タグ: オルレアン王朝【オルレアン朝】【オルレアン家】【ブルボン＝オルレアン家】【ドルレアン】

note:
As of July 2020.

See also:
Line of succession to the former Monarchical throne and others : From (deleted) Wikipedia’s articles.

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The Brazilian monarchy came to an end on November 15, 1889, following a military coup which overthrew Emperor Dom Pedro II and established a republic. According to the Imperial Constitution (1824), the Brazilian monarchy was hereditary according to male-preference primogeniture among the dynastic descendants of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, and the crown could only be inherited by one who held Brazilian nationality.[1] The Imperial constitution also states that the monarch and the first in line should be Catholic,[2][3] and the marriage of a female heir presumptive required consent of the emperor or the Assembly.[4]

Claimants to headship of the post-monarchic Brazilian imperial legacy descend from Emperor Pedro II, including the senior agnates of two branches of the House of Orléans-Braganza; the so-called Petrópolis and Vassouras lines.[5] Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza (born 1945) heads the Petrópolis line, while the Vassouras branch is led by his second cousin, Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza.[1] Rivalry within the family erupted in 1946 when Dom Pedro Gastão (1913–2007) repudiated the renunciation to the throne of his late father, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará (1875–1940), for himself and his future descendants, when he made a non-dynastic marriage in 1908.[1] Pedro de Alcântara was the eldest son of the Princess Imperial Isabel (1846–1921) who, as Pedro II’s elder daughter and heir presumptive when he was dethroned, became the last undisputed head of the family after her father’s death in exile in 1891.[1] Pedro Carlos is Dom Pedro Gastão’s eldest son. Dom Luiz descends from Isabel’s younger son, Prince Luís (1878–1920) who, by a Bourbon princess, fathered Prince Pedro Henrique (1909–1981). Dom Luiz is Pedro Henrique’s son by a Bavarian princess and upholds his dynastic claim to the same legacy.

Overview

In 1908, Dom Pedro de Alcântara wanted to marry Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz (1875–1951) who, although a noblewoman of the kingdom of Bohemia, did not belong to a royal or reigning dynasty. Although the constitution of the Brazilian Empire did not require dynasts to marry equally,[6] it made the marriage of the heir to the throne dependent upon the sovereign’s consent. Princess Isabel, then head of the Brazilian Imperial Family, considered that Brazilian dynasts should adhere to European marital tradition, within which royalty married royalty. Prince Dom Pedro wanted to marry with his mother’s blessing, and so it was agreed that she would consent to the marriage on condition that he resigned his position in the line of succession. As a result, Dom Pedro de Alcantara renounced his rights to the throne of Brazil on 30 October 1908.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] To solemnize this, Dom Pedro, aged thirty-three, signed the document translated here:

I, Prince Pedro de Alcântara Luiz Filipe Maria Gastão Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orleans-Braganza, having maturely reflected, have resolved to renounce the right that, by the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, promulgated on 25 March 1824, accords to me the Crown of that nation. I declare, therefore, that by my free and spontaneous will I hereby renounce, in my own name, as well as for any and all of my descendants, to all and any rights that the aforesaid Constitution confers upon us to the Brazilian Crown and Throne, which shall pass to the lines which follow mine, conforming to the order of succession as established by article 117. Before God I promise, for myself and my descendants, to hold to the present declaration. Cannes 30 October 1908 signed: Pedro de Alcântara of Orleans-Braganza[14]

This renunciation was followed by a letter from Isabel to royalists in Brazil:

9 November 1908, Château d’Eu

Most Excellent Gentlemen Members of the Monarchist Directory,

With all my heart I thank you for the congratulations upon the marriages of my dear children Pedro and Luiz. Luiz took place in Cannes on the 4th with the brilliance that is desired for so solemn an act in the life of my successor to the Throne of Brazil. I was very pleased. Pedro´s shall take place next on the 14th. Before the marriage of Luis he signed his resignation to the crown of Brazil, and here I send it to you, while keeping here an identical copy. I believe that this news must be published as soon as possible (you gentlemen shall do it in the way that you judge to be most satisfactory) in order to prevent the formation of parties that would be a great evil for our country. Pedro will continue to love his homeland, and will give all possible support to his brother. Thank God they are very united. Luis will engage actively in everything with respect to the monarchy and any good for our land. However, without giving up my rights I want that he be up to date on everything so that he may prepare himself for the position which with all my heart I desire that one day he will hold. You may write to him as many times as you may want to so that he shall be informed of everything. My strength is not the same as it once was, but my heart is still the same to love my homeland and all those who are so dedicated to us. I give you all my friendship and confidence,

a) Isabel, comtesse d’Eu

If the 1908 renunciation of Pedro de Alcântara was valid, his brother Luiz (and eventually, Pedro Henrique) became next in the line of succession after their mother.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Isabel’s headship of the Brazilian Imperial House lasted until her death in 1921, when she is widely considered to have been succeeded by her grandson, Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Pedro Henrique was the elder son of Prince Luiz, second child of Isabel and a veteran of World War I who had died in 1920 from an illness he contracted in the trenches.[15]

Prince Pedro de Alcântara did not dispute the validity of the renunciation.[16] Though he did not claim the headship of the Imperial House himself in 1937, he did say in an interview that his renunciation “did not meet the requirements of Brazilian Law, there was no prior consultation with the nation, there was none of the necessary protocol that is required for acts of this nature and, furthermore, it was not a hereditary renunciation.”[17]

The dynastic dispute over the Brazilian crown began after 1940 when Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, eldest son of Pedro de Alcântara repudiated his father’s renunciation and claimed the headship of the Brazilian Imperial House.[18]

After the death of Pedro Gastão in 2007, his eldest son Prince Pedro Carlos and younger children declared themselves republicans.[19] Several of Pedro Gastão’s grandchildren also have dual citizenship.[20]

During the thirty years between abolition of the Brazilian monarchy in 1889 and repeal of the law of banishment against members of the former Imperial family in 1920, all of the dynastic descendants of Pedro II, including the ancestors of the so-called Vassouras and Petropolis rival branches of the family, lived in exile,[1] despite occasional efforts of some of the House of Orléans-Braganza to visit the country.

The descendants of the marriage of Emperor Pedro’s younger daughter, Princess Leopoldina of Brazil (1847–1871), with Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ((1845–1907), also took up residence in Europe: Prince August Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1867–1922) became a career officer in Austria’s navy, marrying Archduchess Karoline Marie of Austria in Vienna in 1894.[1] Their daughter, Princess Teresa Cristina of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1902–1990), although born in Austria, became the first of Leopoldina’s descendants to repatriate to Brazil,[1] moving there in 1938 with Baron Lamoral Taxis von Bordogna und Valnigra (1900–1966), a Tyrolean courtier whom she had wed in Salzburg in 1930.[1] On 18 October 1950, their four children, all born in Europe, were retroactively recognized as Brazilian citizens since birth,[1] and on 25 October 1951 the Rio de Janeiro court of justice rendered decision No. 13.036 changing their surname to “Tasso de Saxe-Coburgo e Bragança”.[1][21]

Descendants of Princess Leopoldina

The Saxe-Coburg-Braganza branch is descended from Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, second daughter of D. Pedro II, and her husband, Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Due to several years of difficulties that the Princess Imperial Isabel experienced in producing an heir to the Brazilian throne, clauses were included in the marriage contract between Leopoldina and her husband who ensured that the couple should, among other things, reside part of the year in Brazil and have their children in Brazilian territory, as heirs presumptive of Isabel: Pedro Augusto, Augusto Leopoldo, and José Fernando.[22] With the birth of D. Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará and eldest son of Princess Isabel, the Saxe-Coburg-Braganza branch yielded first place in the line of succession to the Orleans-Braganza branch.

The only members of the Saxe-Coburg-Braganza branch who still retain Brazilian nationality, which was a constitutional requirement to succeed to the now defunct Brazilian throne, are the descendants of Princess Teresa Cristina of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, daughter of Augusto Leopoldo.[23] The Brazilian nationality of princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was recognized by the government of Brazil only in 1922. Their four children were registered in the consulate of Brazil in Vienna as Brazilian citizens.[23] Carlos Tasso de Saxe-Coburgo e Bragança, Baron Taxis-Bordogna-Valnigra and son of Princess Teresa Cristina, is the current head of this branch.

Line of succession (Vassouras)

• Emperor Pedro II (1825–1891)
  • Isabel, Princess Imperial and Countess of Eu (1846–1921)
    • Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza (1878–1920)
      • Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza (1909–1981)
        • Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza (born 1938)
        • (1) Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1941)
        • (2) Prince Antônio of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1950)
          • (3) Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1986)
          • (4) Princess Maria Gabriela of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1989)
        • (5) Eleanora, Princess of Ligne (b. 1953)
          • (6) Henri Antoine, Hereditary Prince of Ligne (b. 1989)
  • Leopoldina, Princess Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1847–1871)
    • Prince August Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1867–1922)
      • Princess Teresa Cristina, Baroness Taxis of Bordogna and Valnigra (1902–1990)
        • (7) Carlos Tasso, Baron Taxis of Bordogna and Valnigra (b. 1931)
          • (8) Afonso Carlos Tasso de Saxe-Coburgo e Bragança (b. 1970)

The succession line continues through other descendants of Princess Teresa Cristina of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who still retain Brazilian nationality.[24][25]

 

 

Line of succession (Petrópolis)

• Emperor Pedro II (1825–1891)
  • Isabel, Princess Imperial and Countess of Eu (1846–1921)
    • Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará (1875–1940)
      • Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (1913–2007)
        • Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza (born 1945)
          • (1) Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1979)[26]

 

 

Line of succession in November 1889

• Emperor Pedro I (1798–1834)
  • Emperor Pedro II (born 1825)
    • (1) Isabel, Princess Imperial and Countess of Eu (b. 1846)
      • (2) Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará (b. 1875)
      • (3) Prince Luís (b. 1878)
      • (4) Prince Antônio Gastão (b. 1881)
    • Leopoldina, Princess Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1847–1871)
      • (5) Prince Pedro Augusto of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1866)
      • (6) Prince August Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1867)
      • (7) Prince Ludwig Gaston of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1870)
  • (8) Princess Januária, Countess of Aquila (b. 1822)
  • (9) Francisca, Princess of Joinville (b. 1824)

note:
As of August 2020.
It is also Line of succession to the former French throne (Unionist) or Line of succession to the French throne (Legitimist-Orléanist).

See also:
Line of succession to the former Monarchical throne and others : From (deleted) Wikipedia’s articles.

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The Orléanist claimant to the throne of France is Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme. He is the uncontested heir to the Orléanist position of “King of the French” held by Louis-Philippe, and is also King Charles X’s heir as “King of France” if the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht (by which Philip V of Spain renounced for himself and his agnatic descendants any claim to the French throne) was valid. According to the Family Compact of 1909, only the descendants of the then pretender’s father are considered to be dynasts of the House of France. The founders of the cadet branches of Orleans-Braganza and Orléans-Galliera, by becoming foreigners, are considered under house law to have renounced their rights to the throne.[1] If the current line were to become extinct, the Orleans-Braganza have, however, reserved their right to renew their claims.[1]

Rules explaining the order of succession

Succession under the Ancien Regime

Prior to the Treaty of Utrecht, rules of succession to the crown of France were deemed to have evolved historically and additively, rather than to have been legislated or amended, constituting part of the fundamental laws of the nation.[2][3]

1. Inalienability (or indisposability) of the crown: no one has the power to change the dynastic order.
2. Continuity of the crown: a new ruler succeeds as soon as his predecessor dies; the throne is never vacant
3. Heredity: The crown is hereditary in the House of Capet
4. Primogeniture: The elder son is preferred over the younger; the senior descendant represents his deceased ancestor in the line of succession.
5. Masculinity: The heir must be male.
6. Male collaterality: In the absence of male descendants in the King’s male line, the closest male collateral relative of the King is the heir.
7. Catholicism: the King must be Catholic.
8. Nationality: the heir must be French.[4][5][6]

The succession devolves only upon legally legitimate descendants, born in Catholic marriages. Further, children issuing from marriages expressly forbidden by the king are considered illegitimate.

Treaty of Utrecht and the “defect pérégrinité”

Main article: Treaty of Utrecht

The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 caused a breach in the traditional rules of succession to the throne of France. It had been opposed by some members of the Parlement of Paris because, in order to prohibit (on threat of resuming Continental war) the union by inheritance of the kingdoms of France and Spain, it required the exclusion of the Spanish Bourbons from the French throne, which potentially conflicted with the principles of indisposability of the crown and male primogeniture. Nonetheless, termination of the eligibility of Philip V of Spain and his heirs male to inherit the French crown, on the one hand, and international recognition of his retention of the crown of Spain on the other, were agreed to by negotiators for France, Spain and the other European powers who crafted and then obtained ratification of the treaty.

Philip officially signed the renunciation of any future claim for himself and his descendants to the crown of France, and the treaty incorporates the effects of his renunciation. That renunciation was formally ratified by King Louis XIV and registered, pursuant to French law, by the Parlement of Paris. Letters patent issued by Louis XIV in 1700 authorising his grandson Philip to leave France to reign as king over Spain while retaining his French nationality and dynastic rights, were officially revoked.[7][8] These modifications were never officially repudiated by the organs of government of France.

For monarchists who considered the Treaty of Utrecht valid, the departure of Philip to Spain in order to assume that kingdom’s crown, and the retention by his heirs of that throne over the next 300 years, intruded the vice de pérégrinité (“flaw of foreignness”) in his dynastic claim to France, excluding himself and his descendants forever from the succession. Finally, Philip’s renunciation meant, they believed, that with the death in 1883 of Henri, Count of Chambord, the House of Orléans had become heirs to the Capetian dynasty’s claim to the crown of France.

Family Compact of 1909

Recognizing the principle of pérégrinité and therefore the impossibility for foreign princes to claim the crown of France,[4][5] the Orléans claimants and their supporters consider excluded from the succession to the throne the foreign descendants of King Louis-Philippe: the Brazilian House of Orléans-Braganza (descendants of the Comte d’Eu) and the Spanish Orléans-Galliera (descendants of Antoine, Duke of Montpensier).[9][10]

The 1909 “Family Compact” (Pacte de Famille) was negotiated between the head of the French branch Philippe, Duke of Orléans and the head of the Brazilian branch Gaston, Comte d’Eu, subsequently signed by the adult males of both branches of the Orléans family, save one (Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres, then the oldest member of the family, who died the following year). It confirms the exclusion of members of the Brazilian branch from the French succession on grounds of pérégrinité.[10] Further, it “takes note” of a written promise given by the Comte d’Eu and his son to refrain from asserting any claim to the French throne and to the position of Head of the House of France until the total extinction of all the other dynastic branches of the House of France (the Montpensiers were already deemed excluded).[10]

Alfred de Gramont alleged in his diary, “L’ami du Prince: Journal of a Novel”, published by Eric Mension Rigau-Fayard in 2011 that this decision was made by the Orléans for two reasons: first, the desire of other dynasts to exclude the Comte d’Eu and the princes of Orléans-Braganza (who were the heirs presumptive to the Empire of Brazil, and after abolition of the monarchy in 1889, pretenders thereto), and second, the influence of French nationalism. However, exclusion from the French succession as a consequence of permanent emigration to Brazil had been acknowledged and accepted in writing by the Comte d’Eu prior to his marriage to the Princess Imperial of Brazil.

Throne of Albania

The Orléans were consistent in applying the nationality requirement, as exemplified by an example involving the prospect of acquisition of yet another throne by a member of the family. Albania was emerging as an independent nation in 1913, and sought an appropriate European prince to whom they might offer their new throne. Apparently an approach was made to the younger brother of the Duke of Orléans, Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Montpensier, who responded “There is no crown in the world that could attract me if, to obtain it, I must put into question two titles of which I am rightly proud, that of French citizen and that of French prince. I am resolved to decline any candidacy to the throne of Albania”[11] Eventually, Albania chose Prince William of Wied to wear its crown. He reigned from March to September 1914.

Rulings of 2nd Count of Paris

Henri, Count of Paris (1908–1999) had amended the order of succession several times within the House of Orléans. Considering the marriages of his sons Michel and Thibaut without his prior approval as misalliances, the Count of Paris excluded them and their descendants from the royal succession in 1967 and 1973.

Later, in 1984, the Count of Paris also excluded his eldest son, Prince Henri (then known as “Count of Clermont”) from the succession because of his divorce from Duchess Marie Thérèse of Württemberg and civil remarriage with Micaela Cousiño y Quiñones de León, a divorcée. As Head of the House of Orléans, his father considered that by divorcing and remarrying without obtaining prior approval, his eldest son had excluded himself from the order of succession.

Finally, in 1987, the Count of Paris proclaimed his grandson, Prince Jean, as Duke of Vendôme and heir apparent to the claim to the throne in the places of his father (who was demoted to “Count of Mortain”) and of his elder brother, Prince François, who suffered from a mental handicap.

No historical statutory law or precedent was cited as grounds for these changes in the line of succession. Regarding Henri’s second marriage, however, the royal right to exclude (as illegitimate) descendants born of marriages of French dynasts contracted in defiance of the King’s will had been asserted by Louis XIII, both to the Parlement of Paris and to the Church of France, and was officially accepted by both.[12][13] The fundamental laws of the ancien regime had not, however, provided for the exclusion from the succession to the crown of dynasts who married without kingly authorization and their descendants, nor of the mentally ill.

Since 1990 relations between the Count of Paris and his eldest son normalized, and Prince Henri was recognized as reinstated in the line of succession to the crown and restored to his dynastic title, “Count of Clermont”. Clermont’s first wife was accorded the title “Duchess of Montpensier” and retention of her place in the dynasty, while Clermont’s second wife was granted the title “Princess de Joinville” with the style of Royal Highness.

Rulings of third Count of Paris

Becoming the Head of the House of Orléans on his father’s death in 1999, the new Count of Paris and “Duke of France” cancelled the dynastic exclusions imposed by his father. Acknowledging that no one has the power to change the order in succession of a prince of the blood royal of France, he recognised his brother, Prince Michel, Count of Evreux and his male-line descendants, and Robert, Count of La Marche, son of his deceased brother Prince Thibaut, Count of La Marche, as possessing succession rights to the French crown, should it ever be restored.

Nevertheless, the new Count of Paris placed the branch of Prince Michel after that of Prince Jacques in the order of succession. It has been argued, however, that since Michel had “seen the day” after his twin brother Jacques, and French primogeniture historically considered the last child to emerge from the womb as senior in the order of birth to other siblings born following a single confinement, this ruling may have been compliant with the tradition of the ancien régime.[citation needed]

Despite the fact that some Orléanists considered that the severe disabilities of Prince François should exclude him from the line of succession,[14] and his younger brother Vendôme was appointed his permanent legal guardian,[15] their father recognized his eldest son as the “Dauphin”. François, however, died without issue in 2017, thereby rendering moot the “council of regency” the Count of Paris had created to exercise future dynastic authority in his son’s behalf and resolving the public dispute that decision had evoked within the family: In January 2018 the Count of Paris recognized the Duke of Vendôme as his rightful successor.[15]

Order of succession

• Henri, Count of Paris (1908–1999)
  • Henri, Count of Paris, Duke of France (1933–2019)
    • Jean, Count of Paris (born 1965) ^{P G E}
      • (1) Prince Gaston of Orléans (born 2009) ^E
      • (2) Prince Joseph of Orléans (born 2016)
    • (3) Prince Eudes, Duke of Angoulême (born 1968) ^{P G}
      • (4) Prince Pierre of Orléans (born 2003)[16]
  • (5) Prince Jacques, Duke of Orléans (born 1941) ^{P G}
    • (6) Prince Charles Louis, Duke of Chartres (born 1972) ^{P G}
      • (7) Prince Philippe, Duke of Valois (born 1998) ^{P G}
      • (8) Prince Constantin of Orléans (born 2003)[17]
    • (9) Prince Foulques, Duke of Aumale, Count of Eu (born 1974) ^{P G}
  • (10) Prince Michel, Count of Évreux (born 1941) ^{P G}
    • (11) Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou (born 1973) ^G
    • (12) Prince François, Count of Dreux (born 1982) ^G
      • (13) Prince Philippe of Orléans (born 2017)
  • Prince Thibaut, Count of La Marche (1948-1983)
    • (14) Prince Robert, Count of La Marche (born 1976) ^{P G}

 

 

(Superscript letters are placed after a name to indicate the source of the person and his place in the order of succession as of that source’s date:

^P listed by Le Comte de Paris et sa Descendance 1998, Charenton, France: Philippe de Montjouvent, ISBN 2-913211-00-3, p. 9

^G listed by Le Petit Gotha, 2002, Paris: Chantal de Badts de Cugnac and Guy Coutant de Saisseval, ISBN 2-9507974-3-1

^E listed by European Royal History Journal, Issue LXXII, December 2009, East Richmond Heights, California: Arturo Beeche, pp. 34-36)

Line of Succession in February 1848

• Louis Philippe I of France (born 1773)
  • Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans (1810-1842)
    • (1) Prince Philippe, Count of Paris (born 1838)
    • (2) Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres (born 1840)
  • (3) Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours (born 1814)
    • (4) Prince Gaston, Count of Eu (born 1842)
    • (5) Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon (born 1844)
  • (6) Prince François, Prince of Joinville (born 1818)
    • (7) Prince Pierre, Duke of Penthièvre (born 1845)
  • (8) Prince Henri, Duke of Aumale (born 1822)
    • (9) Prince Louis, Prince of Condé (born 1845)

Louis Philippe’s youngest son, Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, married a Spanish princess in 1846 and thus removed himself from the line of succession to the French throne.

This article based on the List of living legitimate male Capetians of Wikipedia’s article.

note:
As of August 2020.

See also:
Line of succession to the former Monarchical throne and others : From (deleted) Wikipedia’s articles.

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The Capetian dynasty is the largest dynasty in Europe, with over 120 living male members descended in the legitimate agnatic line. Since the extinction of the House of Courtenay in 1733, the House of Bourbon is the only remaining branch of legitimate descent.

Descendants in the male line of Louis XIV through his grandson Philip V of Spain are designated as House of Bourbon; descendants in the male line of Philip I, Duke of Orléans, are designated as House of Orléans. All those listed below are actually descendants of King Louis XIII; after the death in 1830 of Louis Henry II, the last Prince of Condé (descended from the youngest son of Charles, Duke of Vendôme), no other legitimate lines of descent from Hugh Capet continued to exist.

Patrilineal descent

The Capetian lineage can be traced back more than 1,200 years and is one of the oldest in Europe. The dynasty achieved royal status either in 888, at the election of Odo (a Robertian) to the crown of France, or in 987, at the election of Hugh Capet, making it the oldest Western European royal dynasty in existence.[citation needed]

1. Robert II of Worms and Rheingau, 770–807
2. Robert III of Worms and Rheingau, 800–834
3. Robert the Strong, Margrave of Neustria, 830–866
4. Robert I, King of the Franks, 866–923
5. Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks, 898–956
6. Hugh Capet, King of the Franks, 939–996
7. Robert II, King of the Franks, 972–1031
8. Henry I, King of the Franks, 1008–1060
9. Philip I, King of the Franks, 1052–1108
10. Louis VI, King of the Franks, 1081–1137
11. Louis VII, King of the Franks, 1120–1180
12. Philip II, King of France, 1165–1223
13. Louis VIII, King of France, 1187–1226
14. Louis IX, King of France, 1214–1270
15. Robert, Count of Clermont, 1256–1317
16. Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, 1279–1342
17. James I, Count of La Marche, 1319–1362
18. John I, Count of La Marche, 1344–1393
19. Louis, Count of Vendôme, c. 1376–1446
20. John II, Count of Vendôme, 1425–1477
21. Francis, Count of Vendôme, 1470–1495
22. Charles, Duke of Vendôme, 1489–1537
23. Antoine, King of Navarre, 1518–1562
24. Henry IV, King of France, 1553–1610
25. Louis XIII, King of France, 1601–1643

Ancestral lines of the Bourbons

• Louis XIII, King of France (1601-1643)
  • Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715)
    • Louis, Dauphin of France (1661-1711)
      • Philip V, King of Spain (1683-1746)
        • Charles III, King of Spain (1716-1788)
          • Charles IV, King of Spain (1748-1819)
            • Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain (1794-1865)
              • Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz (1822-1902)
                • Alfonso XII, King of Spain (1857-1885)
                  • House of Bourbon
                  • House of Bourbon-Spain
              • Enrique, 1st Duke of Seville (1823-1870)
                • Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942)
                  • House of Bourbon-Seville
                • Alberto, 1st Duke of Santa Elena (1854-1939)
                  • House of Bourbon-Santa Elena
          • Ferdinand I, King of Two Sicilies (1751-1825)
            • Francis I, King of Two Sicilies (1777-1830)
              • Ferdinand II, King of Two Sicilies (1810-1859)
                • Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
                  • House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
        • Philip I, Duke of Parma (1720-1765)
          • Ferdinand I, Duke of Parma (1751-1802)
            • Louis, King of Etruria (1773-1803)
              • Charles II, Duke of Parma (1799-1883)
                • Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
                  • House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (1640-1701)
    • Philippe II, Duke of Orleans (1674-1723)
      • Louis IV, Duke of Orléans (1703-1752)
        • Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (1725-1785)
          • Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orleans (1747-1793)
            • Louis Philippe I, King of the French (1773-1850)
              • Ferdinand, Duke of Orleans (1810-1842)
                • Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910)
                  • House of Orléans
              • Louis, Duke of Nemours (1814-1896)
                • Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922)
                  • House of Orléans-Braganza
              • Antoine, Duke of Montpensier (1824-1890)
                • Antonio, Duke of Galliera (1866-1934)
                  • House of Orléans-Galliera

Living Bourbon males born of Catholic marriages

 

 

House of Bourbon

• Alfonso XII of Spain (1857-1885), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941)
    • Jaime, Duke of Segovia (1908-1975)
      • Alfonso, Duke of Cadiz (1936-1989)

1.   Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou (Madrid 25.4.1974, aged 46), Aîné des Capétiens
2.   Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Burgundy (New York 28.5.2010, aged 10)
3.   Alphonse de Bourbon, Duke of Berry (New York 28.5.2010, aged 10)
4.   Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Touraine (New York 1.2.2019, aged 1)

House of Bourbon-Spain

• Alfonso XII of Spain (1857-1885)
  • Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941)
    • Juan, Count of Barcelona (1913-1993)

5.   Juan Carlos I of Spain (Rome 5.1.1938, aged 82)
6.   Felipe VI, King of Spain (Madrid 30.1.1968, aged 52)

House of Bourbon-Seville

• Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Francisco de Paula de Borbón y de la Torre, Duke of Seville (1882-1952)
    • Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Borbón (1912-1995)

7.   Don Francisco de Borbón y Escasany, 5th Duke of Séville (Madrid 16.11.1943, aged 76)
8.   Don Francisco de Borbón y Hardenberg (Madrid 21.1.1979, aged 41)
9.   Don Alfonso Carlos de Borbón y Escasany (Madrid 10.2.1945, aged 75)
10.   Don Alfonso de Borbón y Yordi (Madrid 16.11.1973, aged 46)
11.   Don Enrique de Borbón y Garcia de Lobez (Madrid 18.3.1970, aged 50)

• Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942)
  • José de Borbón y La Torre (1883-1962)
    • Carlos de Borbón y Rich (1915-1978)

12.   Don Carlos de Borbón y Oro (Ciempozuelos 26.6.1940, aged 80)

• Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942)
  • José de Borbón y La Torre (1883-1962)
    • Alberto de Borbón y Rich (1916-1997)

13.   Enrique José de Borbón y Campos (Madrid 11.1.1948, aged 72)

Santa Elena branch

• Alberto María de Borbón y Castellvi, 1st Duke of Santa Elena (1854-1939), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Alberto de Borbón y d’Ast, 2nd Duke of Santa Elena (1883-1959)
    • Alfonso María de Borbón y Pintó, Marquess of Santa Fe de Guardiola (1909-1938)
      • Alberto de Borbón y Perez del Pulgar, 3rd Duke of Santa Elena (1933-1995)

14.   Don Alfonso de Borbón y Sanchiz, 4th Duke of Santa Elena (Madrid 31.3.1961, aged 59)
15.   Don Alfonso de Borbón y Escrivá de Romani (Madrid 2.2.1995, aged 25)

• Alberto María de Borbón y Castellvi, 1st Duke of Santa Elena (1854-1939)
  • Alberto de Borbón y d’Ast, 2nd Duke of Santa Elena (1883-1959)
    • Alfonso María de Borbón y Pintó, Marquess of Santa Fe de Guardiola (1909-1938)
      • Alfonso de Borbón y Perez del Pulgar (1937-2007)
        • Alfonso de Borbón y Medina (1963-2005)

16.   Don Alfonso de Borbón y Pérez-Menzel (6.11.1999, aged 20)
17.   Don Fernando de Borbón y Medina (Seville 15.6.1966, aged 54)
18.   Fernando de Borbón y Vallejo (12.3.2001, aged 19)
19.   Ignacio de Borbón y Vallejo (12.10.2005, aged 14)
20.   Jamie Santiago de Borbón y Medina (Seville 19.7.1971, aged 49)

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Calabria branch

• Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1870-1949)
    • Alfonso, Duke of Calabria (1901-1964)
      • Carlos, Duke of Calabria (1938-2015),

21.   Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria (Madrid 16.10.1968, aged 51)
22.   Prince Juan of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Madrid 18.4.2003, aged 17)
23.   Prince Pablo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Madrid 28.6.2004, aged 16)
24.   Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Madrid 3.1.2007, aged 13)

Castro branch

• Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
  • Ranieri, Duke of Castro (1883-1973)
    • Ferdinand, Duke of Castro (1926-2008)

25.   Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (St.Raphael 24.2.1963, aged 57)

• Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
  • Filippo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1885-1949)
    • Gaëtano of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1917-1984)

26.   Adrian de Bourbon (Warrington 7.4.1948, aged 72)
27.   Philip de Bourbon (Harare 5.5.1977, aged 43)
28.   Gregory de Bourbon (Warrington 2.1.1950, aged 70)
29.   Christian de Bourbon (Vancouver 11.4.1974, aged 46)
30.   Raymond de Bourbon (Harare 8.11.1978, aged 41)

• Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
  • Gabriel of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1897-1975)
    • Prince Antoine of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1929-2019)

31.   Prince François of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Ravensburg 20.6.1960, aged 60)
32.   Prince Antoine of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Geneva 6.6.2003, aged 17)
33.   Prince Gennaro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Ravensburg 27.1.1966, aged 54)

• Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
  • Gabriel of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1897-1975)

34.   Prince Casimir of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Warsaw 8.11.1938, aged 81)
35.   Prince Louis of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Rio de Janeiro 28.11.1970, aged 49)
36.   Prince Paulo Afonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (2014, aged 6)
37.   Prince Alexander of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (São Paulo 9.8.1974, aged 45), priest

House of Bourbon-Parma

• Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
    • Xavier, Duke of Parma (1889-1977)
      • Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (1930-2010)

38.   Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma (Nijmegen 27.1.1970, aged 50)
39.   Carlos, Hereditary Prince of Bourbon-Parma (The Hague 24.4.2016, aged 4)
40.   Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi (Nijmegen 13.10.1972, aged 47)
41.   Prince Sixte Henri of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Aranjuez (Pau 22.7.1940, aged 80)

Luxembourg branch

• Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
  • Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
    • Felix of Bourbon-Parma (1893-1970)
      • Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1921-2019)

42.   Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Chat. Betzdorf 16.4.1955, aged 65)
43.   Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 11.11.1981, aged 38)
44.   Prince Charles of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 10.5.2020, aged 0)
45.   Prince Félix of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 3.6.1984, aged 36)
46.   Prince Liam of Nassau (Geneva 28.11.2016, aged 3)
47.   Prince Louis of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 3.8.1986, aged 33)
48.   Prince Noah of Nassau (Luxembourg 21.9.2007, aged 12)
49.   Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 17.4.1992, aged 28)
50.   Prince Jean of Luxembourg (Chat. Betzdorf 15.5.1957, aged 63)
51.   Prince Constantin of Nassau (Paris 22.7.1988, aged 32)
52.   Prince Wenceslas of Nassau (Paris 17.11.1990, aged 29)
53.   Prince Carl-Johan of Nassau (Paris 15.8.1992, aged 27)
54.   Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (Chat. Betzdorf 1.5.1963, aged 57)
55.   Prince Paul Louis of Nassau (Luxembourg 4.3.1998, aged 22)
56.   Prince Léopold of Nassau (Luxembourg 2.5.2000, aged 20)
57.   Prince Jean of Nassau (Luxembourg 13.7.2004, aged 16)

• Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
  • Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
    • Felix of Bourbon-Parma (1893-1970)
      • Charles of Luxembourg (1927-1977)

58.   Prince Robert of Luxembourg (Fischbach 22.8.1968, aged 51)
59.   Prince Alexandre of Nassau (Aix-en-Provence 18.4.1997, aged 23)
60.   Prince Frederik of Nassau (Aix-en-Provence 18.3.2002, aged 18)

House of Bourbon-Parma

• Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
  • Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
    • René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962)
      • Jacques of Bourbon-Parma (1922-1964)

61.   Prince Philippe of Bourbon-Parma (Copenhagen 22.1.1949, aged 71)
62.   Jacques of Bourbon-Parma (Roskilde 3.1.1986, aged 34)
63.   Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (Roskilde 6.6.1989, aged 31)
64.   Prince Alain of Bourbon-Parma (Roskilde 15.5.1955, aged 65)

• Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
  • Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
    • René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962)
      • Michel of Bourbon-Parma (1926-2018)

65.   Prince Eric of Bourbon-Parma (Copenhagen 28.8.1953, aged 66)
66.   Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (Lejre 12.2.1989, aged 31)
67.   Prince Henri of Bourbon-Parma (Roskilde 14.10.1991, aged 28)
68.   Prince Charles Emmanuel of Bourbon-Parma (Paris 3.6.1961, aged 59)
69.   Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma (Paris 30.10.1991, aged 28)

• Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
  • Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
    • René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962)
      • André of Bourbon-Parma (1928-2011)

70.   Axel of Bourbon-Parma (Paris 18.9.1967, aged 52)
71.   Côme of Bourbon-Parma (Neuilly 7.5.1997, aged 23)

• Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
  • Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
    • Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (1899-1967)
      • Guy of Bourbon-Parma (1940-1991)

72.   Louis of Bourbon-Parma (Paris 25.6.1966, aged 54)
73.   Guy of Bourbon-Parma (Genolier, CH 6.2.1995, aged 25)
74.   Prince Rémy of Bourbon-Parma (Cannes 14.7.1942, aged 78)
75.   Tristan of Bourbon-Parma (Cannes 30.6.1974, aged 46)
76.   Prince Jean Bernard of Bourbon-Parma (Cannes 15.10.1961, aged 58)
77.   Arnaud de Bourbon (Cannes 26.10.1989, aged 30)
78.   Christophe de Bourbon (Mandelieu 4.7.1991, aged 29)

All those listed above are descendants of Louis XIV, King of France

House of Orléans

• Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940)
    • Henri, Count of Paris (1908-1999)
      • Henri d’Orléans, Count of Paris (1933-2019)

79.   Jean d’Orléans, Count of Paris (Boulogne-Billancourt 19.5.1965, aged 55)
80.   Prince Gaston d’Orléans (Paris 19.11.2009, aged 10)
81.   Prince Joseph d’Orléans (Dreux 2.6.2016, aged 4)
82.   Eudes d’Orléans, Duke of Angoulême (Paris 18.3.1968, aged 52)
83.   Prince Martin d’Orléans (Orleans 23.7.2004, aged 17)

• Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910),
  • Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940)
    • Henri, Count of Paris (1908-1999)

84.   Michel d’Orléans, Count of Evreux (Rabat, Maroc 25.6.1941, aged 79)
85.   Charles Philippe d’Orléans, Duke of Anjou (Paris 3.3.1973, aged 47)
86.   Prince François d’Orléans, Count of Dreux (Madrid 10.2.1982, aged 38)
87.   Prince Philippe d’Orléans (12.5.2017, aged 3)
88.   Jacques d’Orléans, Duke of Orleans (Rabat, Maroc 25.6.1941, aged 79)
89.   Charles-Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Chartres (Neuilly-sur-Seine 11.7.1972, aged 48)
90.   Prince Philippe d’Orléans (Buenos Aires 3.11.1998, aged 21)
91.   Prince Constantin d’Orléans (Paris 15.2.2003, aged 17)
92.   Foulques d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale (Paris 9.7.1974, aged 46)

• Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910)
  • Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940)
    • Henri, Count of Paris (1908-1999)
      • Thibaut, Count of La Marche (1948-1983)

93.   Robert d’Orléans, Count of La Marche (Edinburgh 6.9.1976, aged 43)

House of Orléans-Braganza

Petrópolis branch

• Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará (1875-1940)
    • Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (1913-2007)

94.   Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 31.10.1945, aged 74)
95.   Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 12.1.1979, aged 41)
96.   Prince Filipe of Orléans-Braganza (Brasília 31.12.1982, aged 37)
97.   Prince Alfonso Duarte of Orléans-Braganza (Petrópolis 25.4.1948, aged 72)
98.   Prince Manoel Alvaro of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 17.6.1949, aged 71)
99.   Prince Manoel Alfonso of Orléans-Braganza (Sevilla 9.4.1981, aged 39)
100.   Prince Francisco Humberto of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 9.12.1956, aged 63)
101.   Prince Francisco Teodoro of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 25.9.1979, aged 40)
102.   Prince Gabriel of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 13.11.1989, aged 30)

• Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922)
  • Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará (1875-1940)
    • João of Orléans-Braganza (1916-2005)

103.   Prince João Henrique of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 25.4.1954, aged 66)
104.   Prince João Felipe of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 27.11.1986, aged 33)
105.   Prince João Antônio of Orléans-Braganza (Singapore 21.6.2017, aged 3)

Vassouras branch

• Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922)
  • Luís of Orléans-Braganza (1878-1920)
    • Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza (1909-1981)

106.   Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza (Mandelieu 6.6.1938, aged 82)
107.   Prince Eudes of Orléans-Braganza (Mandelieu 8.6.1939, aged 81)
108.   Luiz Filipe of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 3.4.1969, aged 51)
109.   Maximiliano of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 14.6.2012, aged 8)
110.   Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza (Mandelieu 2.2.1941, aged 79)
111.   Prince Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 1.12.1945, aged 74)
112.   Gabriel of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 1.12.1980, aged 39)
113.   Gabriel of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 12.4.2013, aged 7)
114.   Prince Fernando of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 2.2.1948, aged 72)
115.   Prince Antonio of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 24.6.1950, aged 70)
116.   Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 24.4.1986, aged 34)
117.   Prince Francisco of Orléans-Braganza (Jacarezinho 6.4.1955, aged 65)
118.   Prince Alberto of Orléans-Braganza (Jundiai do Sol 23.6.1957, aged 63)
119.   Pedro Alberto of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 31.5.1988, aged 32)
120.   Antonio of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 29.5.1997, aged 23)

House of Orléans-Galliera

• Antonio, Duke of Galliera (1866-1930), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
  • Alfonso, Duke of Galliera (1886-1975)
    • Alvaro, Duke of Galliera (1910-1997)
      • Alonso d’Orléans-Borbón (1941-1975)

121.   Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón, Duke of Galliera (Santa Cruz, Teneriffe 2.1.1968, aged 52)
122.   Don Alonso Juan de Orléans-Borbón (Paris 15.7.1994, aged 26)
123.   Don Alvaro de Orléans-Borbón (Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, 4.10.1969, aged 50)
124.   Don Aiden de Orléans-Borbón (Spain, 19.6.2009, aged 11)
125.   Don Alvaro Jaime de Orléans-Borbón (Rome 1.3.1947, aged 73)
126.   Don Andrea de Orléans-Borbón (Rome 9.7.1976, aged 44)
127.   Don Alois de Orléans-Borbón (Rome 24.3.1979, aged 41)
128.   Don Alonso de Orléans-Borbón (Madrid 23.3.2010, aged 10)

(In French, the list comes to 117 people)

All those listed above are descendants of Louis XIII, King of France

Dynastic claims

According to the “Legitimist” faction of French royalists, all male descendants of Hugh Capet in the legitimate male line are dynasts of the Kingdom of France. According to them, the current heir to the French throne, if restored, is Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou.

Traditional “legitimacy” is based on the old rules that existed in the Ancien Régime of the Kingdom of France; civil marriages were then non-existent. Eudes de Orléans-Bragança (b. 1977) and his brother Guy de Orléans-Bragança (b. 1985), sons of Prince Eudes of Orléans-Braganza, were born of civil marriage only, since their father did not obtain an annulment for his first marriage.[citation needed] Consequently, they are regarded as illegitimate according to canon law. Legitimated children, born before their parents’ marriage, such as the eldest sons of the Duke of Noto and Louis de Luxembourg, were also excluded from the list.

According to the Orleanist faction of French royalists, the current heir to the French throne, if restored, is Jean d’Orléans, Count of Paris. They consider foreigners ineligible to inherit the French throne, or at least the line of descent from Philip V of Spain (who renounced the French throne). The Orleanist order of succession is limited to the senior line of the House of Orleans (the cadet branches of Orleans-Braganza and Orleans-Galliera, and the descendants of Philip V of Spain are considered foreigners). However, François d’Orléans, Count of Clermont, had been disinherited due to mental disability, and the branches of Michel d’Orléans, Count of Evreux and Jacques d’Orléans, Duke of Orleans (fraternal twins) are reversed according to “historical French primogeniture”.

Renunciations

The renunciations of rights to thrones have created rival claims and disputes among the existing branches of the House of Bourbon.

The first of these is the renunciation, in 1713, of Philip V of Spain, grandson of Louis XIV of France, of his rights to the French throne. Such renunciation is invalid under the fundamental laws of that kingdom; in France, the right of succession to the throne was considered an inalienable right, so that the king should always be the senior male descendant of Hugh Capet. Nevertheless, the act was of no practical value until the extinction of the male line of Louis XV of France, which did not occur until 1883. By then the monarchy was no more, and most of the remaining royalists supported the Count of Paris, descendant of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis XIV.

Charles III of Spain ordained that the Kingdoms of Spain and Two Sicilies ought never to be united. In context, the semi-Salic law of succession then operated in Spain, with Two Sicilies as a secundogeniture if that throne is vacant. In 1900, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies renounced his rights of succession to the throne of Two Sicilies, upon his marriage to Mercedes, Princess of Asturias. This made his children heirs presumptive to the Spanish throne. But Alfonso XII and his line pushed them farther down the line of succession, while the death of Ferdinand, Carlos’ elder brother, made them immediate heirs to the defunct throne of Two Sicilies. Carlos’ son Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, reclaimed his rights, to which his uncle, Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro, objected. The dispute is still unresolved; the Calabria claimant is supported by Spain, while the Castro claimant is supported by other royal houses and the other members of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

In 1908, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, wished to marry Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz. Although a Bohemian noblewoman, she did not belong to a royal or reigning dynasty. The constitution of the Brazilian empire did not require dynasts to marry equally, but made the marriage of the heir to the throne dependent upon the Sovereign’s consent. The pretender to the throne was Pedro’s mother, who wanted her children to marry royalty, in order to increase the prospects of a restoration. As a result, he renounced his succession rights to the throne of Brazil. Thus the Vassouras branch, descendants of his younger brother, Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, became the heirs of the Brazilian monarchy. But in 1940, Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, Pedro’s son, rejected his father’s renunciation and claimed the headship of the Brazilian Imperial House.

Other renunciations

• Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, renounced his rights to the Spanish throne for himself and his descendants in 1933 due to his deafness. In 1949, he retracted his renunciation of the throne of Spain, but in 1969, Don Jaime definitively renounced the Spanish succession in favour of his nephew, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, by petition of his son Alfonso de Borbón.
• Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg renounced the titles of the House of Bourbon-Parma for himself and his family in 1986[2] when his eldest son, then-Hereditary Grand Duke Henri married Maria-Theresa Mestre. The reason for this was that the Duke of Parma, Carlos Hugo, ruled the marriage unequal in 1981, as well as the marriage of Prince Jean of Luxembourg to Hélène Suzanna Vestur in 1987, for which he renounced his rights to Luxembourg in 1986.
• Prince Louis of Luxembourg, renounced his right of succession for himself and his heirs upon his morganatic marriage in 2006.