Louis Alphonse de Bourbon

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon Duke of Anjou Pretender Born (1974-04-25) 25 April 1974 Madrid (Spain) Regnal name claimed Louis XX, King of France and Navarre Title(s) Duke of Anjou (disputed) Throne(s) claimed France, Navarre Pretend from January 30, 1989 – present Monarchy abolished 1830 Last monarch Charles X Connection with third cousin, six times removed Royal House Bourbon Father Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz Mother María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco Spouse María Margarita Vargas Santaella Children Princess Eugénie of Bourbon Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy Prince Alphonse, Duke of Berry Religion Roman Catholicism

Template:French Royal Family (Legitimist)

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon (Template:Lang-fr; Template:Lang-es; born 25 April 1974, Madrid) is a pretender to the former French throne, and considered by Legitimists \ who consider the renunciation of Philip V of Spain as invalid to be the head of the French Royal House.

He is a great-grandson of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and first cousin once removed of King Juan Carlos I of Spain. He is also a great-grandson of Francisco Franco.

Historical background

His supporters call themselves legitimists (légitimistes), one of three claimant parties to the deposed throne of France. The term was originally applied to those who supported Charles X of France after his replacement as French King by his cousin, Louis-Philippe on 9 August 1830. Charles X and his eldest son, Dauphin Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, abdicated the throne, but Charles' supporters maintained that he was the "legitimate" king. Louis-Philippe had been Duke of Orléans so his supporters were called Orléanists. After the abdication of Charles X, some Legitimists transferred their loyalty to his grandson, Henri, comte de Chambord. When Louis-Antoine died on 3 June 1844, his remaining partisans recognized the comte de Chambord as the rightful heir.

When the comte de Chambord died on 24 August 1883, some of the Legitimists recognized Louis-Philippe's grandson, Philippe, Comte de Paris, as the rightful heir. Others transferred their loyalty to members of the Spanish Royal Family who were descended from Philip V of Spain, an uncle of Louis XV of France. King Philip renounced his claim to the French throne as part of Treaty of Utrecht recognizing him as King of Spain. Legitimists regard this as invalid, because, under the fundamental law of French monarchy, neither a king nor his heirs can renounce the claim to a throne they hold but do not possess. Louis Alphonse is the current claimant, in the view of this group.

Life

Louis Alphonse was born in Madrid, the second son of Alfonso, and of his wife Doña María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco. Alfonso was at that time the dauphin according to those who supported the claim of his father, Prince Jaime, Duke of Anjou and Segovia, to the French throne. On 20 March 1975, the Prince Jaime (Jacques-Henri VI), Duke of Anjou and Segovia, died. Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz thus became head of the French Royal House according to the legitimists. As such, he took the title Duke of Anjou. On 19 September 1981, the Duke of Anjou gave Louis Alphonse the title Duke of Touraine.

Louis Alphonse's parents divorced in 1982. The religious marriage was annulled in 1986. His mother has since remarried civilly twice; he had two half-sisters Mathilda (deceased) and Marella and a half-brother Frederick, all born before her mother's marriage to Jean-Marie Rossi and a half-sister, Cynthia Rossi, born afterwards. On 7 February 1984, Louis Alphonse's older brother Francisco died as the result of a car crash. From that date Louis Alphonse has been considered to be the heir apparent to his father, according to the Legitimists. As such, he was given the additional title Duke of Bourbon on September 27 of that year. In 1987, the Spanish government declared that the title Duke of Cádiz would not be hereditary (as this title is traditionally attached to the Crown). As such when Louis Alphonse's father died, he did not inherit it.

On 30 January 1989, his father died in a skiing accident in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Louis Alphonse became "Chef de la Maison de Bourbon" (Head of the French Royal House of Bourbon) and took the title Duke of Anjou. He is considered the pretender to the French throne by adherents of the Legitimist movement. Louis Alphonse studied economics. He worked several years for BNP Paribas, a French bank in Madrid. Although he regularly visited France, where his mother lived for several years, he continued to live in Spain.

His engagement to marry Venezuelan heiress María Margarita Vargas Santaella (Marie Marguerite) was announced in November 2003. They were married civilly in Caracas on 5 November 2004 and religiously on 6 November 2004 in La Romana, Dominican Republic. None of the members of the Spanish Royal Family attended the wedding. Though no official reason was given, it is not a secret that the King of Spain does not like his cousin's claim to the French throne and the fact that Luis Alfonso signed the wedding invitation as Duke of Anjou did not sit well with the king. The couple lived in Venezuela beginning 2005, where he worked at Banco Occidental de Descuento, before moving to the United States. They currently reside in New York.

In June 2006, Louis Alphonse refused to attend his mother's third wedding, because he does not agree with her way of life as a celebrity and her separation from her previous husband, a man whom he greatly respects.

Louis Alphonse and Marie Marguerite had their first child, a daughter, named Eugénie on 5 March 2007 at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida. She was baptised at the papal nunciature in Paris in June 2007. Legitimists recognise her as Princess Eugénie of Bourbon; in Spanish her name is Doña Eugenia de Borbón y Vargas.

The couple had twin boys, Prince Louis and Prince Alphonse, on 28 May 2010. Louis has been given the title of Duke of Burgundy (duc de Bourgogne), and Alphonse the title of Duke of Berry (duc de Berry). Louis, as Dauphin, will succeed his father as head of the French Royal House. In Spanish, the boys are Don Luis and Don Alfonso de Borbón y Vargas.

Titles and honours

Louis Alphonse is currently the Head of the House of Bourbon, and claims the following titles:

• Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Malta

Ancestors

See also; Descendants of Louis XIV of France.

Family of Louis Alphonse de Bourbon

16. King Alfonso XII of Spain 8. King Alfonso XIII of Spain 17. Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria 4. Infante Jaime of Spain, Duke of Segovia 18. Prince Henry of Battenberg 9. Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg 19. Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom 2. Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz 20. Richard de Dampierre, 1st Duke of San Lorenzo Nuovo 10. Roger de Dampierre, 2nd Duke of San Lorenzo Nuovo 21. Jeanne Marie Carraby 5. Donna Emmanuella de Dampierre 22. Don Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Poggio Suasa 11. Princess Donna Vittoria Ruspoli of Poggio Suasa 23. Josephine Mary Beers-Curtis 1. Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou 24. Andrés Martínez 12. José María Martínez y Ortega 25. Catalina Ortega 6. Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, 10th Marquis of Villaverde 26. Cristóbal Bordiú y de Prat, 9th Marquis of Villaverde 13. María de la O Esperanza Bordiú y Bascarán, 7th Countess of Argillo 27. María de la O de Bascarán y Reina 3. María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco 28. Nicolás Franco y Salgado-Araújo 14. Francisco Franco y Bahamonde, Head of state of Spain 29. María del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade 7. María del Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco 30. Felipe Polo y Flórez de Vereterra 15. María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés, 1st Lady of Meirás 31. Ramona Martínez-Valdés y Martínez-Valdés

Bibliography

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

External links

• Institut de la Maison de Bourbon of which he is Président d'honneur under the appellation: Mgr le Prince Louis, duc d’Anjou[1]
• Institut Duc d'Anjou