The House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon that ruled Southern Italy and Sicily for more than a century in the 18th and 19th centuries. It descends from the Capetian dynasty in legitimate male line through Philip, Duke of Anjou (later Philip V of Spain), a younger grandson of Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) who established the Bourbon dynasty in Spain in 1700 as Philip V (1683–1746). In 1759, King Philip's younger grandson was appanaged with the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, becoming Ferdinand IV and III (1751–1825), respectively, of those realms. His descendants occupied the joint throne, merged as the "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" in 1816, until 1861, claimed it thereafter from exile, and constitute the extant Bourbon-Two Sicilies family. The succession of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has, since 1960, been disputed between the senior Calabrian line, which is currently being represented by Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria (born 1968) and the junior Castro line, which is currently being represented by Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro (born 1963). Since Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, has only daughters, in accordance with the traditional male-line succession of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the succession in theory should go to the senior Calabrian line since Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria has male heirs. Efforts of reconciliation were carried out in 2014, but have been followed by continuing arguing within the family as Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, insists on a break with tradition by transmitting succession to his eldest daughter.

Name

The name "Bourbon-Two Sicilies" (sometimes shortened to "Bourbon-Sicily") combines the patriline (Bourbon) with their former territorial designation (Two Sicilies).

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

The name of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies came from the unification of the Kingdom of Sicily with the Kingdom of Naples (called the kingdom of peninsular Sicily), by King Alfonso V of Aragon in 1442. The two had been separated since the Sicilian Vespers of 1282. At the death of King Alfonso in 1458, the kingdoms became divided between his brother John II of Aragon, who kept Sicily, and his bastard son Ferdinand, who became King of Naples. The crowns of Naples and Sicily remained functionally separate, albeit often ruled by the same monarch, until their formal union in 1816.

Reigning kings

1816–1825 || || 12 January 1751 Naples son of Charles VII and Maria Amalia of Saxony||Marie Caroline of Austria 12 May 1768 17 children Lucia Migliaccio of Floridia 27 November 1814 No children||4 January 1825 Naples aged 73 1825–1830|| || 14 August 1777 Naples son of Ferdinand I and Maria Carolina of Austria||Maria Isabella of Spain 6 July 1802 12 children||8 November 1830 Naples aged 53 1830–1859 || || 12 January 1810 Palermo son of Francis I and Maria Isabella of Spain||Maria Christina of Savoy 21 November 1832 1 child Maria Theresa of Austria 9 January 1837 12 children||22 May 1859 Caserta aged 49 1859–1861|| || 16 January 1836 Naples son of Ferdinand II and Maria Christina of Savoy||Maria Sophie of Bavaria 8 January 1859 1 child||27 December 1894 Arco aged 58

Heads of the House since 1861

When Prince Ferdinand Pius died in 1960, he left no male descendant, and two branches of the family claimed the right to succeed him as head of the house. Ferdinand Pius had seven younger brothers. At the time of Ferdinand Pius's death in 1960, the oldest brother, Carlos (1870–1949) was deceased, but had left descendants. The next surviving brother was Ranieri (1883–1973). By the rule of primogeniture, headship would normally pass through Carlos to his son Alfonso. Ranieri contested Alfonso's claim arguing that Carlos had renounced any claim to the Two Sicilies succession on the part of himself and his heirs when he executed the Act of Cannes in 1900 in anticipation of his marriage the next year to Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, heiress presumptive to the Spanish throne. Alfonso offered a different interpretation of the Act of Cannes, describing it as effective only if Carlos should succeed to the Spanish throne. He also took the position that the Act of Cannes was invalid under the succession rules of the house of Two Sicilies itself, since these laws provided only one, specific reason for a renunciation and that was in the event of the Spanish and Two Sicilies crowns being united in one person - which has not happened since 1759. Despite an investigation by five of the highest institutions of the Spanish state having concluded unanimously that the legitimate claimant was the late Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria, the junior line continues to perpetuate its claim. On 25 January 2014, representatives of the two rival branches, Prince Carlo (Castro line) and Prince Pedro, then Duke of Noto (Calabria line), jointly signed a pledge of partial reconciliation. The document recognised both branches as members of the same house, committed both to pursue further reconciliation and concord, meanwhile recognising the titles then claimed by each branch. At the Holy Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica celebrated in Rome on 14 May 2016, during a Pilgrimage by members of the Constantinian Order awarded by Prince Carlo to Rome and Vatican City, Prince Carlo made public his decision to change the rules of succession. He claimed that this change was so the rules of succession would be (as he claimed) compatible with international and European law, prohibiting any discrimination between men and women. The rule of absolute primogeniture would henceforth apply to his direct descendants, his elder daughter being named by him as heiress apparent. Prince Pedro publicly objected that Prince Carlo's declaration violated the terms of their reconciliation agreement, to which Carlo replied that further "destabilisation" could lead to termination of the 2014 pact. Since the succession rules had been settled in two international treaties, enforced in the Pragmatic Decree of 1759 and incorporated into the laws of the kingdom, it was beyond the powers of any claimant to the headship of the royal house to change the succession. Furthermore, it was in outright breach of the solemn agreement made in Naples in 2014 by which Prince Carlo recognised the late Infante Carlos as "Duke of Calabria", his son Prince Pedro as "Duke of Noto" and the latter's son, Prince Jaime, as "Duke of Capua".

Members of the House

Titles

Children and male-line grandchildren of the King of the Two Sicilies bore the title Prince(ss) Royal of the Two Sicilies with the style of Royal Highness. Other agnatic descendants of the King, born of authorized marriages, bore the title Prince(ss) of the Two Sicilies with the style of Royal Highness. Since 1861, and similarly to members of the House of Bourbon-Parma, the style Prince(ss) of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has been used for and by members of this family to highlight their membership in the House of Bourbon. The title of princess is also borne by the wives of the princes of the house provided the marriage is dynastically approved.

Princes of the Two Sicilies (since 1816)

Princesses of the Two Sicilies (since 1816)

By birth

By marriage