Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma

Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known in France before 1974 as Prince Xavier de Bourbon-Parme, known in Spain as Francisco Javier de Borbón-Parma y de Braganza or simply as Don Javier (25 May 1889 – 7 May 1977), was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma and Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.

Prince Xavier
Duke of Parma
Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
Tenure	15 November 1974 – 7 May 1977
Predecessor	Duke Robert
Successor	Duke Carlos Hugo
Born	25 May 1889 Villa Pianore, Lucca, Kingdom of Italy
Died	7 May 1977 (aged 87) Zizers, Switzerland
Burial	Solesmes Abbey
Spouse	Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset ​ ​ (m. 1927; died 1977)​
Issue	Princess Marie Françoise Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma Princess María Teresa Princess Cecilia María Princess Marie des Neiges Prince Sixtus Henri
Full name Francis Xavier Charles Maria
House	Bourbon-Parma
Father	Robert I, Duke of Parma
Mother	Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal
Religion	Roman Catholicism

He was the second son of the last reigning Duke of Parma Robert I and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, although born after his father lost the throne. Educated with austerity at Stella Matutina, he grew up in France, Italy and Austria, where his father had properties. During World War I, he joined the Belgian army, fighting with distinction. With his brother Sixtus he was a go-between in the so-called Sixtus Affair, a failed attempt by his brother-in-law, Emperor Charles I of Austria to negotiate a separate peace with the Allies (1916–1917) through the Bourbon-Parma brothers.

In 1936 Don Alfonso Carlos de Borbón, Duke of Madrid died, ending the male line of pretenders to the Spanish throne descended from the rebel founder of Carlism, Infante Carlos, Count of Molina. Having no children with his wife, Maria das Neves of Portugal, Don Alfonso Carlos designated her nephew Xavier to succeed him as regent in exile of the "Carlist Communion" and as Grand Master of the Order of Prohibited Legitimacy.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), he entered Spain twice and the Carlist troops, known as Requetés, sided with the nationalists of General Franco. He visited the North Front and Andalucia, but was expelled from Spain in 1938. He settled in France at the castle of Bostz, a property of his wife. During World War II, he reenlisted in the Belgian army. After Belgium and France were invaded by the Nazis, he moved to Vichy and took part in the French Resistance. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1941, he was condemned to death for espionage and terrorism. Pardoned by Pétain, he was confined in Clermont-Ferrand, Schirmeck, Natzwiller and lastly, in September, he was imprisoned in Dachau from which he was freed by the Americans in April 1945.

During the 1950s and 1960s he was active in the Carlist movement. In May 1952, persuaded of the need to be appointed king by the National Council of Traditionalist Communion, he agreed to conclude the sixteen years of his regency by being proclaimed King of Spain in Barcelona under the name Javier I. Soon thereafter he was expelled from Spain by order of the Francoist government. At the death of his unmarried nephew Robert of Parma in 1974, Prince Xavier became titular Duke of Parma. By then he was in frail health, having suffered life-threatening injuries in a 1972 traffic accident. He transferred all political authority to his eldest son, Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, and formally abdicated as the Carlist king in his elder son's favor in 1975.

Road to Spain

Family

Duke Robert I of Parma and his family. Prince Xavier is the young boy next to his mother in the center of the picture.

In the male line, Xavier was a descendant of Louis XIV of France and of his grandson, King Felipe V of Spain.[1] Prince Xavier was born into the Parma branch of the House of Bourbon which, in the mid-18th century, diverged from the Spanish Bourbons as the cadet branch which ruled the Duchy of Parma until that throne was abolished in 1859 and the duchy was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy. Xavier's father, Robert (1848-1907) was the last ruling Duke of Parma, and Xavier's mother, Maria Antonia de Bragança (1862-1959), was born in exile, daughter of King Michael of Portugal who had lost his throne in 1834.

Xavier's siblings included his elder half-sister Marie Louise, whose husband eventually became King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria; his younger sister, Zita who became, by marriage, the last empress of Austria and queen of Hungary from 1916 to 1918; and his younger brother Felix, who was prince consort of Luxembourg from 1919 to 1970.

Youth

Four of the children of Robert I of Parma and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal. (l- R) : Xavier (1889-1977), Felix (1893-1970), Zita (1892-1989) and Francesca (1890-1978). 1906

Prince Xavier was born at the Villa Pianore in the Italian Province of Lucca on 25 May 1889. Though deposed, Duke Roberto retained massive wealth, comprising estates in Italy and Lower Austria. In the late 19th century the Bourbon-Parmas inherited the famous Chambord castle in France.[2] Robert had 24 children, 12 from the first and 12 from the second marriage, born between 1870 and 1905. Some died in early infancy, some left the family home while Xavier was a toddler, and some were born after Xavier had left</ref> They lived in homes at Pianore and at Schwarzau.[3] They usually spent half a year in each location, shuttling between in a special train, and taking even the children's horses with them.[4]

In childhood Xavier enjoyed serenity, luxury and cheer.[5] The Bourbon-Parmsa were deeply Roman Catholic[6] Their home life was essentially French in culture and understanding;[7] another language spoken was German.[8] In his childhood Xavier also picked up: Italian - spoken with the Pianore locals; English – spoken with various visitors; Spanish – used in certain relations; Latin – used in church, and Portuguese.[9] Family guests frequently included aristocrats, authors and scholars.[10]

In 1899[11] Xavier followed in the footsteps of his older brother Sixte, entering the Stella Matutina,[12] a prestigious Jesuit establishment in the Austrian Feldkirch. Though catering to Catholic aristocracy from all over Europe, the school featured Spartan conditions; when later Xavier was asked how he survived the Nazi concentration camp, the prince joked, "I frequented the Stella. It's not easy to kill us".[13] The school provided humble religiosity, the staff ensured high teaching standards, and the mix of boys from different countries ensured a spirit of international comradeship. Xavier graduated in the early 1900s;[14] (in 1906, according to some authors, which indicate he also attended the German Carlsberg,[15] moved to Paris,[16] still trailing his older brother and commencing university studies.[17]

Unlike Sixte, who studied law, he pursued two different paths: political-economic science and agronomy. He completed both, graduating as an engineer in agronomy and doctor in politics/economy.[18] The year or years of his curriculum completion are not clear; one source points to 1914.[19] He never engaged in a professional career.

The six sons of Duke Robert I of Parma and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal. From Left to right: Luigi, Rene, Xavier, baby Gaetano, Sixtus and Felix of Bourbon-Parma.

In 1910 the wealth of the late Duke Roberto was divided among the family. Children from the first marriage, and especially Élie, custodian of his handicapped siblings, were allocated most of the real estate; Robert's second wife and children from the second marriage were earmarked substantial financial compensation, usufruct rights and minor properties. Already on his own at that time, Xavier was based in Paris[20] but travelled across Europe. Family business led to some of this travel, which was often also somewhat politically motivated, e.g. in 1911 Xavier travelled to Austria to attend the wedding of his sister with the imperial heir eventual, Archduke Karl; in 1912 he travelled via Spain to Portugal, accompanying his aunt during a Portuguese legitimist plot.[21] Xavier also traveled in pursuit of his own interests. He associated much with Sixte, who often engaged in geographical exploration. In 1909 both brothers travelled to the Balkans;[22] in 1912 they roamed across Egypt, Palestine and the Near East.[23] In 1914 they intended to travel to Persia, India and possibly the Himalayas.[24]

Soldier and diplomat (1914–1918)

Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma with his uniform of the Belgian artillery, 1914.

News of the Sarajevo assassination reached Xavier and Sixte in Austria, en route to Asia.[25] Enraged by murder of their step-cousin, both brothers intended to enlist in the Austrian army to pursue revenge.[26] Things changed when France declared war on Vienna. Though some of the Bourbon-Parma siblings – Zita, René, Felix and Élie – sided with Austria-Hungary, with the men joining the imperial troops, Xavier and Sixte felt themselves thorough Frenchmen. They openly made plans to enlist in the French army, which might have evoked their detention. It took personal appeals from Zita before the Emperor took steps which prevented their incarceration, and allowed them to leave Austria for a neutral country.[27] When back in France Xavier and Sixte indeed volunteered, only to find that French law banned members of foreign dynasties from serving. Determined to fight, they contacted their cousin, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, who looked to it that both were allowed to serve in the Belgian military.[28] Due to a car accident involving Sixte, however, the brothers joined the ranks of the Belgian army no sooner than late November 1914.[29] Xavier was initially accepted as a private in medical services[30] and was seconded to the 7th artillery regiment.[31] Exact details of his service are not clear; what was left of the pre-war Belgian army served on a relatively calm sector of the frontline in Flanders and France, next to the English Channel. At an unspecified time Xavier was released from the line and assigned to an officer training course, organized by the Belgian general staff, which he completed. By mid-1916 he was sub-lieutenant,[32] later promoted to captain.[33]

Prince Sixte( left) and Prince Xavier during the Great War

In late 1916 Xavier became involved in the Sixtus Affair, a secret Austrian attempt to conclude a separatist peace. The new emperor, Karl I, decided to exploit his family ties and friendship with the Bourbon-Parma brothers, trusting especially in the skills and intelligence of Sixte. As French citizens, both agreed to undertake the mission only upon obtaining the consent of the French government.[34] The role of Xavier is generally considered secondary to that of Sixte, though he was present during some crucial meetings,[35] whether with the French authorities in Paris or with the Austro-Hungarian envoys in Switzerland,[36] and in Vienna;[37] and some scholars do refer to "mediation des princes Sixte et Xavier".[38] Negotiations broke down in early 1917 and the matter seemed closed; leaked by Clemenceau in May 1918, it turned into a political crisis and a scandal, which damaged the prestige of the young emperor. Xavier and Sixte, at that time in Vienna, were considered endangered, menaced either by the Austrian foreign minister Czernin's willingness to eliminate witnesses, or as victims of popular wrath.[39] The incident is considered "perhaps the ultimate example of amateurish aristocratic diplomacy gone awry during the First World War",[40] although none of the sources consulted tends to blame Xavier for the final failure. It is not clear whether he returned to military service afterwards. At the moment of the armistice he was a major in the Belgian army,[41] awarded the French Croix de Guerre,[42] the Belgian Croix de Guerre, and the Belgian Ordré de Léopold.[43]

Plaintiff and husband (1920s)

The four eldest sons of Robert I, Duke of Parma by his second wife, Maria Antonia of Portugal. (L-R) : Sixtus (1886-1934), Xavier (1889-1977), Felix (1893-1970) and René (1894 –1962) of Bourbon-Parma. 1920

Immediately after the war Xavier was engaged in assisting Zita and Karl following their deposition. In 1919, together with Sixte, he travelled to England and contacted King George V; British support materialized when a liaison officer was dispatched to republican Austria to assist the unhappy couple on their route to exile.[44]

However, it soon turned out that it was his own business which attracted most of Xavier's attention. Following wartime financial turmoil and expropriations of some family estates, economic prospects of both brothers were bleak. As a counter-measure, they decided to challenge the French state, which in 1915 seized Chambord as the property of an Austrian officer, Élie. Versailles Treaty stipulations allowed France to conclude the seizure legally if compensation was duly paid to the owner. Sixte and Xavier sued, claiming that the family-approved 1910 property settlement, based on the Austrian concept of an indivisible family trust, was unenforceable under French law. Thus, they argued, any proceeds of the Chambord property should be divided among multiple family heirs. They further claimed that, as war time volunteers with the French and Belgian armies, they should not be liable to expropriation. Given that effective ownership of the Chambord property was attributed by France to the eldest of the Bourbon-Parma sons deemed legally competent, the lawsuit was directed against Prince Élie. In 1925 the court accepted the brothers’ claim, a decision immediately appealed by their half-brother. In 1928 that ruling was overturned in favor of Élie, which decision was, in its turn, appealed by both brothers. In 1932 the Court of Cassation upheld the 1928 decision, leaving Xavier and Sixte frustrated in their bid.[45]

Residing in Paris and sustained by his remaining portion of the family wealth, Xavier reached his mid-30s before making marriage plans;[46] his fiancée being Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, who was nine years his junior and the daughter of the Count de Lignières. She belonged to a non-royal branch of the French Bourbons.[47] The Bourbon-Bussets have been the subject of a centuries-old controversy: historically regarded as non-dynastic when the line was founded, it has never been established that the Bourbon ancestor from whom they undisputedly descend, Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège (1436-1482), was ever lawfully married.[48] The proposed marriage of Prince Xavier and Madeleine might deprive their children of Bourbon-Parma ducal succession rights, depending upon the decision of the head of the house. Since the death of Duke Robert, Prince Élie, Xavier's eldest half-brother, headed the family. He declared the would-be marriage morganatic.[49] Despite this obstacle, Xavier wed Madeleine in 1927[50] and some newspapers titled her "princesse".[51]

Bostz

As the Bourbon-Bussets enjoyed significant wealth, the marriage changed the financial status of Xavier.[52] The couple settled in Bostz castle,[53] where Xavier managed the rural estate of his in-laws. Their eldest, Hugues, was born in 1928 and was followed by five more children, the last one was born in 1940. Following the 1932 death of his father-in-law, Xavier became head of the family's enterprise, including the Château de Lignières. Little is known of his public activity at that time, except that he was engaged in various non-political, Catholic initiatives.[54] In 1934 the premature death of Sixte deprived Xavier of his closest comrade.

From Prince Xavier to Don Javier (1930s)

Patch of the Vendean royalists.

Until the mid-1930s Xavier did not engage in open political activity, though he figured prominently in some French royalist initiatives.[55]

Son of a deposed ruler, he had relatives – associated with France, Spain and Portugal's monarchical regimes – engaged in legitimist politics, although others – in Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark and Italy – were affiliated with dynasties reigning in liberal-democratic frameworks. His views on contemporary French politics are not clear from known records.[56] He upheld the legitimist claim of the Spanish Bourbons to the crown of France.[57] On the other hand, the head of the family, Élie, openly abandoned the legitimist cause, acknowledging Alfonso XIII as the legitimate king of Spain[58] Then Traditionalist author Francisco Melgar asserts that Prince Xavier remained within "más pura doctrina tradicionalista", demonstrating "adhesion profunda" to legitimist claimants,[59] while others suggest that he nurtured democratic ideas.[60]

Indeed, despite the fact that his uncle was, until 1909, the legitimist claimant to the throne of Spain, Prince Xavier lived and fought as a Frenchman,[61] and did not reveal any particular interest in Spanish issues. Yet he maintained close links with his uncle's successor in the 1920s, who lived in Paris.[62] Don Jaime, Duke of Madrid died unexpectedly in 1931 and was succeeded in his Carlist claim by his uncle, who became Carlist King Alfonso Carlos I. Resident in Vienna, octogenarian and childless, Alfonso Carlos was doubly related to the Bourbon-Parmas;[63] the two families remained on close terms. Xavier's accession to the Carlist claim was, from the onset, plagued by the succession problem, as it was already evident that the Carlist dynasty would become extinct in the male line, yet Salic law was the founding tenet of the Carlist movement. In the early 1930s Alfonso Carlos pondered seeking reconciliation with the Alfonsine branch. It is not clear whether he commenced talks with other members of the family about retaining a separate Carlist succession only if reconciliation negotiations failed, or if he embarked on that course having abandoned plans for a dynastic agreement in 1934–1935.[64]

Carlist standard

Following the death of Sixte in 1934 Xavier became the most senior Bourbon-Parma partner of Alfonso Carlos. In particular, it is not clear whether Alfonso Carlos suggested that Xavier succeed him as a king-in-pretence, or whether regency was the option preferred. Scholars speculate that it was Prince Xavier's legitimism, Christian spirit, modesty, impartiality and lack of political ambition which prompted Alfonso Carlos to appoint him as future regent.[65] The regency was supposed to provide royal continuity until a general Carlist assembly appointed a new king.[66]

Regent

Wartime leader (1936–1939)

Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma with Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San Jaime, who was married to his maternal aunt Maria das Neves of Portugal.

Contrary to expectations, the Spanish February 1936 elections produced victory for the Popular Front and the country embarked on a proto-revolutionary course. Carlists first commenced preparations for their own campaign, and then entered into negotiations with military counter-revolutionaries toward a conspiracy. The latter asked Xavier to supervise the conspiracy.[67] Prince Xavier, known in Spain as "Don Javier", established headquarters in Sant-Jean-de-Luz, where he received Carlist politicians from June to July. In negotiations with the generals, he adopted an orthodox and intransigent Carlist stand. Although some Carlists pressed for almost unconditional adherence to the military conspiracy,[68] Don Javier demanded that a deal for a political partnership be concluded first.[69] He was eventually outmaneuvered,[70] and the Carlists joined the coup on vague terms;[71] their key asset was the pre-agreed Jefe Supremo del Movimiento, General Sanjurjo, who in earlier Lisbon talks with Don Javier pledged to represent Carlist interests.[72]

The death of Sanjurjo was a devastating blow to Carlist plans; political power among the rebels slipped to a group of generals, indifferent if not skeptical about the Carlist cause. Don Javier, in the late summer watching the events unfold from Sant-Jean-de-Luz, was supervising increasing Carlist military effort,[73] yet was unable to engage in discussion with the generals.[74] Following the death of Alfonso Carlos on 1 October Don Javier was declared the regent. He found himself heading the movement during overwhelming turmoil. Denied entry to Spain,[75] he limited himself to written protests over the marginalisation of Carlism within the Nationalist faction.[76] Faced with growing pressure to integrate the Carlist organization within a new state party in early 1937, he advocated intransigence, but was again outmaneuvered into a silent wait-and-see stance.[77] Following the Unification Decree he entered Spain in May; sporting a requeté general's uniform, and in apparent challenge to Franco he toured the front lines,[78] lifting Carlist spirits.[79] A week later he was expelled from Spain.[80]

Requete on parade, 1937

Following another brief visit and another expulsion in late 1937,[81] Don Javier aimed at safeguarding Carlist political identity against the unification attempts, though he refrained also from burning all bridges with the emerging Francoist regime. He permitted few trusted Carlists to sit in the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET) executive, but expelled from the Comunión Tradicionalista those who had taken seats without his consent.

In full accord with the actual Carlist political leader in Spain, Manuel Fal Conde, in 1938-1939 Don Javier managed to prevent incorporation into the state party, thus the intended unification turned into absorption of offshoot Carlists. On the other hand, Don Javier failed to prevent the marginalisation of Carlism, the suppression of its circulars, periodicals and organizations, and failed to avert growing bewilderment among rank and file Carlists. In 1939 he repeated his offer to Franco.[82] Franco reportedly advised the prince that many generals of republican mindset who had joined the coup were unhappy about Don Javier's presence. He also suggested that Don Javier might do more good for the Nationalist cause from abroad. Don Javier agreed to leave, but refused to associate with the Paris link suggested, claiming the person recommended, Manuel de Santa Cruz (Alberto Ruiz de Galarreta], was an SS operative.[83] In Manifestación de ideales, a document was put forth recommending immediate restoration of Traditionalist monarchy with a transitory collective regency, possibly encompassing Don Javier and Franco.[84] The proposal was left without response.

Soldier, incommunicado, prisoner (1939–1945)

Belgian artillery, 1940.

Upon the outbreak of World War II Prince Xavier resumed his duties in the Belgian Army,[85] serving as major[86] in his old artillery unit. As the Germans advanced swiftly, the Belgians were pushed back to Flanders, towards the English Channel. Incorporated into the French troops, the regiment was withdrawn into Dunkerque.[87] In the mayhem that followed, the Belgians did not make it to the British evacuation ships and Don Javier became a German POW.[88]

Released promptly, he returned to the family castles of Lignières in Berry and of Bostz, in Besson dans l’Allier.[89] The properties were divided by the demarcation line, Lignières in the occupied zone and Bostz in the Vichy zone.[90]

In late 1940 and early 1941, Prince Xavier assisted in opening the so-called "Halifax-Chevalier negotiations", a confidential correspondence exchange between the British Foreign Secretary and the Petain-government's education minister, centred mostly on working out a modus vivendi between the British and French colonies.[91] The exact role of Prince Xavier is unclear. Some scholars claim he served as an intermediary, trusted by the British royal family,[92] including King George VI, and by Pétain;[93] as he did not leave France, it seems that he wrote letters which provided credibility for the envoys sent. Though the episode is subject to controversy, by some viewed as a proof of Pétain's double game and by some largely as a hagiographic mystification,[94] the debate hardly relates to the role of Xavier.

In the early 1940s, Prince Xavier was increasingly isolated from Spanish affairs; neither he nor the Spanish Carlists were permitted to cross the frontier, while correspondence remained under wartime censorship. Documents he passed, the most notable of which was the Manifiesto de Santiago (1941),[95] urged that intransigence, though not openly rebellious anti-Francoist actions, be maintained. With the regent, and periodically detained Fal, largely incommunicados, Carlism decayed into bewilderment and disorientation.[96]

Prince Xavier's prisoner registry card at Dachau Nazi Concentration Camp.

Liberation of Dachau, 1945.

In 1941–1943 Prince Xavier lived in political isolation, devoting time to his family and managing the Bourbon-Parma fortune. In 1941 he inherited from his late aunt the Puchheim castle in Austria.[97] Prince Xavier became increasingly sympathetic to the anti-Pétain opposition and, via local priests, maintained informal contact with district Resistance leaders. At one point[98] he joined works of the Comité d'Aide aux Réfractaires du STO and welcomed labor camp escapees in wooden areas of his estates, providing basic logistics and setting up shelters for the sick in his library.[99] When two of them were detected and detained, Prince Xavier cycled to Vichy[100] and successfully sought their release.[101] Exposing himself, following a surveillance period in July he was arrested by the Gestapo.[102] Sentenced to death for espionage and terrorism, he was pardoned by Pétain; first confined in Clermont-Ferrand, Schirmeck and Natzwiller, in September he was finally imprisoned in Dachau.[103][104] The Nazis asked Franco about his fate; the Caudillo declared total disinterest.[105] Periodically condemned to the starvation bunker,[106] when freed by the Americans in April[107] 1945, Prince Xavier weighed 36 kg.[108]

Re-launch (1945–1952)

San Sebastian, early Francoism

Having returned to health, in late summer of 1945 prince Xavier testified at the trial of Pétain; his account was largely favorable to the marshal.[109] In December he clandestinely entered Spain for a few days.[110] In a series of meetings held mostly in San Sebastián, the regent and the Carlist executive agreed on re-organisation of basic Carlist structures. Don Javier fully confirmed the authority of Fal Conde and affirmed the intransigent political line, formulated in a 1947 document known as La única solución.[111] It was based on a non-collaborative, though also non-rebellious approach, toward Francoism,[112] refusal to enter into dynastic negotiations with the Alfonsine branch, and adopted a hard line toward those who demonstrated excessive support for their own Carlist royal candidates, even if theoretically they did not breach loyalty to Don Javier's regency.[113] With the rank and file, Don Javier communicated by means of manifestos, read aloud during Carlist feasts, urging loyalty to Traditionalist values.[114]

In the late 1940s the policy of Don Javier and Fal Conde, dubbed javierismo or falcondismo, was increasingly contested within the Comunión. The Sivattistas pressed for terminating the regency and for Don Javier to declare himself the king. They suspected that the protracted regency was an element of Don Javier's policy toward Franco; according to them, the regent intended to ensure the crown for the Bourbon-Parma by means of appeasement rather than by means of open challenge.[115] In particular they were enraged by an allegedly ambiguous opposition toward the proposed Francoist Law of Succession,[116] considering it an unacceptable backing of the regime.[117]

On the other hand, the "possibilists" were becoming impatient of what they perceived as ineffective intransigence and lack of legal outposts. They recommended a more flexible attitude.[118] Following the 1949 news about Franco's negotiations with Don Juan, Don Javier found himself under pressure to assume a more active stance.[119]

Coat of Arms used as Clamaint King of Spain by Xavier of Bourbon.

Don Javier and Fal stuck to rigorous discipline and dismissed Sivatte from Catalan jefatura,[120] though they also tried to reinvigorate Carlism by permitting individual participation in local elections,[121] seeking a national daily[122] and building up student and workers’ organizations.[123]

Fal gradually became convinced that the regency was a burden rather than an asset. There were almost no calls to terminate it as initially envisioned by Alfonso Carlos, i.e. by staging a grand Carlist assembly, and there were no signs that Don Javier contemplated such an option. Almost all voices called for him simply to assume monarchic rights himself.[124] During the 1950 tour across Vascongadas[125] and during 1951 tour across Levante he still tried to maintain a low profile.[126] In 1952 Don Javier decided to bow to the pressure, apparently against his own will. During the Eucharistic Congress in Barcelona he published a document, in the form of a letter to his son, that referred to the "assumption of royalty in succession to the last king", pending "promulgation at the nearest opportunity"[127] and with no mention about the regency.[128]

King

Rather not a king (1952–1957)

Lignières castle

The Carlist leaders were exhilarated and made sure that the declaration, worded as the termination of the regency and commencement of the rule of King Javier I, was disseminated across the party network. Upon receiving the news, the rank and file Carlists were euphoric. However, the very next day Don Javier acknowledged that, when approached by Spain's Minister of Justice, Antonio Iturmendi Bañales, he denied signing the document, explaining that his statement in no way implied he had proclaimed himself a king.[129] These assurances were unconvincing to the Francoist regime which, in a matter of hours expelled Don Javier from Spain.[130]

The years of 1953–54 provide a contrasting picture: Carlist leaders boasted of having a new king,[131] while Don Javier withdrew to Lignières, reducing his political activity to receiving guests and to correspondence. In private, he downplayed what had already become known as the "Acto de Barcelona", dubbing it "un toutté petite ceremonie".[132]

Carlist dissenters, temporarily silenced, started to make themselves heard again.[133] Don Javier seemed increasingly tired of his role and leaning toward a dynastic understanding with Don Juan.[134] His early 1955 visit to Spain en route to Portugal was brief yet fueled angry rumours of forthcoming rapprochement with the Alfonsists, as Don Javier made ambiguous comments,[135] named the 1952 statement "a grave error", and claimed that he had been bullied into it.

At this point relations between him and Fal reached the lowest point; Fal, attacked from all sides and feeling no royal support, resigned.[136] Don Javier was reputed to have sacked him in "a rather cowardly, backhand manner".[137] Fal was soon replaced by a collegial executive. In late 1955 Don Javier issued a manifesto which declared the Carlists "custodians of patrimony" rather than a political party in search of power.[138] In private he considered his royal claim a hindrance to a broader alliance.[139] In 1956, while en route to a Carlist session in Madrid, Don Javier was overrun at his quarters in Bilbao by Carlist youths who, on knees and with tears and intimidation, made a fervent plea, extracting from Don Javier a commitment to refrain from alliance with the Alfonsists.[140] However, once in Madrid Don Javier confirmed that he viewed the Acto de Barcelona as a grave error.

The Carlist executive demanded clarification, provided in the form of a makeshift note, read by Rafael Gambra, allegedly negotiated earlier, that ruled out agreement with Don Juan. Later the same day Iturmendi intervened; Don Javier denied that he had approved the note, which did not spare him another expulsion from Spain.[141] Later the same year Don Javier met the Sivattistas in Perpignan and agreed to sign a document rejecting any deal either with the Juanistas or with Franco. However, he declined to sign as king, preferring the vague title of an "abanderado", and later insisting that the document be kept private.[142] one episode cost Don Javier another expulsion from Spain.[143]

Montejurra

The apparent stalemate was interrupted by emergence of a new force. The young Carlists, disappointed with vacillating Don Javier, focused on his oldest son Hugues instead.[144] Entirely alien to politics and at the time pursuing a PhD in economics at Oxford, he agreed to involve himself in Carlist affairs. Don Javier consented to his 1957 appearance at the annual Montejurra gathering of Carlists,[145] where the young prince, guided by his equally young aides, made explicit references to "my father, the king".[146] As Prince Hugues was ignorant as to Carlism and barely spoke Spanish, it appeared that his father had not groomed him as his successor,[147] perhaps eager, rather, to free himself and the entire family from the increasingly heavy Carlist burden.[148] To many, it seemed that he "had given up prevaricating".[149]

Rather a king (1957–1962)

As king in Carlist review.

Under leadership of José María Valiente and with the consent of Don Javier, the collegial Carlist executive commenced cautious collaboration with the regime. The young entourage decided to introduce Hugues as representing a new strategy and presenting an offer to Franco.[150] According to another interpretation, Don Javier saw his son's involvement as an opportunity to consider new strategies for long-term gains, and changed course in the hope that the regime might one day crown the younger prince. Still another view was that the changing political course and the political coming of age of Hugues simply coincided coincidentally coincided.[151] One way or another, starting in 1957 Don Javier gradually permitted his son to assume an increasing role within Carlism.

Prince Xavier at the wedding of his daughter Maria Francisca, Paris 1960.

In the late 1950s Don Javier firmly abandoned any discussion of reconciliation with the Alfonsinos.[152] He instructed that harsh measures be taken against those who approached them.[153] However, he remained respectful towards Don Juan and avoided open challenge,[154] He also stopped short of explicitly claiming the kingly title.[155] He supported Valiente – his position gradually reinforced formally up to the new Jefe Delegado in 1958-1960[156] - in attempts to eradicate internal forces of rebellion against collaboration,[157] and to combat new openly secessionist groups.[158] Though 20 years earlier he expelled from the Comunión those who had accepted seats in Francoist structures, at the beginning of the sixties Don Javier viewed the appointment of five Carlists to the Cortes as the success of the collaborationist policy,[159] especially because the Franco regime permitted new Carlist legal outposts, and the movement participated openly in the public discourse.

Another milestone came in 1961–62. First, in a symbolic gesture Don Javier declared Hugues "Duque de San Jaime", a historic title borne by Alfonso Carlos; then, he instructed his followers to envision the prince as the embodiment of "a king".[160] Hugues, legally renaming himself "Carlos Hugo",[161] settled in Madrid and set up his Secretariat, a personal advisory body.[162] Yet for the first time in history, a Carlist heir officially lived in the capital and openly pursued his own politics. From this moment onwards, Don Javier was increasingly perceived as ceding daily business to his son and merely providing general supervision from the back seat. Carlos Hugo gradually took control of communication channels with his father, replacing him also as a key representative of the House of Bourbon-Parma in Spain. Moreover, the three daughters of Don Javier, all in their 20s, with apparent consent of their father engaged themselves in campaigns intended to enhance the standing of their brother with the Spanish public; the younger son of Don Javier, Sixte, soon followed suit.

King, the father (1962–1969)

Montejurra, 1960s

Carlos Hugo and his aides embarked on an activist policy, launching new initiatives and ensuring that the young prince gets increasingly recognized in national media. In terms of political content the group started to advance heterodox theories, focused on society as means and objective of politics. In terms of strategy, until the mid-1960s it was formatted as advances towards the socially-minded, hard Falangist core; later it started to assume an increasingly Marxist flavor. Orthodox Traditionalists grew increasingly perturbed by Carlos Hugo's active political advances toward the socially-minded, hard Falangist core, which assumed an increasingly Marxist flavor. They tried to alert Don Javier.[163] However, Don Javier gave them repeated assurances that he maintained full confidence in Carlos Hugo[164] In 1967 Don Javier confirmed that nothing need be added to the Carlist dogma of "Dios, Patria, Fueros, Rey".[165] Yet he also affirmed that new times required new practical concepts.[166] He endorsed subsequent waves of structural changes, and declared some personal decisions.[167] By the mid-1960s Don Javier allowed the Comunión in Carlos Hugo's control and that of his supporters.[168] In the so-called Acto de Puchheim of 1965, for the first time Don Javier explicitly called himself "rey",[169] and consistently claimed that title henceforth.

Such writers as Josep Carlos Clemente and Fermín Pérez-Nievas Borderas maintain that Don Javier was fully aware and entirely supportive of the transformation of Carlism triggered by Carlos Hugo, intended as renovation of genuine Carlist thought and as shaking off Traditionalist distortions.[170]

Another group of scholars claim that the aging Don Javier, at that time in his late 70s, was increasingly detached from Spanish issues and substantially unaware of the political course sponsored by Carlos Hugo. They argue that he was, perhaps, manipulated – and at later stages even incapacitated - by his son and two daughters, who intercepted incoming correspondence and re-edited their father's outgoing communications.[171]

Another group of scholars largely refrain from interpretation, confining itself to referring readers to correspondence, declarations and statements.[172]

Carlist gathering, near Madrid 1960s

As late as 1966 Don Javier continue to court Franco,[173] but the years of 1967–1969 re-defined his relation with Carlism and with Spain. In 1967 he accepted the resignation of Valiente,[174] the last Traditionalist bulwark in the executive, and entrusted political leadership of the Comunión to a set of collegial bodies dominated by hugocarlistas; the move marked their final victory in the struggle to control the organization.

In 1968 Carlos Hugo was expelled from Spain;[175] In a gesture of support, a few days later Don Javier flew to Madrid and was promptly expelled – for the fifth time.[176][177] This episode marked the end of an increasingly sour dialogue with the regime and the Carlist shift to unconditional opposition;[178]

In 1969 the Alfonsist prince Juan Carlos de Borbón was officially introduced as the future king and successor to Franco; the ceremony marked the ultimate crash of the Bourbon-Parmas’ hopes for the crown.[179] When Franco died in 1975, Juan Carlos did indeed become king of Spain.

Old king, former king (1969–1977)

With wife and daughter Maria de las Nieves, 1970.

Resident mostly at Lignières, Don Javier withdrew,[180] issuing sporadic manifestos, read by his son at Carlist gatherings.[181]

In 1972 Don Javier suffered life-threatening injuries resulting from a traffic accident[182] and formally transferred all political authority to Carlos Hugo.[183] In 1974, upon the childless death of his half-nephew Prince Robert, Duke of Parma, Don Javier ascended as head of the Bourbon-Parmas and assumed the Duke of Parma title. On the one hand, he was in a position to enjoy family life; though his four younger children did not marry, the elder two did, the marriages producing eight grandchildren (born between 1960 and 1974).[184] On the other hand, family relations were increasingly subject to political tension. While Carlos Hugo, Marie-Thérèse, Cécile and Marie des Neiges formed one team advancing the progressive agenda, the oldest daughter Françoise Marie, the youngest son Sixte, and their mother Madeleine opposed the bid. Sixte, in Spain known as Don Sixto, openly challenged his brother;[185] he declared himself the standard-bearer of Traditionalism and started building his own organization.[186]

Carlos Hugo, 1970s.

In 1975 Don Javier abdicated as the Carlist king in favor of Carlos Hugo[187] and according to a source, he would have expelled Sixto from Carlism for refusing to recognize the decision.[188] It is not clear what his view on the commencing Spanish transición was; following the 1976 Montejurra events he lamented the dead, officially disowned the political views of Don Sixto and called for Carlist unity.[189] However, in a private letter, Don Javier claimed that at Montejurra "the Carlists have confronted the revolutionaries", which has been interpreted as the followers of Don Sixto being the real Carlists according to Don Javier.[190]

Early March 1977 proved convulsive. On Friday 4th, accompanied by his son Sixto, he was interviewed by the Spanish press and his responses showed Carlist orthodoxy. That same day he issued a declaration certified by a Paris notary objecting to his name being used to legitimize a "grave doctrinal error within Carlism", and implicitly disowned the political line promoted by Carlos Hugo.[191] In order to justify that declaration, Carlos Hugo alerted the police that his father had been abducted by Sixto, an accusation which was denied publicly by Don Javier himself, who had to be hospitalized heavily affected by the scandal generated.[192] Shortly afterwards Don Javier issued another declaration, certified by a different Paris notary, confirming his oldest son as "my only political successor and head of Carlism".[193] Then it was Doña Madalena who declared that her husband had been taken by Carlos Hugo from hospital against medical advice and his own will, and that Carlos Hugo had threatened his father to obtain his signature on the second declaration.[194] Eventually Don Javier was transferred to Switzerland, where he soon died. The widow blamed the oldest son and three daughters for his death.[195]

Reception and legacy

Carlists, 1980s

Barely noted in Spain until the Civil War,[196] also afterwards Don Javier remained a little known figure, partially the result of censorship; Franco considered him a foreign prince.[197] Among European royals he was respected but politically isolated.[198] In the Carlist realm he grew from obscurity to iconic status, yet since the late 1950s he was being abandoned by successive groups, disappointed with his policy.[199] Disintegration of Carlism accelerated after Don Javier's death; Partido Carlista won no seats in general elections and in 1979 Carlos Hugo abandoned politics.[200] This was also the case of his 3 sisters,[201] though Marie Therese became a scholar in political sciences[202] and advisor to Third World politicians.[203] Sixte is heading Comunión Tradicionalista, one of two Traditionalist grouplets in Spain, and poses as a Carlist standard-bearer.[204] The oldest living grandson of Don Javier, Charles-Xavier, styles himself as the head of the Carlist dynasty, oddly enough, without claiming the Spanish throne.[205] In France a grouplet referred to as Lys Noir[206] called him in 2015 a "king of France for tomorrow".[207] The group is classified by some as Far Right[208] and by some associated with Trotsky, Mao and Gaddafi.[209]

In partisan discourse Don Javier is generally held in high esteem, though Left-wing Partido Carlista militants[210] and Right-wing Traditionalists offer strikingly different pictures of him.

Authors admitting their Hugocarlista pedigree claim that from his youth Don Javier has nurtured democratic, progressive ideas,[211] and in the 1960s he lent his full support to renovation of Carlist thought.[212]

Authors remaining within the Traditionalist orthodoxy suggest that although generally conservative, but in his 70s impaired by age, bewildered by Vaticanum II, misled and possibly incapacitated by his children, Don Javier presided over destruction of Carlism.[213] A few go farther, claiming that evidence points to Don Javier having been fully supportive of the course sponsored by his son,[214] they either talk about "deserción de la dinastía"[215] or – with some hesitation - point to treason.[216] Some, highly respectful though disappointed by Don Javier's perceived ineptitude and vacillation as a leader, consider him a candidate for sainthood rather than for kingship.[217]

Sixto Enrique, 2014

In historiography Prince Xavier has earned no academic monograph yet; books published fall rather into hagiography.[218] Apart from minor pieces related to the Sixtus Affair, Chambord litigation and Halifax-Chevalier negotiations, he is discussed as a key protagonist in various works dealing with Carlism during the Francoist era. There are four PhD dissertations discussing post-civil-war Carlism, yet they offer contradictory conclusions. One[219] presents Don Javier as a somewhat wavering person who eventually endorsed changes to be introduced by Carlos Hugo.[220] One[221] carefully notes his "peculiar position" yet it cautiously claims he kept backing the transformation.[222] Two[223] point to his "contradictory personality" and admit that his stand "might seem confusing", though they claim that he was generally conservative[224] and was faithful to Traditionalist principles,[225] Don Javier was misguided and manipulated,[226] inadvertently legitimizing the change he did not genuinely support.[227] Some hints suggest that he never seriously contemplated his own royal bid, and headed Carlism as a cultural-spiritual movement, perhaps modelled on French legitimism.[228]

At least since 1957 Don Javier purported to exercise the kingly prerogative as a fount of honour, occasionally conferring Carlist chivalric orders, such as the Legimitad Proscrita, upon Valiente, Fal and Zamanillo; in 1963 he conferred the Gran Cruz of the same order on his wife.[229] Don Javier has also created and conferred a number of aristocratic titles, but with one exception (Fal Conde) only for members of his family: Duque de Madrid and Duque de San Jaime for Don Carlos Hugo; Condesa de Poblet for Doña Cecilia; Condesa del Castillo de la Mota for Doña María de las Nieves; Duque de Aranjuez for Don Sixto.[230]

Children

• Princess Marie-Françoise of Bourbon-Parma, 19 August 1928, married Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz (1926–2010).
• Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, 8 April 1930 – 18 August 2010 (aged 80), married Princess Irene of the Netherlands (born 1939).
• Princess María Teresa of Bourbon-Parma, 28 July 1933 – 26 March 2020 (aged 86). Victim of COVID-19.
• Princess Cecilia of Bourbon-Parma, 12 April 1935.
• Princess María de las Nieves of Bourbon-Parma, 29 April 1937.
• Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma, 22 July 1940.

In fiction

The television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles presents Xavier (played by Matthew Wait) and his brother Sixtus (played by Benedict Taylor) as Belgian officers in World War I who help the young Indiana Jones.

Writings

• La République de tout le monde, Paris: Amicitia, 1946
• Les accords secrets franco-anglais de décembre 1940, Paris: Plon, 1949.
• Les chevaliers du Saint-Sépulcre, Paris: A. Fayard, 1957.

Honours

• Calabrian House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Calabrian Two Sicilian Order of Saint George[231]
•  Belgium: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold[232]
•  Belgium: Croix de Guerre[233]
•  France: Croix de Guerre[234]
•  Spain: Grand Master of the Order of Prohibited Legitimacy

Ancestry

Ancestors of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma

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

See also

• Carlism
• Traditionalism (Spain)
• House of Bourbon-Parma
• Robert I of Parma
• Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma
• Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma

Footnotes

1. In the 7th generation; Xavier was son of Roberto I of Parma (1848-1907), himself son of Carlo III of Parma (1823-1854), himself son of Carlo II of Parma (1799-1883), himself son of Luigi of Etruria (1773-1803), himself son of Ferdinand I of Parma (1751-1802), himself son of Filippo I de Parma (1720-1765), himself son of Felipe V of Spain (1683-1746)
2. The castle, in a number of rankings considered No. 1 among castles in the Loire valley, was bequeathed by the legitimist claimant to the throne of France, Henri, Count of Chambord, to his niece Louise Marie, Duchess of Parma, the paternal grandmother of Prince Xavier. Les lys et la republique service, Franz de Burgos, Domaine de Chambord : Histoire d’une spoliation
3. James Bogle, Joanna Bogle, A Heart for Europe: The Lives of Emperor Charles and Empress Zita of Austria-Hungary, Leominster 1990, ISBN 9780852441732, p. 17
4. Bogle, Bogle 1990, p. 17
5. Bogle, Bogle 1990, pp. 17-18
6. Largely thanks to the maternal grandmother of Xavier, Bogle, Bogle 1990, pp. 17, 19
7. Bogle, Bogle 1990, p. 15
8. Xavier’s mother, though of Portuguese descent was brought up in a German-speaking environment.
9. Bogle, Bogle 1990, p. 18
10. Bogle, Bogle 1990, p. 17
11. some sources claim in 1897, Aproximación biográfica a la figura de Don Javier de Borbón Parma (1889-1977), [in:] Portal Avant! 08.12.02, available here
12. Beate Hammond, Jugendjahre grosser Kaiserinnen: Maria Theresia - Elisabeth - Zita, Wien 2002, ISBN 9783800038411, p. 121
13. Erich Feigl, Zita de Habsbourg: Mémoires d'un empire disparu, Paris 1991, ISBN 9782741302315, p. 110. In the 1940s prince Xavier sent his first son to an equally Spartan school, a Benedictine establishment in Calcat, with poor heating and no running water, Francisco M. de las Heras y Borrero, Carlos Hugo, el rey que no pudo ser, Madrid 2010, ISBN 9788495009999, p. 19
14. See dynastie.capetienne service, available here
15. Josep Carles Clemente Muñoz, La Princessa Roja. María Teresa de Borbón Parma, Madrid 2002, ISBN 9788427027930, p. 139
16. He lived with Sixte at Rue de Varenne 47. François-Xavier de Bourbon, il fut notre roi idéal, [in:] Charles-Xavier de Bourbon, notre roi de France pour demain [insert to Lys Noir 2015], p. 11, available here
17. None of the sources consulted specifies whether Xavier studied at the Sorbonne or elsewhere
18. Eusebio Ferrer Hortet, Maria Teresa Puga Garcia, 24 infantas de Espana, Madrid 2015, ISBN CDLAP00004439, p. 233. Other scholars claim that Prince Xavier was licenciado in political and economic sciences. José Carlos Clemente, Maria Teresa de Borbon-Parma, Joaquín Cubero Sánchez, Don Javier: una vida al servicio de la libertad, Madrid 1997, ISBN 9788401530180, p. 50, José Carlos Clemente, El carlismo contra Franco, Madrid 2003, ISBN 9788489644878, p. 96, José Carlos Clemente, Carlos Hugo de Borbón Parma: Historia de una Disidencia, Madrid 2001, ISBN 9788408040132, p. 34
19. Aproximación biográfica 2002
20. See e.g. an account of Don Javier taking part in the high society life of the French capital, Le Gaulois 18.06.12, available here
21. Manuel de Santa Cruz [Alberto Ruiz de Galarreta], Apuntes y documentos para la Historia del Tradicionalismo Español, vol. 4, Madrid 1979, p. 197
22. They visited Philippopoli (present-day Plovdiv), partially sight-seeing, partially gathering historical and geographical data, and partially visiting family graves, Feigl 1991, p. 111
23. Feigl 1991, p. 132
24. Feigl 1991, p. 131
25. Antonello Biagini, Giovanna Motta (eds.), The First World War: Analysis and Interpretation, vol. 2, Cambridge 2015, ISBN 9781443886727, p. 326
26. According to Prince Xavier’s personal journal, reproduced in Feigl 1991, p. 131
27. The Kaiser remarked: "I can understand that they only want to do their duty", Justin C. Vovk, Imperial Requiem: Four Royal Women and the Fall of the Age of Empires, Bloomington 2014, ISBN 9781938908613, p. 283
28. Vovk 2014, p. 283
29. Feigl 1991, p. 156
30. Spencer Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts, World War I: A Student Encyclopedia, Oxford 2005, ISBN 9781851098798, p. 1690
31. Biagini, Motta 2015, p. 326
32. Le Galouis 29.06.16, available here
33. Josep Carles Clemente, Historia del carlismo contemporaneo, Barcelona 1977, p. 95
34. Edmond Taylor, The Fall of the Dynasties: The Collapse of the Old Order: 1905-1922, New York 2015, ISBN 9781510700512, p. 359
35. Jacques de Launay, Major Controversies of Contemporary History, Oxford 2014, ISBN 9781483164519, p. 69
36. Vovk 2014, pp. 325-6
37. Manfried Rauchensteiner, The First World War and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914-1918, Wien 2014, ISBN 9783205795889, p. 898
38. Wolfdieter Bihl, La Mission de mediation des princes Sixte et Xavier de Bourbon-Parma en faveur de la paix, [in:] Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains 170 (1993), pp. 31-75
39. Vovk 2014, p. 352
40. Tucker, Roberts 2005, p. 1690
41. Clemente 1977, p. 95
42. in 1916, Le Galouis 29.06.16, available here
43. Clemente 1977, p. 95
44. Bogle, Bogle 1990, p. 118
45. Detailed discussion in J. Pelluard, La familie de Bourbon-Parma, Chambord, enjeu d’un procés de famille, [in:] Memoires de la Societe des sciences et lettres de Loir-et-Cher 37 (1982), pp. 53-61
46. One scholar suggests that the marriage was the result of calculation rather than love, "más meditado con la razón que con el corazón por parte de don Javier". Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 17. In a letter from Prince Xavier to his mother, he says that Madeleine "no es ninguna belleza, pero sí muy agradable. Si no ha existido por mi parte el flechado amoroso, por lo menos creo que están sentadas bien las bases del sentimiento y la razón que nor llevarán a amarnos", Spanish translation by Juan Balansó, La familia rival, Barcelona 1994, ISBN 9788408012474, p. 176
47. Enache, Nicolas. La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 416-417, 422. (French). ISBN 2-908003-04-X
48. Anselme, Père. ‘’Histoire de la Maison Royale de France’’, tome 4. Editions du Palais-Royal, 1967, Paris. pp. 307, 375. (French).
49. Élie adhered to his judgement until death. Once his son became head of the Bourbon-Parmas, in 1959, the decision was reversed, and the marriage of Xavier and Madeleine was acknowledged as dynastic
50. Chantal de Badts de Cugnac, Guy Coutant de Saisseval, Le Petit Gotha, Paris 2002, ISBN 2950797431, pp. 586-589
51. Le Gaulois 22.08.28, available here
52. One brother died in early infancy, two older brothers joined the French army and were killed during the Great War
53. see Chateau de Bostz, [in:] allier.auvergne service, available here
54. Melchor Ferrer, Historia del tradicionalismo español, vol. 30/1, Seville 1979, ISBN 8474600278, p. 227
55. Since the 1930s Prince Xavier was closely connected to Le Souvenir Vendéen, an organisation set up to protect the memory of Vendée royalists. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 97, also Jean-Clément Martin, Le clergé vendéen face a l’industrialisation (fin XIXe – début XXe), [in:] Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l’Ouest 89/3 (1982), p. 365. A 1971 commemorative volume, Vendeé Sancerroise, was printed with the foreword of "Son Altesse Royale le Prince Xavier de Bourbon de Parme". Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 105
56. One scholar claims it is indicative that once the Popular Front assumed power in France in 1936, Prince Xavier sent his son Hugues, then aged six, out of the country, and brought him back once that regime lost power. Heras y Borrero 2010, pp. 18-19
57. Sixte de Bourbon, Le traité d’Utrecht et les lois fondamentales du royaume, Paris 1914, available online here
58. Ferrer 1979, p. 72
59. Don Jaime, el principe caballero, Madrid 1932, p. 227
60. "Don Javier pasa [during 1936 talks with Alfonso Carlos] por momentos de duda y de profunda angustia. Quiere defender la Iglesia y la libertad religiosa. Pero también quiere conseguir y defender la libertad social de la que está totalmente privado el pueblo español", in the opinion of a scholar who re-interprets Carlism as a movement of social protest, Clemente 1977, p. 96
61. Sixte’s PhD thesis was a dissertation on the legal claim of all the Spanish Bourbons to French citizenship. He and Xavier felt French at heart, cf. A travers le monde, [in:] Les Modes 1919, available here
62. Ferrer 1979, p. 72
63. Alfonso Carlos was prince Xavier’s maternal uncle - Alfonso Carlos married the sister of Xavier’s mother. Alfonso Carlos was also the brother of Xavier’s paternal uncle, Carlos VII, who was married to the sister of Xavier’s father
64. Ferrer 1979, pp. 80-81, 127-129
65. Ferrer 1979, p. 227
66. Jordi Canal, El carlismo, Madrid 2000, ISBN 8420639478, pp. 319-320
67. According to one scholar, Don Javier engaged in conspiracy in order to prevent civil war, Clemente 1977, pp. 96-97. In the 1970s he allegedly confessed to Santiago Carillo – as referred by the latter – that had he known that the campaign would lead to civil war, he would not have engaged in the conspiracy, Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis in Historia Contemporanea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Valencia 2009, p. 296
68. Juan Carlos Peñas Bernaldo de Quirós, El Carlismo, la República y la Guerra Civil (1936-1937). De la conspiración a la unificación, Madrid 1996, ISBN 9788487863523, pp. 214-5
69. Clemente 1977, p. 24
70. at one point, he asked the Navarrese Carlists conducting talks with Mola: "y, ¿a esto supeditan ustedes todo el historial y todo el futuro de la Comunión Tradicionalista, a que los Ayuntamientos de Navarra sean carlistas?", Antonio de Lizarza Iribarren, Memorias de la conspiración, [in:] Navarra fue primera, Pamplona 2006, ISBN 8493508187, p. 106
71. Peñas Bernaldo 1996, pp. 21-43
72. Clemente 1977, pp. 25-26, Canal 2000, pp. 324-326, Peñas Bernaldo 1996, p. 30
73. He was also assisting in procurement of arms for the Carlist volunteers; to this end Don Javier briefly travelling to Paris and Brussels. Clemente 1977, pp. 110-111
74. Initially his political program was simply based on restoration of Traditionalist monarchy. As the coup turned into civil war during the later months of 1936, Don Javier hesitantly came to terms with the prospect of a transitional military dictatorship, perhaps lasting even "some years". Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and Crisis in Spain, Cambridge 1975 [re-printed with no re-edition in 2008], ISBN 9780521086349, p. 267
75. Clemente 1977, pp. 113-5
76. His protests were related mostly to expulsion of the Carlist political leader, Manuel Fal Conde, following launch of the Carlist military academy. Clemente 1977, p. 118; the academy initiative had been earlier pre-agreed with Don Javier, Peñas Bernaldo 1996, p. 232
77. Peñas Bernaldo 1996, pp. 241-275
78. Going as far as Andalucia
79. One sources claimed that Don Javier met Franco. Josep Carles Clemente Muñoz, Los días fugaces: el carlismo : de las guerras civiles a la transición democrática, Cuenca 2013, ISBN 9788495414243, p. 45. However, Don Javier’s daily diary between 17 May and 24 May 1937 does not mention any encounter with Franco. Clemente 1977, pp. 123-124
80. See Don Javier’s journal, reproduced in Clemente 1977, pp. 123-4. The same author once claimed that Don Javier was expelled on 17 May, see Clemente 1977, p. 31, and once that he entered Spain on 17 May. Clemente 2013, p. 44. From his journal it seems that he entered Spain on 17 May and left on 25 May
81. According to one author, Don Javier re-entered Spain in late November 1937 and left between Christmas and the end of 1937. Josep Miralles Climent, La rebeldía carlista. Memoria de una represión silenciada, Madrid 2018, ISBN 9788416558711, p. 74, similar opinion in Manuel Martorell Pérez, Carlos Hugo frente a Juan Carlos. La solución federal para España que Franco rechazó, Madrid 2014, ISBN 9788477682653, p. 13. Some sources point to November, see Aproximación biográfica 2002, Daniel Jesús García Riol, La resistencia tradicionalista a la renovación ideológica del carlismo (1965-1973) [PhD thesis UNED], Madrid 2015, p. 479
82. According to a recent work, Don Javier had two interviews with Franco; one in early December 1937 and another on Christmas Day the same year. Reportedly, Franco very politely insisted that the regent leave Spain, as his presence allegedly caused problems with the Germans and Italians. Miralles Climent 2018, p. 74. Other works provide confusing opinions. One scholar claims vaguely that "Don Javier se intrevista en Burgos con Franco" but gives no date, seeming to refer to the spring of 1937, though given poor credibility of the author this statement should be taken cautiously, see Clemente 1977, p. 98. Another scholar claims Don Javier met Franco in December 1937, see Manuel Martorell Pérez, Carlos Hugo frente a Juan Carlos. La solución federal para España que Franco rechazó, Madrid 2014, ISBN 9788477682653, p. 13. Another scholar claims the two met sometime in 1937 in Seville and provides a number of details, but no source
83. Apuntes y documentos para la Historia del Tradicionalismo Español, vol. 1, Madrid 1979, pp. 157-158
84. Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 371-2
85. Spanish Carlists were careful to emphasise that Don Javier's enlistment in the Belgian army in no way changed the Carlists' neutral position toward the warring parties of the Second World War. Compare, e.g., the meeting of Carlist executive Manuel de Santa Cruz [Alberto Ruiz de Galarreta], Apuntes y documentos para la Historia del Tradicionalismo Español, vol. 2, Madrid 1979, p. 26
86. De Besson a Dachau, [in:] randos.allier service, available here
87. Bourbon Parme Xavier de, [in:] Amis de la Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation de l'Allier service, available here
88. Somerset Daily American 08.08.45, available here
89. François-Xavier deBourbon, il fut notre roi idéal 2015, p. 11, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 260
90. Bostz was only 12 km away from Moulins, one of the major demarcation line crossing points, see Moulins en 1939-1945, [in:] Anonymes, Justes et persécutés durant la période nazie service, available here
91. Marcel Lerecouvreux, Les accords Halifax-Chevalier, [in:] Marcel Lerecouvreux, Résurrection de l'Armée française, de Weygand à Giraud, Paris 1955, pp. 109-110
92. Unlike most Carlists, who considered Britain a hotbed of liberalism, plutocracy, freemasonry and greed, apart from being Spain's historical arch-enemy, Don Javier was "essentially Anglophile". In late stages of the civil war he spoke with a British Foreign Office representative expressing his sharp disagreement with Franco's pro-German course, only to be dismissed as the head of "medieval reactionaries", Javier Tusell, Franco en la guerra civil, Barcelona 1992, ISBN 9788472236486, pp. 359-360, referred after Stanley G. Payne, El Carlismo en la politica espanola, [in:] Stanley G. Payne (ed.), Identidad y nacionalismo an la España contemporanea: el carlismo, 1833-1975, Madrid 2002, ISBN 8487863469, p. 121
93. J. L., Prince Xavier de Bourbon, Les accords secrets franco-anglais de decembre 1940 [review], [in:] Politique etrangere 15/2 (1950), pp. 240-242
94. see e.g. Gaston Schmitt, Les accords secrets franco-britanniques de novembre-décembre 1940. Histoire de ou Mystification, Paris 1957, and its review by Henri Bernard, [in:] Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire 36/3 (1958), pp. 1017-1024
95. Manuel de Santa Cruz [Alberto Ruiz de Galarreta], Apuntes y documentos para la Historia del Tradicionalismo Español, vol. 1, Madrid 1979, pp. 163-179
96. "desorganización y desorientación. La pasividad y el retraimiento de las bases eran la norma", Canal 2000, pp. 349-350
97. Dorotheum. Scholls-aktion im Schloss Puchheim, Salzburg 2002, p. 2, available here
98. in his memoirs Don Javier claims he entered into contact with the Resistance "during the second year of the war", which might point to any time between 1940 and 1942, according to Josep Carles Clemente, Raros, Heterodoxos, Disidentes y Viñetas Del Carlismo, Barcelona 1995, ISBN 9788424507077, p. 111
99. François-Xavier deBourbon, il fut notre roi idéal 2015, p. 11
100. because of lack of petrol, François-Xavier de Bourbon, il fut notre roi idéal 2015, p. 11; another source claims he repeatedly travelled to Vichy to get the detainees freed on many instances, Clemente 1995, p. 110
101. claiming that one of the detained was his nephew
102. Even some generally high-quality works claim wrongly that he was arrested in 1943, see e.g. Canal 2000, p. 349
103. François-Xavier de Bourbon, il fut notre roi idéal 2015, p. 11
104. Ignacio Romero Raizabal, El prisionero de Dachau 156.270, Santander 1972 reports 156270 as Bourbon-Parma's prisoner number at Dachau; the Arolsen Archives preserve a prisoner registry card on his name with number 101057. See Bourbon Parme Xavier de, [in:] Amis de la Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation de l'Allier service. Some authors claim that during railway transport to Dachau the train was bombed and all documentation was lost in ensuing fire, which rendered all prisoners - including Don Javier - totally anonymous, Josep Miralles Climent, La rebeldia carlista, Madrid 2018, ISBN 9788416558711, p. 236
105. Franco allegedly declared that he did not know "this gentleman of French nationality" and that the Germans were free to do whatever they wished, Clemente 1996, p. 53
106. François-Xavier de Bourbon, il fut notre roi idéal 2015, p. 11. According to his own account, Don Javier assisted other prisoners, e.g. by providing Christian consolation, see Ignacio Romero Raizabal, El prisionero de Dachau 156.270, Santander 1972, e.g. pp. 14-15. His account should be treated with caution, as some information does not necessarily add up, e.g. he claims to have met a colleague from Stella Matutina, a certain "Knialosenki", a Pole who served as head of General Staff of the Polish army. The heads of staff who fell into German hands, Piskor and Gąsiorowski, are not known to have been detained in Dachau
107. Some sources claim Don Javier was liberated in May. García Riol 2015, p. 480. Another source claims he was transferred from Dachau to Psax because the Nazis intended to use him a hostage in bargaining with the Allies, but that he was spared thanks to clashes between the Gestapo and the Wehrmacht. Clemente 1995, p. 111. Yet another author claims that at some time Don Javier was transferred from Dachau to a Tyrolian location at Proger-Wildsee, where in May 1945 he was reportedly liberated by the Allies. Miralles Climent 2018, p. 236
108. or according to other sources 35 kg, Clemente 1996, p. 53
109. François-Xavier de Bourbon, il fut notre roi idéal 2015, p. 11
110. Don Javier crossed the border Bidasoa river led by local Basque smugglers. When asked whether they knew who their customer was, one of them answered plainly "gure errege", our king. Which did not prevent them from asking 6,000 pesetas for the service. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 319
111. Full title La única solución (Llamamiento de la Comunión Tradicionalista con la concreción práctica de sus principios. Con ocasión de la presión internacional y el cerco de la ONU. Inminente Ley de Sucesión); the document protested also international ostracism towards Spain, Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 321-2, 374
112. According to the document, "el régimen de Caudillaje" has "ni caracteres de estabilidad ni raiz española, por ser un régimen de poder personal, inconciliable con los derechos de la persona humana y de las entidades infrasoberanas en que aquella se desenvuelve"; according to some scholars, the document marked – following previous years of ambiguity – definitive breach with the regime, Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 171-172
113. The two groups in question were supporters of Carlos VIII, the so-called carloctavistas, and supporters of Don Juan, the so-called juanistas (or carlo-juanistas)
114. compare Don Javier’s 1947 letter read at Montserrat, Clemente 1977, pp. 292-4
115. César Alcalá, D. Mauricio de Sivatte. Una biografía política (1901-1980), Barcelona 2001, ISBN 8493109797, pp. 43, 59-62, 67, 71-72, Robert Vallverdú i Martí, La metamorfosi del carlisme català: del "Déu, Pàtria i Rei" a l'Assamblea de Catalunya (1936-1975), Barcelona 2014, ISBN 9788498837261, esp. the chapter L’enfrontament Sivatte – Fal Conde, pp. 106-111
116. In fact, Don Javier protested to Franco over theLey. Jeremy MacClancy, The Decline of Carlism, Reno 2000, ISBN 9780874173444, p. 85, Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 39
117. Sivatte claimed that even voting "no" in the referendum was improper; the only correct path was to ignore all Francoist referenda, Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, El naufragio de las ortodoxias. El carlismo, 1962–1977, Pamplona 1997; ISBN 9788431315641, p. 27, Alcalá 2001, pp. 74-80
118. Already in 1945 the first signs of dissent started to appear. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 299
119. At the turn of the decade international pressure eased, the Francoist regime seemed consolidated and speculations about Franco’s imminent removal faded away. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 328
120. in 1949; some authors claim that Sivatte was expelled from Comunión Tradicionalista, Canal 2000, p. 354, some claim that he left himself, Alcalá 2001, p. 94. Another author claims that Sivatte was expelled as late as 1956, Mercedes Vázquez de Prada Tiffe, El nuevo rumbo político del carlismo hacia la colaboración con el régimen (1955-56), [in:] Hispania 69 (2009), p. 195
121. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 326
122. the one that the Carlists set their eyes on was Iformaciones, to be actually taken over by the Carlists later
123. Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 328-331, Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, pp. 74- 75
124. Calls for Don Javier to assume the claim were usually based on presumed agreement among the Carlists, vaguely corresponding to a consensus emerging from a grand Carlist gathering as specified by Alfonso Carlos, and not on the heretofore applied Carlist hereditary rules of succession. In terms of these, Don Javier’s right to the throne was highly disputed. His claim could have been advanced only if excluding – for a number of reasons, ranging from morganatic marriages to the embrace of Liberalism – five older branches (those of Ferdinand of Borbón-Dos Sicilias, Infante Gabriel, Francisco de Paula, Carlota Joaquina and Doña Blanca).
125. MacClancy 2000, p. 83, Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 41. In Guernica Don Javier pledged to defend Basque fueros, Aproximación biográfica 2002
126. News of the Carlist king arriving leaked out, prompting crowds to welcome their "monarch", to the embarrassment of both Don Javier and Fal Conde. Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 338–39
127. Full text in Clemente 1977, pp. 296-7
128. Canal 2000, p. 354. Though Fal for 15 years opposed terminating the regency, in 1952 it was he who convinced Don Javier to declare himself king; one scholar considers Acto de Barcelona "l’obra mestra de Fal, [which] avivá el carlisme i aillá la Comunió del perill contaminant del joanisme i del franquisme", Vallverdú 2014, p. 144
129. Alcalá 2001, p. 101
130. Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 339–40, Ana Marín Fidaldo, Manuel M. Burgueño, In memoriam. Manuel J. Fal Conde (1894-1975), Sevilla 1980, pp. 51–52
131. La Posición Política de la Comunión Tradicionalista, 1954
132. In 1955, upon meeting Don Juan at a royal wedding. Alcalá 2001, p. 102
133. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 392, see also Mercedes Vázquez de Prada, El final de una ilusión. Auge y declive del tradicionalismo carlista (1957-1967), Madrid 2016, ISBN 9788416558407, pp. 31-47
134. MacClancy 2000, pp. 85-88
135. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 33
136. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 33, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 393. Fal’s resignation was in fact suggested by Don Javier. It came as a surprise, since earlier that year Fal orchestrated several warm meetings with the Carlist royal family, e.g. in Seville, Lourdes and San Sebastián
137. MacClancy 2000, p. 87
138. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 35
139. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 36
140. Javier Lavardín, Historia del ultimo pretendiente a la corona de España, Paris 1976, pp. 25-26. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 395-6
141. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 38, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 396
142. Alcalá 2001, p. 115
143. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 38, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 396
144. García Riol 2015, p. 43
145. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 59
146. MacClancy 2000, p. 91
147. Ramón María Rodón Guinjoan, Invierno, primavera y otoño del carlismo (1939-1976) [PhD thesis Universitat Abat Oliba CEU], Barcelona 2015, pp. 628-9
148. He once remarked to his senior Carlist aide: "Rafael [Olazabal], free me of this weight", MacClancy 2000, p. 88
149. MacClancy 2000, p. 91. According to one scholar, since 1957 Don Javier did start to think of his son as a would-be future king of Spain. García Riol 2015, p. 215
150. An opinion advanced mostly by the Sivattistas. Alcalá 2001, pp. 71-93
151. Opinion advanced by Ramon Massó and his entourage, compare Lavardin 1976
152. In 1958 in a number of statements he declared that the regency was set up by Alfonso Carlos specifically to prevent agreement with the Alfonsists. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 69
153. Expulsion from the Comunion those who declared adherence to Don Juan in Estoril, Vázquez de Prada 2016, pp. 69-70
154. Vázquez de Prada 2016, pp. 99-100
155. Don Javier considered it prudent not to claim the crown. Some Francoist officials were sure he imagined his future as a somewhat symbolic Carlist leader, a "standard bearer", willing to stay clear of the crown debate, Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 100-101
156. Valiente was nominated president of the council in 1958 and Jefe Delegado in 1960. Vázquez de Prada 2016, pp. 87, 116
157. The so-called Junta de Regiones. Vázquez de Prada 2016, pp. 42-45
158. The Sivattistas, named RENACE. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 75
159. Vázquez de Prada 2016, pp. 135-6
160. "que deben ver en el Principe, a su Rey", Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 142
161. following a period of confusion, when attempting to shrug off his Francophone image, the prince appeared in Spain as "Carlos", "Carlos Javier", "Carlos María Isidro", "Hugo Carlos" and finally "Carlos Hugo". Stanley G. Payne, Prologo, [in:] Mercedes Vázquez de Prada, El final de una ilusión. Auge y declive del tradicionalismo carlista (1957-1967), Madrid 2016, ISBN 9788416558407, p. 20
162. In historiography referred to as "secretaría del principe", "secretaría privada", "secretaría política", Vázquez de Prada 2016, pp. 145-151, "secretaría particular", Lavardin 1976, p. 122. Don Javier also considered setting up his own Consejo Privado, which would meet periodically in Bostz (in contrast with Don Juan's establishment at Estoril, but those sounded about on joining were not enthusiastic. García Riol 2015, p. 54
163. García Riol 2015, p. 98, 104
164. He sent letters to be read at the Montejurra annual gatherings, where Carlos Hugo was increasingly featured in his father's absence. The event was attended a number of times by Don Javier’s daughters, a few times by his sons, and in 1963 by his wife
165. García Riol 2015, p. 82
166. Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 159
167. e.g. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 476
168. Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, pp. 79-85, 96-117
169. Canal 2000, pp. 354-355, Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 244-247; to some, it was this proclamation which marked the end of the Carlist regency. García Riol 2015, p. 51
170. Fermín Pérez-Nievas Borderas, Contra viento y marea. Historia de la evolución ideológica del carlismo a través de dos siglos de lucha, Pamplona 1999, ISBN 9788460589327. María Teresa de Borbón Parma, Josep Carles Clemente, Joaquín Cubero Sánchez, Don Javier, una vida al servicio de la libertad, Barcelona 1997, ISBN 9788401530180
171. One researcher found two versions of a 1967 response prepared by Don Javier for an orthodox Carlist, María Amparo Munilla, who in her letter complained about the destructive impact of Carlos Hugo’s supporters. The original version of Don Javier’s letter appears bizarre, e.g. it implicates KGB manipulations as the origin of discord within Carlism. A later version omitted all references to the KGB and instead blamed the extreme Left for instigating youths against Carlist veterans. García Riol 2015, p. 104-105. Another scholar claims that "lo majaban y instrumentalizaban con mucha facilidad". Rodón Guinjoan 2015, p. 565
172. Examples are Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997 and Vázquez de Prada 2016
173. i.e. following the referendum he sent Franco a telegram, congratulating him on the support he obtained. García Riol 2015, p. 74
174. Canal 2000, p. 368
175. following a fairly independent though not really challenging address, backed by a statement signed by Don Javier. Clemente 1977, pp. 60-61. Canal 2000, p. 369. Clemente 2013, pp. 70-71, 74
176. Expulsions: May 1937, December 1937, May 1952, January 1956 and December 1968; following the last one he declared, like Carlos VII did in 1876, "I will return!". Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 98. And like Carlos VII, he never did
177. Carlos Hugo delivered his address on December 15 and on December 20 he was driven by the police to the French border. Don Javier flew from Paris to Madrid on December 22, officially to spend Christmas in Spain. He did, but was asked to leave and flew back to France on December 27. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 96
178. some scholars claim also that it was only after the 1968 expulsion that Don Javier embraced the radicalism of his son. García Riol 2015, p. 157
179. Don Javier responded to the decision with a protest letter to Franco, in which he refused to acknowledge the nomination. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 101
180. "hizo pasar a una situación de paulatina retirada de la vida pública", Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 209; "y mientras tanto, Don Javier y Doña Magdalena viven en el Castillo de Lignières, en Francia, prácticamente aislados de la realidad española", García Riol 2015, p. 273, "desde 1970 se acentúa su aislamiento de la realidad española". García Riol 2015, p. 421
181. Some authors allege that they were edited by Carlos Hugo and suggest, ambiguously, that they went out "with the signature of Don Javier". García Riol 2015, p. 153. Although copies of documents hand-written by Don Javier have also been made public. García Riol 2015, p. 273
182. Don Javier was driven over by a car when on a pedestrian crossing in Paris, suffering two legs broken and other injuries. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 107
183. At this point he officially ceded all political duties to Carlos Hugo. Canal 2000, p. 371, Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 107.
184. In February 1970 Don Javier celebrated the birth of his first patriline grandson (he already had three grandsons, the children of his oldest daughter) and supposed heir to the Carlist throne. At a reception in Ligniéres, Don Javier, in an unusually ebullient mood, shouted: "Carlists! here is Carlos, your Carlos! Carlos, here are the Carlists!". Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 102
185. The first signs of discord between the two brothers, already grave and possibly including violence, were noted in 1967. García Riol 2015, p. 112. As late as 1972 relations between Carlos-Hugo and Sixte were still correct, as Sixte served as godfather at the christening of his brother's first daughter, Margarita. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 110
186. Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, pp. 272-3
187. According to his younger son, it was an "enforced abdication". Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 272, Rodón Guinjoan 2015, p. 591. his eldest son assumed the title of Carlos Hugo I. Clemente 2013, p. 28
188. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 117
189. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 124
190. Juan Balansó, La familia rival. Planeta, 1994, p. 229. ISBN 84-08-01247-9
191. La Actualidad Española March 1977, available here
192. ABC de Sevilla 08.03.77, available here
193. Mediterraneo 08.03.77, available here; full text in Clemente 2013, p. 137
194. La Vanguardia, 09-03-77, available here; what has actually happened is unclear and remains subject to conflicting accounts. The most detailed one is in Heras y Borrero 2010, pp. 127-133. The author claims that around 20 February 1977 Don Javier, accompanied by Françoise Marie and her husband Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz, withdrew to their Granville cottage in Normandy, according to a letter from Don Javier to his sister, "to spend a few days in peace". He then posed for a number of family photos with Sixte and Françoise Marie, made by a photographer of Actualidad Española and published later in the press. On 4 March Don Javier, accompanied by Sixte, Françoise Marie and a number of Spanish Traditionalists, visited a Paris notary to issue a declaration. Following a brief interview with a reporter from Actualidad Española, he withdrew to Granville. At the same time Carlos-Hugo, unaware of his father’s whereabouts, alerted the police, who found Don Javier in good shape the following day. On 5 March, and accompanied by Carlos-Hugo, he was placed in the Hôpital Americain de Neuilly. On 7 March he left the hospital accompanied by Cécile, allegedly to attend the morning mass. In fact, accompanied by Carlos-Hugo, he visited another notary to make another statement, then returned to the hospital, while his wife issued a declaration charging Carlos-Hugo with abduction. Transliteration of material published in Actualidad Española available here
195. Canal 2000, p. 380; before her own death, the widow barred Carlos-Hugo, Marie-Thérèse, Cécile and Marie des Neiges from the Ligniéres castle (the castle of Bostz had already become a property of Françoise Marie and her husband) and banned them from attending her own funeral. García Riol 2015, p. 382
196. the Spanish press noted him as taking part in the Sixtus Affair, as engaged in lawsuit over Chambord, and as protagonist of aristocratic high life
197. Don Javier provided many reasons to be considered a Frenchman. Also in the late 1940s, for 10 years a Carlist regent, he published brief historical accounts in which he referred to "our troops", "our interests" etc, all clearly pointing to "French troops" or "French interests", compare Les Accords Secrets Franco-Anglais de decembre de 1940, Paris 1949, and La Republique de Tout le Monde, Paris 1946, referred after Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 40. One of the books claimed also that "he is French and speaks French, the Frenchman of the Capet family, so profundly linked to France", Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 97. The 1960 wedding of his oldest daughter was arranged and commented almost exclusively as related to France; Don Javier has explitictly asked the Spanish Carlists not to attend, Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 64
198. except the Portuguese Braganzas and his own family, Rodón Guinjoan 2015, p. 630. Despite a number of intermarriages with many European royal or ducal houses, most of them tended to support the Alfonsist claimant Don Juan
199. a contemporary scholar lists 7 defecting groups: Carloctavistas (1943), Estorilos (1957), Renace (1958), Tradicionalistas del Movimiento (1966-1968), Integristas (1968), Tradicionalistas Puros (1972) and Tradicionalistas Dinasticos (1975), García Riol 2015, p. 350. In fact, the last defection took place in 1976-77, Canal 2000, p. 382, Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, pp. 278-9
200. MacClancy 2000, p. 199
201. Marie des Neiges settled as an ornithologist and was engaged in protecting the Extremadura nature, Cecile specialized in theology and archives. Neither has married and neither maintained public profile, except attending family feasts and some events related to Parma, Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 150
202. specialising in Arab and Third World issues, teaching at Complutense and Harvard; she was also the author of a few books: Cambios en Mexico, Madrid 1990, ISBN 9788430918591, Magreb, el nuestro poniente proximo, Madrid 1994, ISBN 9788476833308, Desde Tanger la transición que viene, Madrid 1999, ISBN 9788483740774, La tradicion desde el frente exterior, Madrid 2001, ISBN 9788475603001, Asi fueron, asi son, Barcelona 2009, ISBN 9788408088967
203. like Jaser Arafat and Hugo Chavez , Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 150. She remains active until today, see espaciocarlista service, available here
204. compare e.g. S.A.R. Don Sixto Enrique de Borbón preside los actos por la festividad de Mártires de la Tradición, [in:] Comunión Tradicionalista service, 16.05.16, available here
205. in a 2016 interview he recognized Don Felipe as the king of Spain, compare La Vanguardia 11.10.16, available here His few Spanish followers consider him "rey de los carlistas". Don Sixto does not recognize the rights of his nephew, Carlos Javier, current head of the Bourbon-Parma family; he maintains that Carlos Javier is deprived of so-called legitimacy of execution, noting also that his marriage is morganatic, García Riol 2015, p. 237
206. officially named first Cellules Solidaires Anarchos Royalistes and now Organisation Georges Bernanos
207. Charles-Xavier de Bourbon, notre roi de France pour demain, [in:] Lys Noir 2015
208. Le Monde 23.10.13, available here
209. see secretdefiance service, available here Archived 28 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine
210. official Partido Carlista representatives co-organized an homage to Don-Javier, which took place during the 2002 Montejurra gathering. However, they made clear that they did not support Carlos Hugo who, since the late 1990s, vaguely resumed his royal claim. On the other hand, Carlos Hugo and followers of the Bourbon-Parmas made clear that they should not be confused with the Partido Carlista. Heras y Borrero 2010, pp. 163-167
211. e.g. his taking part in the conspiracy of May–July 1936 is presented as an effort to avert civil war, Clemente 1977, pp. 96-97. Others note that he was firmly anti-Nazi already in the mid-1930s - Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 257-8; Don Javier’s term in Dachau is usually highlighted as proof of his stand against authoritarian, anti-democratic regimes
212. See works of Clemente, Perez-Nievas, Cubero and the Borbón-Parmas
213. Rodón Guinjoan 2015, p. 576: "supuesto talante subversivo y revolucionario que de hallaba en las antipodas de la verdadera personalidad del Principe Javier". A somewhat similar summary is suggested by a current Traditionalist pundit, who considers Don Javier "último gran príncipe de la Cristiandad" and "tradicionalista di ferro", but also "demasiado delicado de alma y dubitativo de cabeza", Miguel Ayuso, El carlismo y su signo (a los 175 años), [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 14 (2008), pp. 122-123
214. Some note that though generally Don Javier preferred to avoid conflicts, especially personal ones, at times he was capable of adopting a fairly confrontational stand, even towards old friends, as in the case of the Baleztena family. In 1971 he wrote, "es muy triste para mí la actitud tomada por la familia Baleztena, amigos de tantos ańos… Esa familia es víctima de jóvenes ambiciosos de mentalidad opuesta a los ancianos y han formado un núcleo de traidores", García Riol 2015, p. 270
215. see Raimundo de Miguel, La deserción de la dinastía, [in:] Portal Avant! 10.06.11, available here
216. see opinions quoted in García Riol 2015, pp. 296-7
217. Aproximación biográfica 2002. His brother Sixte is, at present, half-way to sanctity; in 2004 he was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church for his 1916 efforts to secure peace
218. Edvard op de Beeck, Z. K. H. Prins Xavier de Bourbon-Parma: Biografisch Essai, Aarschot 1970, Ignacio Romero Raizabal, El prisionero de Dachau 156.270, Santander 1972, María Teresa de Borbón Parma, Josep Carles Clemente, Joaquín Cubero Sánchez, Don Javier: una vida al servicio de la libertad, Barcelona 1997, ISBN 9788401530180, Javier Onrubia Rebuelta, El pensamiento cristiano de Don Javier de Borbón Parma, Pamplona 1997, Josep Carles Clemente, Aproximación biográfica a un rey carlista: Don Javier de Borbón y Parma, Sevilla 2008, ISBN 9788495735362
219. Martorell Pérez 2009
220. however, the author is careful to present the process not as a change but as a continuity, or rather as purging the Carlist orthofoxy from alien intrusions. "fue en estos meses de formación en los que Carlos Hugo entró en contacto con las diferentes sensibilidades que conformaban el espectro del carlismo “javierista”, en el que se reflejaba la citada continuidad ideológica, jugando un papel preeminente, respecto a otras obras teóricas del tradicionalismo, los postulados vertidos por Rafael Gambra", Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 487
221. Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997
222. The peculiar position in question consisted of playing down his own role combined with general support for the changes, perhaps conditioned by transformation in the Church. Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 358
223. García Riol 2015 and Rodón Guinjoan 2015. Also other scholars consider Don Javier "contradictorio como siempre", Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 98
224. It is noted that Don Javier systemetically took part in homages to Vendée insurgents and to Charles X. García Riol 2015, p. 420. He also spoke in favor of Algérie francaise and opposed the 1962 referendum, see dynastiecapetienne service, available here
225. Rodón Guinjoan 2015, pp. 636-637
226. Don Javier is by some presented as blinded by total faith in his son. When challenged by the Traditionalists, he usually veered the discussion from ideological to generational issues, pointing to the youth and hot-temper of his son. García Riol 2015, p. 266
227. "se convirtió a buen seguro, a sus 77 años en 1966, en un instrumento de legitimación en manos de su heredero Carlos Hugo hacia una deriva ideológica de inciertas consecuencias", García Riol 2015, p. 421; Carlos Hugo and his sisters "lo manjaban y instrumentalizaban con mucha facilidad", Rodón Guinjoan 2015, p. 565
228. Even some Francoist officials were sure that Don Javier imagined his own future as a somewhat symbolic Carlist leader, a "standard bearer", Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 100-101. For the same scholarly opinion see Rodón Guinjoan 2015, pp. 628-9
229. García Riol 2015, p. 254.
230. García Riol 2015, p. 255
231. Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George service, available here Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
232. Clemente 1977, p. 95
233. Clemente 1977, p. 95
234. Le Galouis 29.06.16, available here

Further reading

• René Baret, Un Saint ami, le prince Xavier de Bourbon, duc de Parme, s.l. 1984
• Edvard op de Beeck, Z. K. H. Prins Xavier de Bourbon-Parma: Biografisch Essai, Aarschot 1970
• Wolfdieter Bihl, Marianne Walle, La mission de médiation des princes Sixte et Xavier de Bourbon-Parme en faveur de la paix, [in:] Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains 170 (1993), pp. 31–75
• María Teresa Borbón Parma, Josep Carles Clemente, Joaquín Cubero Sánchez, Don Javier: una vida al servico de la libertad. Barcelona 1997, ISBN 9788401530180
• María Teresa Borbón Parma, Asi fueron, asi son, Barcelona 2009, ISBN 9788408088967
• Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, El naufragio de las ortodoxias. El carlismo, 1962–1977, Pamplona 1997; ISBN 9788431315641
• Josep Carles Clemente, Aproximación biográfica a un rey carlista: Don Javier de Borbón y Parma, Sevilla 2008, ISBN 9788495735362
• Joaquín Cubero Sánchez, Don Javier de Borbón Parma en el exilio: El carlismo contra el fascismo, Madrid 2017 [no ISBN]
• Daniel Jesús García Riol, La resistencia tradicionalista a la renovación ideológica del carlismo (1965-1973) [PhD thesis UNED], Madrid 2015
• J. Pelluard, La familie de Bourbon-Parma, Chambord, enjeu d’un procés de famille, [in:] Memoires de la Societe des sciences et lettres de Loir-et-Cher 37 (1982), pp. 53–61
• Tamara Griesser-Pečar, Die Mission Sixtus: Österreichs Friedensversuch im Ersten Weltkrieg. München 1988, ISBN 3850022455
• Francisco Manuel Heras y Borrero, Carlos Hugo el Rey que no pudo ser, Madrid 2010, ISBN 9788495009999
• Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis UNED], Valencia 2009
• Javier Onrubia Rebuelta, El pensamiento cristiano de Don Javier de Borbón Parma, Pamplona 1997
• Javier Onrubia Rebuelta (ed.), El pensamiento político de Don Javier de Borbón Parma (1968-1977), Sevilla 2006, ISBN 9788495735201
• Ignacio Romero Raizabal, El prisionero de Dachau 156.270, Santander 1972
• Ramón María Rodón Guinjoan, Invierno, primavera y otoño del carlismo (1939-1976) [PhD thesis Universitat Abat Oliba CEU], Barcelona 2015
• Gaston Schmitt, Les accords secrets franco-britanniques de novembre-décembre 1940. Histoire de ou Mystification, Paris 1957
• Mercedes Vázquez de Prada, El final de una ilusión. Auge y declive del tradicionalismo carlista (1957-1967), Madrid 2016,
• Eusebio Ferrer Hortet. Los Reyes que Nunca Reinaron: Los Carlistas, Kindle edition, ASIN: B00YASODW4

External links

• official Borbon-Parma website
• Le Souvenir Vendéen website
• Puchheim castle gallery website
• Por Dios y por España; contemporary Carlist propaganda