Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz

Alphonse
Duke of Anjou and Cádiz
Legitimist pretender to the French throne
Pretendence	20 March 1975 – 30 January 1989
Predecessor	Henri VI
Successor	Louis XX
Duke of Anjou
Tenure	3 August 1975 – 30 January 1989
Predecessor	Jaime, Duke of Anjou
Successor	Luis Alfonso, Duke of Anjou
Duke of Cádiz
Tenure	22 November 1972 – 30 January 1989
Duke of Bourbon
Tenure	25 November 1950–1975
Successor	Francisco, Duke of Bourbon
Spouse	María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco
Issue
Francisco de Asís, Duke of Bourbon Luis Alfonso, Duke of Anjou
Full name
Alfonso Jaime Marcelino Manuel Víctor María de Borbón y Dampierre
House	House of Bourbon
Father	Jaime, Duke of Segovia
Mother	Donna Emanuela de Dampierre
Born	(1936-04-20)20 April 1936 Clinica Santa Anna, Rome, Italy
Died	30 January 1989(1989-01-30) (aged 52) Beaver Creek Resort, United States
Burial	Las Descalzas Reales
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Alfonso, Duke of Anjou, Duke of Cádiz, Grandee of Spain (Alfonso Jaime Marcelino Manuel Víctor María de Borbón y Dampierre, French citizen as Alphonse de Bourbon) (20 April 1936 – 30 January 1989) was a grandson of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and a Legitimist claimant to the defunct throne of France as Alphonse II.

Life

Alfonso was born in the Clinica Santa Anna in Rome, the elder son of Infante Jaime of Spain and of his first wife, Donna Emanuela de Dampierre. He was baptised at the home of his maternal grandmother, Donna Vittoria Ruspoli, of the Italian princes di Poggio Suasa, the Palazzo Ruspoli, on the Via del Corso, 418, Rome, by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII).

Since Alfonso's mother was not born a princess of royal descent, his grandfather Alfonso XIII did not consider young Alfonso in line to the Spanish throne in accordance with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1776. Alfonso's father Jaime, however, maintained that his sons were French dynasts with the style of Royal Highness. In Spain up until 1972 Alfonso was generally addressed as Don Alfonso de Borbón y Dampierre. Elsewhere he was often addressed as a prince with the style His Royal Highness.^{[citation needed]}

From his birth Alfonso was considered a French prince with the style His Royal Highness by those legitimists who believed that Alfonso XIII was also the heir to the French throne. When his grandfather died on 28 February 1941, Alfonso's father Jaime succeeded him in this French claim; Alfonso was thereupon recognised by the legitimists as Dauphin of France.

In 1941 Alfonso moved with his family to Lausanne in Switzerland. They lived first at the Hotel Royal, before Alfonso and his younger brother Gonzalo were sent to the Collège Saint-Jean in Fribourg. On 8 December 1946 Alfonso made his first communion with his brother, Gonzalo; on the same day he was confirmed by Cardinal Pedro Segura y Sáenz, Archbishop of Seville.

On 25 November 1950, Alfonso received the title Duc de Bourbon (Duke of Bourbon) from his father.

In the 1960s General Francisco Franco toyed with the idea of naming Alfonso as his successor as Head of State of Spain, before designating Juan Carlos as the future monarch in July 1969. In December 1969 Alfonso was appointed Ambassador of Spain to Sweden, a position he held until 1973.

On 8 March 1972, in the Palace of El Pardo in Madrid, Alfonso married Doña María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, daughter of Don Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, 10th Marquess of Villaverde, and of his wife, Doña Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco (only daughter of General Franco). The witnesses of the marriage were General Franco and Alfonso's mother. Alfonso and Carmen separated in 1979, received a civil divorce 1982 and an annulment in 1986.

On 22 November 1972, General Franco awarded Alfonso the Spanish title Duque de Cádiz (Duke of Cádiz) with the dignity Grandes de España (Grandee of Spain), and was recognised and granted with the style of Royal Highness. The title Duke of Cádiz was a title used by the Royal House of Spain and had formerly been held by Alfonso's great-great-grandfather the Infante Francisco de Asís.

On 20 March 1975, Alfonso's father Jaime died; he was immediately recognised by his supporters as King Alphonse II of France. On 3 August 1975, he took the courtesy title Duc d'Anjou (Duke of Anjou).

From 1977 to 1984 Alfonso was President of the Spanish Skiing Federation. From 1984 to 1987 he was President of the Spanish Olympic Committee.

Marriage and children

Alfonso and Carmen had two sons:

• Don Francisco de Asís Alfonso Jaime Cristóbal Víctor José Gonzalo Cecilio de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú, Duc de Bourbon (Madrid, 22 November 1972 - Pamplona, 7 February 1984)
• Don Luis Alfonso Gonzalo Víctor Manuel de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú (born 1974).

On 7 February 1984 in Pamplona, Alfonso was driving home with his sons from a ski trip in the Pyrenees. His car collided with a truck. His eldest son Francisco de Asís was killed in the accident; his younger son Luis-Alfonso was in hospital for a month; Alfonso himself required six operations. A Spanish court granted the boy's mother temporary custody of the other son. But, six months later, the court ruled that the child could be returned to his father's custody.

Lawsuit of the Count of Clermont against the Duke of Anjou

Coat of arms of the Duke Anjou and Cádiz (1936–1989)

In 1987, Prince Henri of Orléans, Count of Clermont, eldest son of Henri, Count of Paris, the then Orléanist claimant to the defunct throne of France, initiated a court action against Alfonso for his use of the title Duke of Anjou and the coat-of-arms France Moderne (three fleur-de-lis or); Henri asked the court to fine Alfonso 50,000 French francs for each future violation. In 1988, Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Castro and Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma joined Henri's lawsuit in reference to the use of the title Duke of Anjou, but not in respect to the coat-of-arms. On 21 December 1988, the Tribunal de grand instance of Paris ruled that the lawsuit was inadmissible because the title's legal existence could not be proven; that neither the plaintiff (Henri) nor the intervenors (Fernando and Sixtus) had established their claims to the title; and that Henri was not injured from the use of the plain arms of France by the Spanish branch of the Bourbon family.

In 1989 Prince Henri d'Orléans and Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma appealed the judgment in the lawsuit about the use of a title and arms by Alfonso; the original judgment in favour of Alfonso was upheld.

Death

Alfonso died in a skiing accident in Beaver Creek Resort, Eagle County, Colorado on 30 January 1989. He collided with a cable which was being raised to support a banner at the finish line of a course at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

Bibliography

Dem, Marc. Le duc d'Anjou m'a dit: la vie de l'aîné des Bourbons. Paris: Perrin, 1989. ISBN 2-262-00725-X. Silve de Ventavon, Jean. La légitimité des lys et le duc d'Anjou. Paris: Editions F. Lanore, 1989. ISBN 2-85157-060-9. Zavala, José M. Dos infantes y un destino. Barcelona: Plaza & Janés, 1998. ISBN 84-01-55006-8.

External links

• Royal House of France
• Ducal House of Franco

Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz House of Bourbon Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Died: 30 January 1989
French nobility
Preceded by Infante Jaime	Duke of Anjou 3 August 1975 – 30 January 1989	Succeeded by Louis Alphonse
New title	Duke of Bourbon 25 November 1950 – 1975	Succeeded by François de Bourbon
Spanish nobility
New title	Duke of Cádiz 22 November 1972 – 30 January 1989	Title abolished
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Henri VI	— TITULAR — King of France and Navarre 20 March 1975 – 30 January 1989 Reason for succession failure: Bourbon monarchy abolished in 1830	Succeeded by Louis XX