Princess Marie des Neiges Madeleine Françoise of Bourbon-Parma, Countess of Castillo de la Mota ( Spanish: ''María de las Nieves de Borbón-Parma'',

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''Marie des Neiges de Bourbon-Parme''; born 29 April 1937) is a French aristocrat,

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, and

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 ...

activist. She is the youngest daughter of Prince Xavier, Duke of Parma 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 ...

. A progressive Carlist, she supported the liberal reforms to the party made by her elder brother, Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, and rejected the conservative faction of the party created by her younger brother, Prince Sixtus Henry, Duke of Aranjuez. In her youth, she was a prominent socialite in Parisian society. Marie des Neiges has a doctorate in biology and worked as an ornithologist. She is a recipient of the Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Grand Cross of the

Order of Prohibited Legitimacy The Order of Prohibited Legitimacy (Italian language, Italian: Ordine di Vietata Legittimità/Spanish language, Spanish: Orden de la Legitimidad Proscrita) is a Parmese dynastic order of knighthood originally awarded by the House of Bourbon-Parm ...

Biography

Princess Marie des Neiges of Bourbon-Parma was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 29 April 1937 to Prince Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza and

. Her father was the titular

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except ...

, the

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 the head of the House of Bourbon-Parma.de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. ‘’Le Petit Gotha’’. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, (French) p. 586-589 Her mother was the 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, however, ...

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 ...

.Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 416-417, 422. (French). She is a sister of Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, Princess Marie Thérèse, Princess Cécile Marie, Princess Marie Françoise, and Prince Sixtus Henry, Duke of Aranjuez. Her father created her Countess of Castillo de la Mota. Throughout her youth, she was active in

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

and attending various balls, including the Paris Ball held at the French Embassy in Brussels. She was educated in the United States and in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. In 1964, she attending the wedding of Princess Irene of the Netherlands and her brother, Prince Carlos Hugo, in Rome. A

, she supported the progressive reforms of her brother, Carlos Hugo, alongside her sisters Cécile Marie and Marie-Thérèse. She denounced the traditionalist agenda and Carlist claim made by her brother, Sixtus Henry. She attended Carlist gatherings around Spain to support political causes. Marie des Neiges was present at 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 9 May 1976. In 2016, Marie des Neiges visited the former ducal lands of

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, and was received by the city of Fontanellato's mayor, Francesco Trivelloni She had previously visited Parma to attend the baptism of her grandnephew, Prince Charles Henry of Bourbon-Parma. In 2018, Marie des Neiges, Marie Thérèse, and Cécile Marie reconciled with their sister, Marie Françoise, ending their dispute over conflicting approaches on Carlism. The sisters spent a lot of time together after reconciling. As her sister, Cécile Marie, became ill, she helped care for her. She works as a

and has a doctorate in biology. Princess Marie des Neiges received a Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, a Grand Cross of the Order of St. Lodovico, and a Grand Cross of the

Ancestry

Honours

* : **

Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio

Senator Grand Cross with necklace of the Angelic Imperial Holy Constantinian Order of St. George ** Alluvione2000

Grand Cross of the Ducal Royal Order of Saint Louis ** Ruban de l’ordre de la Légitimité proscrite

Grand Cross of the

References

External links

Official website of the House of Bourbon-ParmaSecond official website of the House of Bourbon-Parma

Biography of Her Royal Highness Princess Marie des Neiges
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie des Neiges of Bourbon-Parma, Princess Living people 1937 births 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Carlists French ornithologists Nobility from Paris Princesses of Bourbon-Parma French people of Italian descent French people of Spanish descent French Roman Catholics Spanish countesses Women ornithologists