Louis Alphonse de Bourbon

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon[1][2] (Spanish: Luis Alfonso Gonzalo Víctor Manuel Marco de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú, French: Louis Alphonse Gonzalve Victor Emmanuel Marc de Bourbon;[3][4][5] born 25 April 1974, in Madrid) is the head of the House of Bourbon by primogeniture. The Bourbons are the royal family of Spain. Members of the family formerly ruled France and other countries. As a pretender to the French throne, he is styled Louis XX[6] and Duke of Anjou.[2]

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon
Legitimist pretender to the French throne as Louis XX
Pretendence	30 January 1989 – present
Predecessor	Alfonso, Duke of Cádiz
Heir apparent	Louis, Duke of Burgundy
Born	25 April 1974 Madrid, Spanish State
Spouse	María Margarita Vargas Santaella ​ ​ (m. 2004)​
Issue	Eugénie Louis Alphonse Henri
Full name Luis Alfonso Gonzalo Víctor Manuel Marco de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú
House	Bourbon
Father	Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz
Mother	Carmen Martínez-Bordiú, 2nd Duchess of Franco
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Louis Alphonse considers himself the senior heir of King Hugh Capet of France (r. 987–996). His claim to the French throne is based on his descent from Louis XIV of France (r. 1643–1715) through his grandson Philip V of Spain. Philip renounced his claim to the French throne under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The rival Orleanist pretenders argue that as a Spanish citizen Louis Alphonse is ineligible for the throne.[7]

Louis Alphonse is patrilineally the senior great-grandson of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. However, his grandfather Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, renounced his rights to the Spanish throne for himself and his descendants owing to his deafness (a renunciation disputed by legitimists). The crown of Spain has descended to his second cousin, King Felipe VI of Spain. Through his mother, he is also a great-grandson of Spain's caudillo (dictator), General Francisco Franco and through his father, a great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.[3]

Early life

Birth

Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou (2006).

Louis Alphonse was born in Madrid, the second son of Alfonso de Borbón, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, and of his wife María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, eldest granddaughter of Francisco Franco. Alfonso was at that time the dauphin (using "Duke of Bourbon" as title of pretence) according to those who supported the claim of his father, Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia to the French throne. On 20 March 1975, the Infante Jaime ("Henri VI" by Legitimist reckoning) died. Alfonso then asserted his claim to be both Head of the House of Bourbon and Legitimist claimant to the throne of France and the Co-Principality of Andorra. As such, he took the title "Duke of Anjou",[8] and on 19 September 1981 gave Louis Alphonse the title Duke of Touraine.

Childhood

Louis Alphonse's parents separated in 1982, and their Catholic marriage was annulled in 1986. His mother has since remarried civilly twice; he had two stepsisters Mathilda (deceased) and Marella, and a stepbrother Frederick, all born before his mother's marriage to Jean-Marie Rossi and a half-sister, Cynthia Rossi, born afterwards. On 7 February 1984, Louis Alphonse's older brother Francisco died as the result of a car crash in which Louis Alphonse was also injured, although less so than their father, who was driving the automobile.[9] From that date Louis Alphonse was recognised as the heir apparent to his father by the Legitimists. As such, he was given the additional title Duke of Bourbon on 27 September 1984 by his father.[9] In 1987, the Spanish government declared that titles traditionally attached to the dynasty (such as the Dukedom of Cádiz) would henceforth be borne by its members on a lifetime only basis, forestalling Louis Alphonse from inheriting that grandeeship.[9]

Succession

On 30 January 1989, his father died in a skiing accident near Vail, Colorado. Later, in 1994 Louis Alphonse would receive 150 million pesetas following a lawsuit against Vail Associated, which owned the ski resort where the accident occurred.[9] Louis Alphonse was recognised by some members of the Capetian dynasty as Chef de la Maison de Bourbon (Head of the House of Bourbon)[9][10] and took the title Duke of Anjou, but not his father's Spanish dukedom. He is considered the rightful pretender to the French throne by adherents of the Legitimist movement.[9]

Louis' father was elected by the French Society of the Cincinnati to be the representative of Louis XVI (leading to the resignation of the Count of Paris, who had represented the Admiral d'Orléans). On 16 June 1994, Louis Alphonse was elected to succeed his father as the representative of Louis XVI,[11] whose military aid was instrumental to the independence of the United States of America.

In addition to his Spanish citizenship, Louis Alphonse acquired French nationality through his paternal grandmother, Emmanuelle de Dampierre, also a French citizen.[9] He attended the Lycée Français de Madrid, obtaining his COU in June 1992.[9] He studied economics at the IESE Business School. He worked several years for BNP Paribas, a French bank in Madrid. Although he regularly visited France, where his mother lived for several years, he continued to live in Spain.

In June 2006, Louis Alphonse did not attend his mother's third wedding, because he disapproved of her separation from his stepfather, whom he greatly respected, and disagreed with her "celebrity" lifestyle.[12]

Anjou drew media attention when he expressed public support for the Yellow vests movement in France.[13] He also attracted controversy for his leadership of supporters of the late Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, who oppose the Spanish socialist government's plan to remove the dictator's remains from an elaborate memorial tomb near Madrid.[14]

Marriage and children

Louis Alphonse's engagement to marry Venezuelan María Margarita Vargas Santaella, the daughter of the businessman Victor Vargas, was announced in November 2003. They were married civilly in Caracas on 5 November 2004 and religiously on 6 November 2004 in La Romana, Dominican Republic. None of the members of the Spanish royal family attended the wedding. Although no official reason was given, it was no secret that the then king, Juan Carlos I, did not approve his cousin's claim to the French throne, nor the fact that Louis Alphonse issued the wedding invitations styled as "Duke of Anjou".[15] From 2005, the couple resided in Venezuela, where he worked at Banco Occidental de Descuento, before moving to the United States. Subsequently, they took up residence in Madrid.

Louis Alphonse and María Margarita had their first child, Eugénie, on 5 March 2007, at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami. She was baptised at the papal nunciature in Paris in June 2007. Her godparents are Prince Charles-Emmanuel of Bourbon-Parma and his wife Constance. Legitimists recognize her as Princess Eugénie (Eugenia de Borbón Vargas in Spain) and also as the current Madame Royale, the French name commonly given to the eldest unmarried daughter of a King of France.

The couple had twin sons, Louis and Alphonse, on 28 May 2010 in New York City.[16] Their father has conferred upon them the historic French titles of, respectively, Duke of Burgundy (duc de Bourgogne), and Duke of Berry (duc de Berry) (In Spain, the twins are Don Luis and Don Alfonso de Borbón Vargas). Prince Louis, as Legitimist Dauphin of France, is expected to succeed his father as head of the French royal house, the senior Bourbon/Capetian line, in Legitimist reckoning. Louis and Alphonse were baptised on 5 September 2010 at St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City by Cardinal Angelo Comastri. Louis' godparents were Arancha Martínez-Bordíu (his father's maternal aunt) and Francisco D'Agostino (his mother's brother-in-law). Alphonse's godparents were Amparo Corell de Trenor, Baroness de Alacuás and Lorenzo Perales.

Their fourth child, Henri, was born on 1 February 2019 in New York and was granted the title Duke of Touraine (duc de Touraine).[17]

Heraldry

Grand Coat of arms of France, worn by Louis-Alphonse as Louis XX.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

Titles and styles of pretence in France:

• 1974–1984: His Royal Highness Louis Alphonse, fils de France (1974–1984)
• 1981–1984: His Royal Highness The Duke of Touraine (1981–1984)[18]
• 1984–1989: His Royal Highness The Duke of Bourbon (1984–1989)[18]
• 1989–present: His Royal Highness The Duke of Anjou (1989–present)[3][5]
  • in pretense: His Most Christian Majesty The King of France and Navarre

Titles and styles in Spain:

• 1974–2018 : The Most Illustrious Don Luis Alfonso Marco de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú
• 2018[19]–present: The Most Excellent Don Luis Alfonso Marco de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú

The title "Duke of Anjou" was the last French title used by Philip V of Spain, in his capacity as a French prince, prior to his accession as Spanish king. It had long merged with the French crown, last granted by Louis XV to his grandson Louis XVIII of France in 1773. Since 1883, Legitimist pretenders use this style as a courtesy title.[8][20] According to Legitimist usage, dynasts who are French nationals are accorded the style Prince of the Blood (prince du sang).

He is expected to eventually succeed to the Dukedom of Franco, held by his mother Carmen Martínez-Bordiú, 2nd Duchess of Franco,[21] since the succession of the title was officially confirmed in July 2018.[19]

Honours

• House of Bourbon: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal Order of the Holy Spirit[22][23][24]
•  SMOM: Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Obedience of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1st Class[25][26][27]

References

1. His biography at the website of the Institut Duc d'Anjou gives his name as "Louis Alphonse de Bourbon" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 December 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)."
2. His name is given as "Prince Louis Alphonse of Bourbon and Martínez-Bordiú, Duke of Anjou" by Olga S. Opfell in Royalty who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe (2001), p. 11.
3. Eilers, Marlene A. Queen Victoria's Descendants. Princess Beatrice. Rosvall Royal Books, Falkoping, Sweden, 1997. pp. 166, 181; ISBN 91-630-5964-9
4. Enache, Nicolas. La Descendanace de Marie-Therese de Habsburg Reine de Hongrie and Boheme. Maison royale regnante d'Espagne. ICC/Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris, 1999, p. 535. (French). ISBN 2-908003-04-X.
5. Willis, Daniel A. The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain. The Descendants of Princess Anne, The Princess of Orange. Clearfield, Baltimore, 2002. p. 231. ISBN 0-8063-5172-1
6. Ardisson, Thierry, Louis XX: Contre-enquête sur la monarchie, 1986. ISBN 978-2855653341.
7. Opfell, Olga S. (2001). Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0901-3.
8. Gazette du Palais, Tribunal de grande instance de Paris (1re Ch.) 21 décembre 1988, accompanied by the comments of G. Poulon, président de chambre honoraire à la cour de Paris. Prince Henri Philippe Pierre Marie d'Orléans et autres c. Prince Alphonse de Bourbon. 8 March 1990. In French.
9. Les Manuscrits du CEDRE V, Le Royaume d'Espagne III. Cercle d'Etudes des Dynasties Royales Europėennes (CEDRE), Paris, 1992, ISSN 0993-3964 p. 162-164
10. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, Band XV. "Spanien". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1997, p.98. ISBN 3-7980-0814-0.
11. "THE TREATIES OF UTRECHT, RENUNCIATIONS OF 1712 AND THE SUCCESSION TO THE HEADSHIP OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE". Chivalricorders.org. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
12. "relaciones". Elsemanaldigital.com. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
13. O'Reilly, Edward (24 January 2019). "Did You Know? The Tale of the three Frenchmen who still lay claim to the throne". The Local. Stockholm. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
15. "Emanuela de Dampierre, a cuchillo contra Carmen Martínez-Bordíu". Elsemanaldigital.com. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
16. Terra Noticias. "Los Duques de Anjou anuncian el nacimiento de sus hijos Luis y Alfonso". Noticias.terra.es. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
17. "Je suis heureux, avec Marie-Marguerite, de vous annoncer la naissance d'Henri, notre quatrième enfant, aujourd'hui à 13:05 GMT.Il pèse 4,200 kg et mesure 53 cm. La maman et le bébé se portent bien. Nous remercions tous ceux qui s'associent à cette naissance par la prière.pic.twitter.com/yYucXKGX2r". @louisducdanjou (in French). 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
18. Louda, Jirí; MacLagan, Michael (1999). Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe (2nd ed.). London, U.K.: Little, Brown and Company.
19. Boletín Oficial del Estado: no. 161, p. 67519, 4 July 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2020 (in Spanish)
20. Prince Henri Philippe Pierre Marie d'Orléans et autres c. Prince Alphonse de Bourbon, 21 December 1988. JCP 89.II.21213.
21. López, Gema (20 June 2013). "La familia Franco se reparte los títulos: Carmen Martínez Bordiú será marquesa de Villaverde; Luis Alfonso de Borbón nunca será duque de Franco" (in Spanish). Vanitatis. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
22. https://lebleublancroi.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/img_0638-0.jpg?w=640
23. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/dd/90/c0/dd90c0f2eb096d760f00cd7aeb80bd60.jpg
24. https://conseildansesperanceduroi.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/110429100014344235.jpg
25. http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/louis-xx-inducted-in-the-order-of-malta-in-versailles-france-on-june-picture-id110155816?s=612x612
26. https://conseildansesperanceduroi.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/indexty-1.jpg
27. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/03/a0/9e/03a09ecc36b34e307e165538b900cdc5--louis-xiv-knights.jpg

Bibliography

• Thierry Ardisson. Louis XX. Contre-enquête sur la monarchie., Olivier Orban, 1986, ISBN 2-85565-334-7
• Jean Foyer, Titre et armes du prince Louis de Bourbon, Diffusion-Université-Culture, 1990.
• Apezarena, José. Luis Alfonso de Borbón: Un príncipe a la espera, Random House Mondadori, 2007, ISBN 978-84-01-30552-8.
• Cassani Pironti, Fabio. "Bref crayon généalogique de S.A.R. la Princesse Marie-Marguerite, Duchesse d'Anjou, née Vargas Santaella", Le Lien Légitimiste, n. 16, 2007.
• Opfell, Olga S. H.R.H. Louis-Alphonse, Prince of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou: Royal House of France (House of Bourbon), Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2001. 11–32.

External links