Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma

Infobox Bourbon-Parma Royalty|prince|consort
name =Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma
title =Prince Felix of Luxembourg


caption =
consortreign =November 6, 1919 - November 12, 1964
spouse =Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
issue =Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg
Marie-Adélaide, Countess of Donnersmarck
Marie Gabriele, Countess of Holstein-Ledreborg
Prince Charles
Alix, Princess of Ligne
royal house =House of Bourbon-Parma
styles ="HRH" Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma
father =Robert I, Duke of Parma
mother =Maria Antonia of Portugal
date of birth =birth date|1893|10|28|mf=y
place of birth =
date of death =death date and age|1970|4|8|1893|10|28|mf=y
place of death =|

Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma and of Luxembourg (given names: "Felix Marie Vincent"; born: October 28, 1893-April 8, 1970) was the hudband of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the father of her six children, including Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Early life

Prince Felix was one of the twenty-four children of the deposed Robert I, Duke of Parma, being the duke's sixth child and third son by his second wife, Maria Antonia of Portugal. His maternal grandparents were Miguel of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

He was also the younger brother (by sixteen months) of Empress Zita of Austria. Of the twelve children of Duke Robert's first marriage to Maria-Pia of the Two Sicilies, three died as infants, six were mentally retarded, and only three married. Despite loss of his throne, Duke Robert and his family enjoyed considerable wealth, traveling in a private train of more than a dozen cars among his castles at Schwarzau am Steinfeld near Vienna, Villa Pianore in northwest Italy, and the magnificent château de Chambord in France. Less than four months after Robert's death in 1907 the Grand Marshal of the Austrian Court declared six of the children of his first marriage legally incompetent, at the behest of Duchess Maria Antonia. Nonetheless, Robert's primary heir was Elias, Duke of Parma, (1880-1959), the youngest son of the first marriage and the only one to father children of his own. Duke Elias also became the legal guardian of his six elder siblings. Although Prince Felix's elder brothers, Prince Sixte and Prince Xavier, eventually sued their half-brother Duke Elias to obtain a greater share of the ducal fortune, they lost in the French courts, leaving Prince Felix with modest prospects.

Marriage to Grand Duchess Charlotte

On November 6, 1919 the prince married Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, having become also "Prince of Luxembourg" by Grand Ducal decree the day before. Unlike some European consorts, Felix neither adopted his wife's dynastic surname (of Nassau), nor relinquished his own title and name "Prince of Bourbon-Parma". His traditional style as a Bourbon prince of the Parmesan branch is the reason that cadet members of the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg enjoy the style of "Royal Highness" (but that style belongs to the Luxembourg monarch and heir apparent by right, as the historical prerogative of grand ducal dynasties).

Felix served in the Austrian Dragoons as lieutenant and captain, but resigned his commission in November 1918. He was President of the Luxembourg Red Cross between 1923 and 1932 and again between 1947 and 1969. He was also Colonel of the Luxembourg Volunteers Company since 1920 and Inspector-General of the Luxembourg Army between 1945 and 1967.

Urban legend has it that Felix lost the Grünewald, a forest owned by the Grand Duchess, at a casino in 1934, but this is false; part of the property was sold, along with Berg Castle, to the Luxembourgian government, with the revenue paying for the upkeep of the grand-ducal household, and was not spent on personal consumption, let alone gambling losses. [fr icon cite web |url=http://www.investigateur.info/Display.pdf |title=Réponse à la question parlementaire no.1220 du 4 août 2006 de Messieurs les Députés Gast Gibéryen et Roby Mehlen |accessdate=2007-06-28 |last=Juncker |first=Jean-Claude |authorlink=Jean-Claude Juncker |coauthors= |date=2007-02-15 |format=PDF |publisher=Investigateur ]

Marriage and children

On November 6, 1919, he married Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, and they had six children:

* Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (born 1921).
* Elizabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg (born 1922), who married HSH Duke Franz of Hohenberg (1927–1977). Has issue.
* Princess Marie-Adélaide (1924-2007), who married Karl, Count Henckel of Donnersmarck (born 1928).
* Princess Marie Gabriele (born 1925), who married Knud, Count of Holstein-Ledreborg (1919–2001). Has issue.
* Prince Charles (1927–1977), who married commoner Joan Dillon, a daughter of C. Douglas Dillon, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Had issue.
* Alix, Princess of Ligne (born 1929), who married Antoine Maria Joachim Lamoral, 13th Prince de Ligne (1925–2005)

Ancestry

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1= 1. Felix of Bourbon-Parma
2= 2. Robert I, Duke of Parma
3= 3. Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal
4= 4. Charles III, Duke of Parma
5= 5. Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France
6= 6. Miguel of Portugal
7= 7. Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
8= 8. Charles II, Duke of Parma
9= 9. Maria Teresa of Savoy
10= 10. Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry
11= 11. Princess Caroline Ferdinande Louise of the Two Sicilies
12= 12. John VI of Portugal
13= 13. Infanta Charlotte of Spain
14= 14. Constantine, Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
15= 15. Princess Marie Agnes Henriette of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
16= 16. Louis of Etruria
17= 17. Maria Louisa, Duchess of Lucca
18= 18. Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
19= 19. Maria Theresa of Austria-Este
20= 20. Charles X of France
21= 21. Marie Thérèse of Savoy
22= 22. Francis I of the Two Sicilies
23= 23. Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria
24= 24. Peter III of Portugal
25= 25. Maria I of Portugal
26= 26. Charles IV of Spain
27= 27. Princess Maria Luisa of Parma
28= 28. Karl V, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
29= 29. Countess Sophie Luise of Windisch-Graetz
30= 30. Carl Ludwig III, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
31= 31. Countess Amalie Henriette Charlotte of Solms-Baruth

Footnotes