Prince Marie Edouard-Xavier Ferdinand Auguste Gaspard de Lobkowicz (18 October 1960 – 27 April 1984) was a French aristocrat, military officer, and murder victim. The eldest son of Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz and

Princess Marie Françoise of Bourbon-Parma Princess Marie-Françoise Antoinette Jeanne Madeleine of Bourbon-Parma ( French: ''Marie-Françoise de Bourbon-Parme''; born 19 August 1928) is a French humanitarian and philanthropist. A princess of the House of Bourbon-Parma by birth and the H ...

, he was a member of the

Lobkowicz family The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the G ...

and a descendent of the

House of Bourbon-Parma The House of Bourbon-Parma ( it, Casa di Borbone di Parma) is a cadet branch of the Spanish royal family, whose members once ruled as King of Etruria and as Duke of Parma and Piacenza, Guastalla, and Lucca. The House descended from the French ...

the House of Bourbon-Busset. Prince Edouard-Xavier was a trained

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

who served as a lieutenant in the Reserve of the French Army and was knighted by the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

. On 2 April 1984, Prince Edouard-Xavier went missing. A few weeks later, on 27 April 1984, his body was discovered in the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

. An autopsy revealed that he had been murdered, with a gunshot wound in the throat and left shoulder blade.

Early life and family

Prince Edouard-Xavier was born at the

American Hospital of Paris The American Hospital of Paris (''Hôpital américain de Paris''), founded in 1906, is a private, not-for-profit hospital that is certified under the French healthcare system. Located in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the western suburbs of Paris, France, ...

on 18 October 1960 to Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz and

. He was a member of the

House of Lobkowicz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the G ...

, a Czech princely house. His paternal grandparents were Prince Edouard Josef von Lobkowicz and the American golfer and businesswoman Anita Lihme. His maternal grandparents were Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma and Piacenza,

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimists (disambiguation), Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbon dynasty ...

pretender to the

Spanish throne , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

and head of the

, 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 ...

, daughter of Georges de Bourbon-Busset, Count de Lignières and a member of the non-dynastic

Bourbon-Busset The Bourbon-Busset family is a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, being thus agnatic descendants of the Capetian dynasty. Historically, they have been regarded as non-dynastic since decisions rendered by Louis XI of France. Possibly, howe ...

line 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 ...

. He was a great-grandson of the Danish-American industrialist C. Bai Lihme and a great-great grandson of the American manufacturer Edward C. Hegeler. Prince Edouard-Xavier was the nephew of

Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma 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 directi ...

Princess María Teresa of Bourbon-Parma Princess Marie Thérèse of Bourbon-Parma (Spanish: ''María Teresa de Borbón-Parma'', French: ''Marie-Thérèse de Bourbon-Parme''; 28 July 1933 – 26 March 2020) was a French-Spanish political activist and academic. She was a member of t ...

, Princess Cécile, Countess of Poblet, and Prince Sixtus Henry, Duke of Aranjuez. He was the older brother of Princess Marie-Gabrielle, Prince Robert, and Prince Charles-Henri. After graduating from secondary school in France, he attended the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1983. He had plans of working in finance. Prince Edouard-Xavier was a lieutenant in the Reserve of the French Army and had done active service as a

. A devout Catholic, he was a Knight of Honor and Devotion of the

Disappearance and murder

On 2 April 1984, Prince Edouard-Xavier left his parents' Paris residence for an appointment after receiving a telephone call. Two days later, his parents reported his disappearance to the French authorities. A few weeks later, his car was discovered in the parking lot of the

Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris-Gare-de-Lyon, is one of the six large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and RER D ...

. His body, partly decomposed, was discovered on 27 April 1984 in the waters of the

, southeast (upstream) of Paris in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the co ...

. An autopsy revealed that he was shot in the throat and left shoulder blade, and that his body had been in the water "for some time". His remains remained unidentified for over a week after the discovery, and his family was not notified until 4 May 1984. He was shot with a hunting rifle and his body was tossed into the

Seine River ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributaries ...

, weighed down by a large iron bar tied around his waist. An investigation was opened after his death, but no reason was found as to why he had been murdered. The French newspaper ''

France-Soir ''France Soir'' ( en, France Evening) was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a popul ...

'' ran a story suggesting that he had been abducted and murdered due to his mother's connections with charitable organizations for

Lebanese Christians Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. Biblical Scriptures purport that Peter and Paul evangelized the Phoenicians, whom they affiliated to the ancient patriarchate of Antioch. The spread of Christianity in Lebanon was ...

and because of his father's association with the arms industry.

References

{{Reflist 1960 births 1984 deaths Austrian princes Czech nobility Deaths by firearm in France French Army officers French people of American descent French people of Austrian descent French people of Czech descent French people of Danish descent French people of Italian descent French people of Spanish descent French people taken hostage French Roman Catholics Kidnappings in France Knights of Malta Edouard-Xavier Male murder victims Murdered royalty Paratroopers University of San Francisco alumni Unsolved murders in France