Infante Carlos of Spain, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, KOGF (Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece), KGCHS (Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem) (Carlos María Alfonso Marcelo de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y de Borbón-Parma; 16 January 1938 – 5 October 2015) was 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 was one of two claimants of the dignity of Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies. The other claimant was his second cousin Prince Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Castro. Infante Carlos was 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 was 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 by his father, King Charles III of Spain, on 16 October 1759 (ten days after abdicating the Two Sicilies Crown). Although Ferdinand had two elder brothers, his eldest brother was mentally retarded and deemed unfit to inherit any crown; his next eldest brother, meanwhile, was his father's heir to the crown of Spain; treaty provisions prevented the union of the crowns of Spain, Naples and Sicily under one person.

HRH Prince Carlo di Borbone, grandfather of the Infante, is alleged to have renounced his rights by signing the Act of Cannes. While "Duke of Castro" is a title that belongs to the Head of the Royal House along with Duke of Parma, Piacenza, etc., Duke of Calabria is a title of the Crown Prince, corresponding to the Spanish Prince of Asturias, and 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 was also next in line for the Spanish throne after the legitimate descendants 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 the then Prince Juan Carlos, a special school that the Count and dictator Francisco Franco had prepared for the heir of the crown.

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

Infante Carlos was 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 on 25 February 1964, of which he was the doyen, and was 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 received the Banda of the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle among other Orders. Infante Carlos was 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). He died on 5 Octber 2015 at the age of 77.

Marriage and children

In 1965 Carlos married Anne of Orléans (born 1938), 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 had 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 Calabria (born 1968 in Madrid), married Sofia Landaluce y Melgarejo (born 1973) in 2001 at Madrid,
  • Prince Jaime de Borbón-dos Sicilias y Landaluce, Duke of Noto and Capua (born 1993)
  • Prince Juan de Borbón-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 2003)
  • Prince Pablo de Borbón-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 2004)
  • Prince Pedro de Borbon-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 2005)
  • Princess Sofia de Borbon-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 12 November 2008)
  • Princess Blanca de Borbon-dos Sicilias y Landaluce (born 7 April 2011)
  • Princess María of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 5 March 2015)

• Princess Inés María of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1971 in Madrid), married in 2001 at Toledo Napolitan 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)
  • Simeon Nomikos (born 2012)

Sisters

Don Carlos had two sisters:

• Princess Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Salerno (born 1937), married Iñigo Moreno y de Arteaga, 12th Marques de Laula (born 1934) on 1961 and has issue.
• Princess Inés Maria of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Siracusa (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 (1938–1960)
• His Royal Highness The Duke of Noto (1960–1964)
• His Royal Highness The Duke of Calabria (1964–2015)

Prince Carlos's official title since 1994 was: 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 seventeenth 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. After Infanta Alicia's death Carlos's son Pedro will presumably become the titular King of Navarre and represent her entire genealogical inheritance.