Carlos, Duke of Calabria (1938)



Infante Carlos of Spain, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, KOGF, KGCOHS (Carlos Maria Alfonso Marcel de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y de Borbón-Parma) (born 16 January 1938 in Lausanne) is the son of Don Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria (1901–1964) and Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma (born 1917).

Biography
Infante Carlos is one of two claimants of the dignity of Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies. The other claimant is his 2nd cousin Prince Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Castro. He is also one of three claimants to the Grand Magistery of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George; the other two claimants are Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and HRH Prince Charles de Bourbon Duke of Castro. Infante Carlos is the senior male line descendant of Ferdinand IV and III of Naples and Sicily (Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies) and as such "first born legitimate heir of the Farnese" (primogenito legittimo farnesiano), as Ferdinand was designated (with mistaken comprehension of genealogy) by his father, King Charles III of Spain, on 16 October 1759 (ten days after abdicating the Two Sicilies Crown) - Ferdinand's elder brothers were and are more 'primogenito' than Ferdinand ever could be. (HRH prince Carlo Tancredi di Borbone, grandfather of the Infante, is alleged to have renounced to his right by signing the famous Act of Cannes). It is important to remember that while Duke of Castro is a title that belong to the Head of the Royal House along with Duke of Parma, Piacenza, etc.; Duke of Calabria is the title that belong to the Crown prince just as the Spanish prince of Asturias or the prince of Wales in the U.K.

Carlos was created an Infante of Spain by King Juan Carlos of Spain by Royal Decree 2412 dated 16 December 1994, as the "Representative of a line linked historically to the Spanish Crown". If the renunciations by the sisters and aunts of the present king are considered to remain valid under Spain's current constitution, Carlos is also next in line for the Spanish throne after the children and grandchildren of Juan Carlos.

His family moved to Spain one year after his birth. In 1948, he was chosen by Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona to enter alongside then prince Juan Carlos a special school that the Count and dictator Francisco Franco had prepared for the heir of the crown.

Carlos lives in Madrid with his family. He possesses agrarian properties in Toledo and Ciudad Real, as well as shares in important companies like Repsol and Telefonica.

Infante Carlos is Dean-President of the Royal Council of the Military Orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara and Montesa and Grand Master of the Hispano-Neapolitan branch of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, Grand Master of the Order of Saint Januarius, Grand Commander of the Military Order of Alcántara, Protector of the Real Cuerpo de la Nobleza of Madrid, Maestrante of Sevilla, Zaragoza, Granada, Valencia and Ronda, Member of the Real Cuerpo de la Nobleza of Catalonia, Member of the Cofradía del Santo Cáliz of Valencia, and Patron-President of the Foundation of the Military Order's Hospital of Santiago de Cuenca (Patrono-Presidente de la Fundación de las Ordenes Militares Hospital de Santiago de Cuenca). He was appointed a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1964, of which he is the doyen, and has been decorated with the Grand Cross of the Spanish Orders of Military Merit with White Distinction, of Naval Merit and of Agricultural Merit, the Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and has received the Banda of the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle among other Orders. Infante Carlos is also President of the Spanish Foundation of the United World College, President of the Patronato of the Naval Museum, President of the Spanish Confederation of Foundations, President of the Iberoamerican Confedration of Foundations, President of the Foundation of San Benito de Alcántara, and President of the Foundation for the Protection of Nature (Fundación Fondo para la Protección de la Naturaleza).

Marriage and children
Carlos married Princess Anne of France (born 1938) in 1965, the daughter of Henri, comte de Paris and Princess Isabel of Orléans-Braganza. They met in Athens in 1962, at the wedding of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sophia of Spain. They have five children:


 * Princess Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1966 in Madrid), married in 1994 at Ciudad Real Pedro López-Quesada y Fernández Urrutia (born 1964)
 * Victoria Lopez-Quesada y de Borbón-Dos Sicilias (born 1997)
 * Pedro Lopez-Quesada y de Bórbon-Dos Sicilias (born 2003)
 * Princess María of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1967 in Madrid), married in 1996 at Ciudad Real Archduke Simeon of Austria (born 1958), a grandson of Karl I of Austria.
 * Archduke Johannes of Austria (born 1997)
 * Archduke Ludwig of Austria (born 1998)
 * Archduchess Isabel of Austria (born 2000)
 * Archduchess Carlota of Austria (born 2003)
 * Archduke Philipp of Austria (born 2007)
 * Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto (born 1968 in Madrid), married Sofia Landaluce y Melgarejo (born 1973) in 2001 at Madrid,
 * Jaime de Borbón-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 1993)
 * Juan de Borbón-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 2003)
 * Pablo de Borbón-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 2004)
 * Pedro de Borbon-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 2005)
 * Sofia de Borbon-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 12 November 2008)
 * Princess Inés María of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1971 in Madrid), married in 2001 at Toledo Napolitan aristocrat Nobile Michele Carrelli Palombi dei Marchesi di Raiano (born 1965)
 * Nobile Teresa Carrelli Palombi dei Marchesi di Raiano (born 2003)
 * Nobile Blanca Carrelli Palombi dei Marchesi di Raiano (born 2005)
 * Princess Victoria of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1976 in Madrid), married Greek shipowner Markos Nomikos (born 1965) in 2003.
 * Anastasios Nomikos (born 2005)
 * Ana Nomikos (born 2006)
 * Carlos Nomikos (born 2008)

Sisters
Don Carlos has two sisters:
 * Princess Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1937), married Iñigo Moreno y de Arteaga, 12th Marquess de Laula (born 1934) on 1961 and has issue.
 * Princess Inés Maria of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1940), married Luis Morales y Aguado (1933–2000) on 1965 but divorced on 1978. Has issue.

Titles

 * His Royal Highness Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1938–1964)
 * His Royal Highness Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria (1964–1994)
 * His Royal Highness Infante Carlos of Spain, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria (Since 1994)

Prince Carlos's official title is: His Royal Highness Don Carlos Maria Alfonso Marcel de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y de Borbón-Parma, Infante of Spain, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria.

Following the traditional succession laws of the Kingdom of Navarre, Carlos's mother Infanta Alicia, born a Princess of Bourbon-Parma, is the current claimant to the throne, which was formally united with the Kingdom of France in the eighteenth century. She is also the closest known genealogical representative of King Edward the Confessor, and the direct genealogical representative of King David I of Scotland, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castille, among other successions. After Infanta Alicia's death Carlos will presumably become the titular King of Navarre and represent her entire genealogical inheritance.