Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Prince Carlos

| title = Infante of Spain

| image = Carlos Maria of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.jpg

| caption = Formal photo portrait wearing a Spanish Hussar uniform, 1913

| birth_date = {{birth date|1870|11|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = {{Interlanguage link multi|Gries-San Quirino|it}}, Bolzano, Austria-Hungary

| death_date = {{death date and age|1949|11|11|1870|11|10|df=y}}

| death_place = Seville, Spain

| burial_place = Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador, Seville

| full name = {{langx|it|Carlo Maria Francesco d'Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Alfonso Andrea Avelino Tancredi}}

| house = Bourbon-Two Sicilies

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

{{marriage|María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias|1901|1904|end=d}}
{{marriage|Princess Louise of Orléans|1907}}

}}

| issue = {{Plainlist|

Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria
Infante Fernando
Isabel Alfonsa, Countess Jan Kanty Zamoyski
Prince Carlos
María de los Dolores, Princess Augustyn Józef Czartoryski
Infanta María de las Mercedes, Countess of Barcelona
María de la Esperanza, Princess of Orléans-Braganza

}}

| father = Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta

| mother = Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

| signature = Firma de Carlos de Borbón.svg

}}

Don Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain (Full Italian name: Carlo Maria Francesco d'Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Alfonso Andrea Avelino Tancredi, Principe di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, Infante di Spagna;{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} 10 November 1870 – 11 November 1949) was the son of Prince Alfonso of the Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and his wife Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and nephew of the last King of the Two Sicilies, Francis II.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Marriages and children

On 14 February 1901 in Madrid, Carlos married Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, elder daughter of the late King Alfonso XII of Spain and of his wife Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Mercedes was the elder sister and heir presumptive to King Alfonso XIII of Spain, an unmarried teenager. A week before the wedding, on 7 February, Carlos was given the title of Infante of Spain.{{cite journal |date= 8 February 1901 |title= Royal Decrees |url= http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1901/039/A00555-00556.pdf |language= es |journal= Gaceta de Madrid |at= Page 555 |access-date= 17 October 2015}}

Carlos and Mercedes had three children:{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Don Alfonso, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain (1901–1964), Duke of Calabria (1960-64).
Don Fernando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1903–1905), died in San Sebastián one year after his mother's death.
Doña Isabella Alfonsa, Princess of the Two Sicilies, Infanta of Spain (1904–1985). Married Count Jan Kanty Zamoyski (1900–1961) and had issue.

Mercedes died in childbirth in 1904.

In 1907, Carlos married secondly to Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} The couple had four children:{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Don Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1908–1936). Killed in the Spanish Civil War.
Doña María de los Dolores of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1909–1996). In 1937, she married Prince Augustyn Józef Czartoryski (1907–1946) and had one surviving son, Adam. She remarried to Carlos Chias on 1950.
Doña María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1910–2000) who married Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and became King Juan Carlos I of Spain's mother.
Doña María de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1914–2005), who married Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza.

Prince Carlos's descendants include King Felipe VI of Spain, Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria, Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza, and Prince Peter of Yugoslavia, among others.

Military service

Carlos served in the Spanish Army in the Spanish–American War and received the Military Order of Maria Cristina."Carlos of Bourbon Dead in Spain at 79", The New York Times (12 November 1949): 15. Eventually he rose to the rank of Inspector General."Infante Don Carlos", The Times (12 November 1949): 7.

File:Carlos de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y su mujer.jpg, c. 1909]]

Two Sicilies succession

In 1894, Carlos's father Alfonso became the head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. On marrying his first wife, Carlos renounced on 14 December 1900 his future rights of succession to the non-existent Crown of Two Sicilies in an official document, known as the Act of Cannes, subject to a requirement in the Treaty of Naples of 1759 and the Pragmatic Decree of 6 October 1759 that the Crown of Spain should not be combined with the "Italian Sovereignty".{{cite journal |last=Lecanda Crooke|first=Íñigo|title=Análisis jurídico de la legitimidad en la Jefatura de la Casa Real de Borbón Dos-Sicilias y el Gran Maestrazgo de sus Órdenes|year=2012|journal=Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía|publisher=Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía|url=https://www.ramhg.es/images/stories/pdf/anales/15_2012/06_lecanda.pdf}} In 1960, Carlos' elder brother Ferdinand died without male issue, and a dispute arose between Carlos' son Alfonso and Carlos' younger brother Ranieri on the headship of the house, this with competing claims: by the law of primogeniture, Carlos' son Alfonso was considered the heir, but Ranieri claimed that Carlos had renounced his rights and those of his descendants according to the Act of Cannes. Alfonso refuted that claim by stating that it was only a promise from his father to relinquish this right if the crown of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were to be united with the Spanish Crown. Since this did not happen, the act had no effect and Carlos' son Alfonso reclaimed his rights. The dispute is still not resolved. Alfonso's claim was recognised by the heads of the different lines of the House of Bourbon, although not by the head of the Orleans family,{{Cite book|last=Sainty|first=Guy Stair|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GBjRDwAAQBAJ&q=guy+stair+sainty+pseudo+lascaris|title=The Constantinian Order of Saint George: and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon families which governed it|publisher=Boletín Oficial del Estado|year=2018|isbn=978-8434025066|author-link=Guy Stair Sainty}} and in 1983 the Spanish Council of State, following an investigation by the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs, the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation and the Institute Salazar y Castro concluded unanimously in favour of Infante Don Alfonso's only son, Prince and Infante Don Carlos, a position shared by the Spanish Royal House.{{cite book|last1=Opfell|first1=Olga S.|title=Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe| date=2001|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|pages=37–8|isbn=9780786450572 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UFveIUgktIC&pg=PA37 |access-date=23 August 2016}}

Honours

File:Coat of arms of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1870-1949)-External Ornaments as Infante of Spain.svg

{{flagcountry|Restoration (Spain)}}:
Knight of the Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece, 7 February 1901[http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1901/039/A00555-00556.pdf Boletín Oficial del Estado]
Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Charles III, with Collar, 7 February 1901
Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic, 7 February 1901
Grand Commander of the Order of Alcántara, 21 March 1901[http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1901/081/A01237-01237.pdf Boletín Oficial del Estado]
Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit, with Red Decoration, 4 May 1910[http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1910/125/A00253-00253.pdf Boletín Oficial del Estado]
Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit, with White Decoration, 10 October 1923[http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1923/290/A00216-00217.pdf Boletín Oficial del Estado]
Grand Cross of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild, 8 July 1929[http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1929/193/A00283-00283.pdf Boletín Oficial del Estado]
Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Cristina
Knight of the Royal Nobility Corps of the Principality of Girona{{cite book|title=Escalafón general del Real Estamento Militar del Principado de Gerona|date=2014|location=Girona|page=137}}
{{flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}}: Knight of the Royal Order of Saint Hubert, 1897[https://archive.org/details/hofundstaatshan00landgoog/page/n39 Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern] (1908), "Königliche Orden" p. 9
{{flagicon|Thailand|1855}} Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 8 June 1902{{cite journal |author=Royal Thai Government Gazette |date=8 June 1902 |url=http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2445/010/166_2.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304201807/http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2445/010/166_2.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 March 2016 |title=ส่งเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ไปพระราชทานเจ้าต่างประเทศ ฮิสรอแยล ไฮเนส ปรินศ์ ดองการ์ลอส เดอร์บัวร์บอง|language=th |access-date=2019-05-08 }}
{{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (civil), 27 January 1903{{London Gazette|issue=27519|page=529|date=27 January 1903}} (presented to the Prince by Sir Mortimer Durand, British Ambassador to Madrid, on the previous day{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular |date=28 January 1903 |page=10 |issue=36989}}).