Balthazar Napoleon lV de Bourbon

Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon (born 29 July 1958) claims to be the senior descendant of the House of Bourbon and thus the pretender to the throne of the defunct Kingdom of France. His family, the "Bourbons of India", claim to be legitimate descendants of the House of Bourbon, descended from Jean Philippe de Bourbon, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, an exiled French noble who served in Mughal Emperor Akbar's court. The family is also known as "Bourbon-Bhopal", a name derived from the city of Bhopal in central India where their last few generations have resided and worked in the royal court of the princely Bhopal State. Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon, the current head of the family is a lawyer and a part-time farmer by profession. He is married to Elisha Pacheco and has three children: Frederick, Michelle, and Adrian. His mission is "to preserve for history the political, cultural and religious contribution of the Bourbons of India in the subcontinent and prevent this important contribution from being relegated to a footnote in history books."

On 22 May 2013, the Ambassador of France to India visited Bhopal and met with Balthazar of Bourbon at a function and in a statement declared, "It is extraordinary to have a Bourbon here today!"

In his historical novel, ''Le Rajah Bourbon'',{{sfn, Michel de Grèce, 2007 the publication of which spurred a renewed interest in this claim to the French throne, Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark claimed that Balthazar Napoleon IV is the eldest in line to the French throne. Prince Michael of Greece said he would be willing to organize a DNA test to verify de Bourbon's claim of kinship.Bourbon of Indian vintage
10 January 2008, ''Los Angeles Times''

See also

*List of heirs to the French throne

References

{{Reflist, 30em

Bibliography

* {{Cite news, ref=CITEREFAFP2007a, agency= Agence France-Presse, date=15 April 2007a, title=Indian lays claim to 'Duke of France' title, url=http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070415022148.j83uokuv&cat=null, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040250/http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070415022148.j83uokuv&cat=null, archive-date=28 September 2007
* {{Cite news, title=Un Indien serait en tête des héritiers au trône de France, first=Marie-France, last=Calle, date=14 October 2007, work=Le Figaro , location=France, url=http://lefigaro.fr./international/2007/08/20/01003-20070820ARTFIG90091-un_indien_serait_en_tete_des_heritiers_au_trone_de_france.php, language=French
* {{Cite news, first=Angelique, last=Chrisafis, title=Found in India: the last king of France, work=The Guardian , location=UK, date=3 March 2007, url=http://guardian.co.uk./world/2007/mar/03/india.france
* {{Cite news, first=Nicolas, last=Revise, date=12 April 2007, title=Balthazar Napoléon III, le Bourbon 'made in India' se rêve en duc de France, agency= Agence France-Presse, language=French, work=Aujourd'hui l'Inde, url=http://inde.aujourdhuilemonde.com./balthazar-napoleon-iii-le-bourbon-made-india-se-reve-en-duc-de-france
* {{Cite news, ref=CITEREFTelegraph2007a, title=Lost in France, found in India, work=The Telegraph , location=Kolkota, India , url=http://telegraphindia.com./1070305/asp/nation/story_7469891.asp, date=5 March 2007a
* {{Cite news, ref=CITEREFTimes2006a, title=France's king without a crown in India, agency= Agence France-Presse, date=10 January 2006a, url=http://taipeitimes.com./News/feat/archives/2006/01/10/2003288377/2, work=Taipei Times

Further reading

Fiction

* {{Cite book, last=Michel de Grèce, authorlink=Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, title=Le Rajah Bourbon, publisher=Jean-Claude Lattès, date=March 2007, isbn=978-2-7096-2922-5

Non-fiction

* {{Cite book, title=Les Bourbons de l'Inde: souvenirs de Salvadore de Bourbon, first=Salvadore, last=de Bourbon, editor=Lucien Jailloux, others=Mickaël Le Guen, translator, publisher=Christian, year=2003, isbn=978-2-86496-095-9
* {{Cite web, first=Andre, last=Decloitre, work=Généalogies Royales et Princières, title=Généalogie de la Maison Royale de France – Troisième branche: les Bourbons, year=2010, url=http://www.genroy.fr./bourbon.htm, language=French
* {{cite news, title=House of the Bourbons: A Branch of the former French royal family lives with its glorious past and obscure present, first=Bharat, last=Desai, work=India Today, volume=21, issue=1, publisher=Thomson Living Media India Ltd, date=15 March 1996, pages=13 et seq
* {{Cite news, work=Time, url=http://time.com./time/magazine/article/0,9171,1597249,00.html, title=The Bourbon of Bhopal, first=Ishaan, last=Tharoor, date=8 March 2007, access-date=6 August 2017, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824150243/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1597249,00.html, archive-date=24 August 2013, url-status=dead
* {{Cite book, title=La maison de Bourbon: 1256–2004, volume=4, series=Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste maison de France, first=Patrick, last=van Kerrebrouck, edition=2nd, year=2004, isbn=978-2-9501509-5-0, language=French
* {{Cite book, title=Les prétendants au trône de France, first1=Raoul, last1=de Warren, first2=Aymon, last2=de Lestrange, authorlink1=Raoul de Warren, publisher=L'Herne, year=1990, isbn=978-2-85197-281-1, pages=135–136, language=French

External links

Bourbon-Bhopal, The Royal "House of Bourbon" in India
official website
* {{cite web , last=Marek , first=Miroslav , url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/capet/capet37.html , title= Jean Philippe, a courtier of the khan, 1525 , publisher= Genealogy.EU

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourbon, Balthazar Napoleon IV de
1958 births
Living people
Indian Roman Catholics
People from Bhopal
Pretenders to the French throne