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 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 Fren ...

, a

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, tit ...

of the Spanish royal family. She was a socialist activist, earning the nickname Red Princess, and a

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

who supported the

Carlist 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) – ...

movement. She is the first royal known to have died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Early life and education

Princess Marie Thérèse was born on 28 July 1933 in Paris. She was the daughter of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, a

claimant 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 Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, a member of a

of the House of Bourbon. She was the younger sister of Princess Marie Françoise and Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, and an older sister of Princess Cécile Marie, Princess Marie des Neiges and Prince Sixtus Henry, Duke of Aranjuez. She was a niece of

Zita of Bourbon-Parma Zita of Bourbon-Parma (''Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese''; 9 May 1892 – 14 March 1989) was the wife of Charles, the last monarch of Austria-Hungary. As such, she was the last Empres ...

, the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Chateau du Bostz Besson 02

She grew up at the Chateau du Bostz, Besson,

Bourbonnais Bourbonnais () was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''département'' of Cher. Its capital was Moulins. History The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais ...

. Having attended middle school in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

, she went on to obtain a doctorate in

Hispanic studies Hispanism (sometimes referred to as Hispanic studies or Spanish studies) is the study of the literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world, principally that of Spain and Hispanic America. It can also entail studying Spanish language and ...

from

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

and another doctorate in political sociology from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loc ...

. She also studied Islam and how it related to women's rights. Her 1977 thesis at the Sorbonne was entitled "La clarificación ideológica del Carlismo contemporáneo" ("Ideological clarification of contemporary Carlism").

Career and activism

Marie-Thérèse was a professor at both of her alma maters. She was also a socialist activist and fought for women's rights. Marie-Thérèse supported her brother Carlos Hugo in his fight to make the Spanish Carlist party more liberal, supporting an ideological shift in her family's Carlism. Her royal roots and liberal socialist views attracted many personalities, leading her to meet

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and Minister of Culture (France), minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Go ...

, François Mitterrand,

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

and Hugo Chávez, and earned her the nickname of "Red Princess". This nickname was used as the (Spanish) title of a 2002 biography of María Teresa written by historian .

Personal life

In 1981, Marie Thérèse acquired Spanish citizenship by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

; the official state bulletin said that it was given "at the request of the interested party and in response to the exceptional circumstances and her belonging to a family so closely linked to Spain". In a 1997 interview, Marie Thérèse said that she was Christian, but criticized some Christian attitudes to immigration that sought to create a divide. Marie Thérèse never married, and had no children. She was the aunt of Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma and 4th cousin, once removed, of the current King of Spain,

Felipe VI Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...

. In 2014, she published a history of the Bourbon-Parma family. On 26 March 2020, Marie Thérèse became the first member of a royal family known to die of

. She died at

Hôpital Cochin The Hôpital Cochin is a hospital of public assistance in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques Paris 14e. It houses the central burn treatment centre of the city. The Hôpital Cochin is a section of the Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes. It comm ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

at the age of 86. A memorial service was held in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

on 27 March 2020, presided over by Rev. José Ramón García Gallardo, a priest of the

Society of Saint Pius X The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X; FSSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leading traditionalist voice at the Sec ...

and an officer of the Order of Prohibited Legitimacy. A second Catholic funeral was held on 2 April 2020 at Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Paris. Her death was announced on the official website of the House of Bourbon-Parma. Her family paid tribute to her involvement "in the struggle for democratization, social justice and freedom in Spain". Marie Thérèse's funeral took place on 27 August 2021 at

Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata The Shrine of Santa Maria della Steccata is a Greek-cross design Renaissance church in central Parma, Italy. The name derives from the fence (Italian: ''steccato'') in the church. A Nursing Madonna is enshrined within, crowned on 27 May 1601 by ...

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

, and was buried there. The funeral mass held in Parma was attended by Prince Carlos Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza; Princess Annemarie, Duchess of Parma and Piacenza; Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi; Princess Margarita, Countess of Colorno with her husband and daughters; Princess Maria Carolina, Marchioness of Sala with her husband and children; Princess Marie des Neiges, Countess of Castillo de la Mota; Princess Cécile Marie, Countess of Poblet and Princess Marie-Françoise, Dowager Princess of Lobkowicz.