Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz
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Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz (Alfonso Jaime Marcelino Manuel Victor Maria de Borbón y Dampierre, French citizen as Alphonse de Bourbon) (April 20, 1936 – January 30, 1989) was a grandson of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and a legitimist claimant to the throne of France.
Alfonso was born in the Clinica Santa Anna in Rome,[1] the elder son of Infante Jaime of Spain and of his wife, Emmanuelle de Dampierre. He was baptised at the home of his maternal grandmother, the Italian princess Donna Vittoria Ruspoli, of the princes of Poggio Suasa, the Palazzo Ruspoli, on the Via del Corso by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII).[2]
Since Alfonso's mother was not born a princess of royal descent, his grandfather Alfonso XIII did not consider young Alfonso in line to the Spanish throne in accordance with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1776. Alfonso's father Jaime disagreed, however, and maintained that his sons were Spanish dynasts with the style His Royal Highness.[citation needed] In Spain up until 1972 Alfonso was generally addressed as Don Alfonso de Borbón y Dampierre. Elsewhere he was often addressed as a prince with the style His Royal Highness.
From his birth Alfonso was considered a French prince with the style His Royal Highness by those legitimists who believed that Alfonso XIII was also the heir to the French throne. When his grandfather died February 28, 1941, Alfonso's father Jaime succeeded him in this French claim; Alfonso was thereupon recognised by the legitimists as Dauphin of France.
In 1941 Alfonso moved with his family to Lausanne in Switzerland. They lived first at the Hotel Royal, before Alfonso and his younger brother Gonzalo were sent to the Collège Saint-Jean in Fribourg.[3] On 8 December 1946 Alfonso made his first communion; on the same day he was confirmed by Cardinal Pedro Segura y Sáenz, Archbishop of Seville.[4]
On November 25, 1950, Alfonso received the title duc de Bourbon (Duke of Bourbon) from his father.[5]
In the 1960s General Francisco Franco toyed with the idea of naming Alfonso as his successor as Head of State of Spain, before designating Juan Carlos as the future monarch in July 1969. In December 1969 Alfonso was appointed Ambassador of Spain to Sweden, a position he held until 1973.
On March 8, 1972, in the Palace of El Pardo in Madrid, Alfonso married Doña María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, daughter of Don Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, 10th Marquess of Villaverde, and of his wife, Doña Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco (only daughter of General Franco). The witnesses of the marriage were General Franco and Alfonso's mother. Alfonso and Carmen received a civil divorce 1982 and an annulment in 1986.
Alfonso and Carmen had two sons:
- Don Francisco Alfonso Jaime Cristobal Victor José Gonzalo Cecilio de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú (November 22, 1972 - February 7, 1984).
- Don Luis-Alfonso Gonzalo Victor Manuel de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú (born 1974).
On November 22, 1972, Alfonso received the Spanish title duque de Cádiz (Duke of Cadiz) from General Franco, and was recognised with the style His Royal Highness. The title Duke of Cadiz was a title used by the Royal House of Spain and had formerly been held by Alfonso's great-great-grandfather the Infante Francisco de Asis.
On March 20, 1975, Alfonso's father Jaime died; he was immediately recognised by his supporters as King Alphonse III of France. On August 3, 1975, he took the courtesy title duc d'Anjou (Duke of Anjou).[6]
From 1977 to 1984 Alfonso was President of the Spanish Skiing Federation. From 1984 to 1987 he was President of the Spanish Olympic Committee.[7]
On February 7, 1984, Alfonso was driving home with his sons from a ski trip in the Pyrenees. His car collided with a truck. His eldest son Francisco was killed in the accident; his younger son Luis-Alfonso was in hospital for a month; Alfonso himself required six operations.[8] A judge ruled that Alfonso had been negligent and stripped him of the custody of Luis-Alfonso.[9]
In 1987 Prince Henri d'Orléans, eldest son of the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France, initiated a court action against Alfonso for his use of the title Duke of Anjou and the coat-of-arms France Moderne (three fleur-de-lis or); Henri asked the court to fine Alfonso 50 000 French francs for each future violation. In 1988 Ferdinand, Duke of Castro and Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma joined Henri's lawsuit in reference to the use of the title Duke of Anjou, but not in respect to the coat-of-arms. On December 21, 1988, the Tribunal de grand instance of Paris ruled that the lawsuit was inadmissible because the title's legal existence could not be proven; that neither the plaintiff (Henri) nor the intervenors (Fernando and Sixtus) had established their claims to the title; and that Henri was not injured from the use of the plain arms of France by the Spanish branch of the Bourbon family.[10]
Alfonso died in a skiing accident in Beaver Creek, Colorado on January 30, 1989.[11] He collided with a cable which was being raised to support a banner at the finish line of a course at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.
In March 1989 Prince Henri d'Orléans and Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma appealed the judgement in the lawsuit about the use of a title and arms by Alfonso; the original judgement against them was upheld.
[edit] Ancestors
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Begoña Aranguren, Emanuela de Dampierre, Memorias: Esposa y madre de los Borbones que pudieron reinar en España (Madrid: Esfera, 2003), 111.
- ^ Aranguren, 112; Marc Dem, Le duc d'Anjou m'a dit: La vie de l'aîné des Bourbons (Paris: Perrin, 1989), 16.
- ^ Dem, 23.
- ^ Dem, 24.
- ^ État présent de la Maison de Bourbon, 3e éd. (Paris: Editions de Léopard d'or, 1985), 115.
- ^ État présent de la Maison de Bourbon, 3e éd., 115.
- ^ "Alfonso de Borbón, 52, of Spain Dies in Colorado Skiing Accident", The New York Times (February 1, 1989): A19.
- ^ Marc Dem, Le duc d'Anjou m'a dit: la vie de l'aîné des Bourbons (Paris: Perrin, 1989), 139.
- ^ "Alfonso de Borbón, 52, of Spain Dies in Colorado Skiing Accident", The New York Times (February 1, 1989): A19.
- ^ François Velde, "Lawsuit brought by the comte de Clermont against the duc d'Anjou (1987-89)".
- ^ "Alfonso de Borbón, 52, of Spain Dies in Colorado Skiing Accident", The New York Times (February 1, 1989): A19.
[edit] Bibliography
Dem, Marc. Le duc d'Anjou m'a dit: la vie de l'aîné des Bourbons. Paris: Perrin, 1989. ISBN 226200725X.
Silve de Ventavon, Jean. La légitimité des lys et le duc d'Anjou. Paris: Editions F. Lanore, 1989. ISBN 2851570609.
Zavala, José M. Dos infantes y un destino. Barcelona: Plaza & Janés, 1998. ISBN 8401550068.
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Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty
Died: January 30 1989 |
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| Preceded by Jacques II |
— TITULAR — King of France and Navarre March 20, 1975 – January 30, 1989 Reason for succession failure: Bourbon monarchy abolished in 1830 |
Succeeded by Louis XX |
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