Franco's death, two Carlist sympathizers were shot down by far-right terrorists during the annual Carlist convocation. Among the terrorists were Stefano Delle Chiaie and members of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance (''Triple A''), with logistic support from Francoist elements inside Spanish intelligence agencies and the

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Histori ...

. This incident became known as the

Montejurra massacre The Montejurra incidents, was a neo-fascist terrorist attack that took place on May 9, 1976, when two Carlist members were killed and another three seriously wounded by right-wing gunmen at the annual Carlist Party celebration that was held in ...

. On 28 September 2003 at

Arbonne Arbonne (; eu, Arbona) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arbonars'' Brigitte Jobbé-Duval, ''Dictionary of place names - ...

in France, Carlos Hugo re-asserted his Carlist claim.

Marriage and family

Carlos Hugo's engagement to Princess Irene of the Netherlands, daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, caused a constitutional crisis in the Netherlands for several reasons. Irene lost her rights of succession to the Dutch throne because the government refused to enact a law permitting the marriage. Her mother could not go to Madrid to talk Irene out of the marriage and of her conversion to Catholicism because the government advised her against it. The issue that prevented the government from making a law permitting the marriage was Carlos's claim to the Spanish throne. The Dutch government saw international political difficulties arising from a possible heir to the Dutch throne holding a controversial claim to the throne of a foreign state. Carlos Hugo and Irene were married on 29 April 1964, in the

Borghese Chapel The House of Borghese is a princely family of Italian noble and papal background, originating as the Borghese or Borghesi in Siena, where they came to prominence in the 13th century and held offices under the ''commune''. During the 16th century, ...

at the

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

in Rome, by

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Paolo Giobbe, the former Apostolic

Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international or ...

to the Netherlands. No other members of the Dutch Royal Family were present; Irene's parents watched the ceremony on television. After the ceremony, Carlos Hugo and Irene had a private audience with Pope Paul VI. They spent their honeymoon in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, after which they settled in Madrid. Carlos Hugo and Irene divorced on 26 May 1981. They had four children: * Prince Carlos Javier Bernardo Sixto María, Duke of Parma (27 January 1970). He has a natural son, Carlos Hugo (born 20 January 1997), with Brigitte Klynstra. On 12 June 2010, Prince Carlos married Annemarie Cecilia Gualthérie van Weezel. They have three children: **Princess Luisa of Bourbon-Parme (10 May 2012) **Princess Cecilia of Bourbon-Parme (17 October 2013) **Carlos Enrique Leonard, Hereditary Prince of Bourbon-Parma (24 April 2016) * Princess Margarita María Beatriz of Bourbon Parma (13 October 1972) she married Edwin de Roy van Zuydewijn on 22 September 2001 and they were divorced on 8 November 2006. She remarried Tjalling Siebe ten Cate on 2 May 2008. They have two daughters: **Julia ten Cate (3 September 2008) **Paola ten Cate (25 February 2011) * Prince Jaime Bernardo of Bourbon Parma (13 October 1972); he married Viktoria Cservenyak on 3 October 2013. They have two daughters: **Princess Zita Clara of Bourbon-Parma (21 February 2014) **Princess Gloria Irene of Bourbon-Parma (9 May 2016) * Princess María Carolina Cristina of Bourbon Parma (23 June 1974); she married Albert Alphons Ludgerus Brenninkmeijer on 21 April 2012. They have two children: **Alaïa-Maria Brenninkmeijer (20 May 2014) **Xavier Brenninkmeijer (16 December 2015)

Death

In February 2008 it was revealed that Carlos Hugo was being treated for cancer. On 2 August 2010, he announced, via his official website, that his health was further deteriorating. He died on 18 August 2010 in Barcelona at the age of 80. Carlos Hugo's remains were taken from Barcelona to The Hague and laid in state for family members and close relatives in the Fagel Dome on the estate of the Noordeinde Palace (one of the three official palaces of the Dutch royal family). On 28 August, the body was transported to Parma in Italy and interred in the crypt of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata.Lichaam prins Carlos vrijdag naar Nederland
. telegraaf.nl. 18 August 2010 ''(Dutch)''

Honours

Dynastic honours

Carlos-Hugo claimed the headship of the

Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (SMOCG) ( it, Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio, es, Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order ...

as hereditary heir to the House of Farnese's Duchy of Parma, the Farnese dukes having been recognised as grand masters of the order in 1699, although in 1706 the church of Rome confirmed the order's grand magistry to the Farnese's heirs (the

since 1731) in accordance with male

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

. * House of Bourbon-Parma: Grand Master of the Parmese Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George * House of Bourbon-Parma: Grand Master of the

Order of Saint Louis for Civil Merit Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

* House of Bourbon-Parma: Grand Master of the Order of the Legitimidad Proscrita * House of Bourbon-Parma: Grand Master of the

Order of St. George for Military Merit Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

As a claimant to the throne of Spain, Carlos Hugo also claimed to be the Grand Master of the Spanish

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

At his funeral the chain of the

was put on his coffin, and the prince wore the insignia of the order during his marriage.

Foreign honours

* : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the House of Orange The Order of the House of Orange (Dutch: ''Huisorde van Oranje''), sometimes referred to as the House Order of Orange, is a dynastic order of the House of Orange-Nassau, the royal family of the Netherlands similar to the Royal Victorian Order in ...

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

*Robert E. Wilson, "The Claim of Carlos-Hugo de Bourbon-Parma to the Spanish Throne", ''Background'' 8 (November 1964): 187–193.

External links

Guardian obituaryRoyal House of the NetherlandsComunión Tradicionalista

Official website of the House of Bourbon-Parmahis claim to Grand Magistery of
the Constantinian Order of St.George, in rivalry against both the Duke of Calabria and the Duke of Castro. , - {{Authority control 1930 births 2010 deaths Nobility from Paris Spanish people of French descent Carlist pretenders to the Spanish throne Grand Crosses of the Order of the House of Orange Pretenders to the throne of Parma Princes of Parma and Piacenza Princes of Bourbon-Parma Italian nobility Dukes of Spain Deaths from cancer in Spain Burials at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Alumni of the University of Oxford Navarrese titular monarchs