Category Archives: Pretenders to the Throne

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The County of Waldeck was a county within the Holy Roman Empire since 1180.  In 1625, the much smaller County of Pyrmont became part of the much larger County of Waldeck through inheritance and the combined territory was known as the County of Waldeck-Pyrmont. In 1712,  Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Count of Waldeck-Pyrmont was elevated to Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont by Holy Emperor Karl VI.

Friedrich, the last Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont, was the brother of Marie, the first wife of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg, Emma who married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and Helena, the wife of Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and the mother of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Friedrich abdicated on November 13, 1918, and negotiated an agreement with the government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and Arolsen Forest. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont is located in the German states of Hesse and Lower Saxony

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Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont; Credit – By Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1969-041-62 / CC-BY-SA, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5482509

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont was the last heir apparent to the throne of the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1946 until his death in 1967, and a convicted Nazi war criminal. Josias Georg Wilhelm Adolf was born on May 13, 1896, at Arolsen Castle in Arolsen, then in the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse. He was the eldest of the four children and the eldest of the three sons of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe. Josias’ paternal grandparents were Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his first wife Princess Helena of Nassau. His maternal grandparents were  Prince Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau. Through his father, Josias was the first cousin of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and two grandchildren of Queen Victoria, Charles Edward, the last reigning Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his sister Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone.

Josias had three younger siblings:

Beginning in 1902, Josias was educated by private tutors. In 1912, he began to attend the Royal Wilhelms-Gymnasium (link in German) in Kassel, then in the Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse. In 1914, 18-year-old Josias passed the Notabitur (link in German), which replaced the usual Abitur, exams taken for a high school diploma, for students in the final years of high school who wanted to serve in the German Army during World War I.

When World War I broke out, Josias enlisted in the German army and was wounded several times, including a grazing shot to his head. After the defeat of the German Empire in World War I and the end of all the German monarchies, Josias’ father Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont abdicated on November 13, 1918. He was the only German prince who refused to sign an abdication agreement. However, Friedrich did negotiate an agreement with the new government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and the Arolsen Forest.

On August 25, 1922, at Rastede Palace in Rastede, in Lower Saxony, Germany, Josias married Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg, the daughter of Friedrich August II, the last reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg, and his second wife Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Josias and Altburg had four daughters and one son. Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, the two most powerful Nazis, were among the godparents of their only son Wittekind.

  • Princess Margarethe of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1923 – 2003), married Franz II, Count of Erbach-Erbach von Warthenberg-Roth, had two children, divorced in 1979
  • Princess Alexandra of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1924 – 2009), married Botho, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt, had two children
  • Princess Ingrid of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1931 – ), unmarried
  • Prince Wittekind, Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 1936), married, Cecilia Countess Goëß-Saurau, had three sons
  • Princess Guda of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 1939), married Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Wied, had two children, divorced in 1962

Josias, with the rank of an SS-Obergruppenführer; Credit – By Franz Langhammer – Retrieved from germanianternational.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11725055

Josias’ parents both lived through World War II but neither joined the Nazi Party. However, their eldest son Josias, his wife Altburg, and their eldest child Margarethe were members of the Nazi Party. Josias joined the Nazi Party in 1929 and by 1930, he was a member of the Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS. The SS was the primary agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. In September 1930, Josias became the Adjutant and Staff Chief of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, and the main architect of The Holocaust. In 1933, Josias was promoted to the rank of SS Lieutenant General. He was promoted again in 1938, to the Higher SS and Police Leader for Weimar. In this position, he had supervisory authority over the Buchenwald concentration camp. His final rank was SS- Obergruppenführer, the highest commissioned SS rank and General of Waffen-SS. Members of the Waffen-SS were involved in numerous atrocities. At the Nuremberg Trials (1945 – 1946), the Waffen-SS was judged to be a criminal organization because of its direct involvement in numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Toward the end of World War II, Josias oversaw the efforts to conceal the horrors of the Buchenwald concentration camp by sending off inmates, resulting in thousands of deaths. Some inmates were sent on forced marches. Others were put in sealed trains for days. On one train trip that was supposed to last eighteen hours, only 300 of the 3,105 on the train survived the poor conditions, after days without any provisions for food or sanitation.

Josias; mug shot after being arrested; Credit – By unknown soldier or employee of the U.S. Army Signal Corps – Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4783531

Josias was captured by American General George Patton’s forces at the Buchenwald concentration camp on April 13, 1945, the day the camp was liberated. While he was in custody, Josias learned of the death of his father on May 26, 1946. Josias was now the Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont and began to use the title Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont but Josias would soon face two trials during the post-war period.

Josias in black facing the judges as a defendant at the Buchenwald Trial in 1947; Credit – Wikipedia

The Buchenwald Trial or United States of America vs. Josias Prince of Waldeck et al was a war crime trial conducted by the United States Army from April 11 to August 14, 1947, at the internment camp for war criminals, the SS and important witnesses in Dachau, Germany at the site of the former Dachau concentration camp. Thirty-one people, including Josias and many of the doctors responsible for Nazi human experimentation, were indicted for war crimes related to the Buchenwald concentration camp and its satellite camps, and all thirty-one defendants were convicted. On August 14, 1947, Josias was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and was sent to Landsberg War Criminal Prison Nr. 1 in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany.

On September 17, 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Josias as a Level 2 – Offender: Activist, Militant, or Profiteer, on the five-tier scale of the denazification system, with Level 1, Main Offender, being the worst. As a result, 70% of his property was seized along with other sanctions and fines.

On November 29, 1950, after serving just three years in prison, Josias was released. He was one of the first to benefit from US High Commissioner for Germany John J. McCloy’s amnesty program. At the strong urging of the West German government, and under pressure from the West German people, McCloy approved recommendations for the commutation of sentences of some Nazi criminals. In 1953, Josias received an amnesty from Georg-August Zinn, Minister President of Hesse reducing his fine from the denazification appeals court by more than half of the original fine.

Schaumberg Castle where Josias spent his final years; Credit – By Carsten Steger – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122795425

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont spent the last years of his life in seclusion at Schaumburg Castle near Limburg an der Lahn in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. He was investigated in the late 1950s and early 1960s in connection to atrocities at the Buchenwald concertation camp, the war-time murder of civilian workers, and the Röhm Purge of 1934, a series of political executions without trials intended to consolidate Hitler’s power. However, most investigations were discontinued because the statute of limitations had expired or guilt could not be proven.

Waldeck-Pyrmont Princely Mausoleum and Cemetery; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont died, aged, 71, on November 30, 1967, at Schaumburg Castle, and was buried in the Princely Cemetery at Schloss Rhoden (link in German), the burial site of the Waldeck-Pyrmont family in Rhoden, now in the German state of Hesse. He was succeeded as Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont by his only son Prince Wittekind. Josias’ wife Altburg survived him by 34 years, dying on June 16, 2001, aged 98. She was buried with her husband in the Princely Cemetery at Schloss Rhoden.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021). Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/friedrich-prince-of-waldeck-pyrmont/
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan. (2009). Royals and the Reich. Oxford University Press.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Buchenwald Trial. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_trial
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Josias zu Waldeck und Pyrmont. German Wikipedia. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josias_zu_Waldeck_und_Pyrmont
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josias,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Waldeck_and_Pyrmont

Prince Roberto Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Roberto Hugo was the head of the house of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the former throne of the Duchy of Parma from 1959 until 1974.

Prince Roberto Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma source: Wikipedia

Prince Roberto Hugo was born on August 7, 1909, at Weilburg Palace in Baden bei Wien, Austria. He was the second son of Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. Roberto Hugo had eight siblings:

  • Princess Maria Elisabetta (1904) – unmarried
  • Prince Carlo Luigi (1905) – died in childhood
  • Princess Maria Francesca (1906) – unmarried
  • Princess Maria Antonia (1911) – married Prince Gottfried of Thurn und Taxis, had issue
  • Prince Francesco Alfonso (1913) – unmarried
  • Princess Giovanna Isabella (1916) – unmarried
  • Princess Alicia Maria (1917) – married Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Calabria, had issue
  • Princess Maria Cristina (1925) – unmarried

He succeeded his father as head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the throne in 1950, and took over the management of the family’s estates. He never married.

Roberto Hugo died in Vienna on November 25, 1974. As he had no heirs, he was succeeded by his half-uncle, Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma.

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Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma was head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the former ducal throne of Parma from 1950 until his death in 1959. Additionally, he served as regent from 1907-1950 for two of his elder brothers, Enrico and Giuseppe, who were mentally disabled.

Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma: Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Elia Roberto Carlo Maria of Bourbon-Parma was born on July 23, 1880 in Biarritz, Switzerland, the fourth son of Roberto I, Duke of Parma and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had eleven siblings:

  • Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870 – 1899), married Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria (later Tsar), had four children including Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria,
  • Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza (born and died 1871 ), died in infancy
  • Princess Luisa Maria of Bourbon-Parma (1872 – 1943), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Enrico, Titular Duke of Parma (1873 – 1939), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias took up the role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Parma (1874 – 1914), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Giuseppe, Titular Duke of Parma (1875 – 1950), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias continued his role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (1876 – 1959), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (1877 – 1915), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Parma (1879 – 1946), married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli, had four children
  • Princess Maria Anastasia of Bourbon-Parma (born and died 1881), died in infancy
  • Prince Augusto of Bourbon-Parma (stillborn 1882)

He also had 12 siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal:

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. source: Wikipedia

Elia married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria on May 25, 1903 in Vienna. She was the daughter of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen and Princess Isabella of Croÿ. The couple had nine children:

  • Princess Maria Elisabetta (1904) – unmarried
  • Prince Carlo Luigi (1905) – died in childhood
  • Princess Maria Francesca (1906) – unmarried
  • Prince Roberto Hugo, Duke of Parma (1909) – unmarried
  • Princess Maria Antonia (1911) – married Prince Gottffried of Thurn und Taxis, had issue
  • Prince Francesco Alfonso (1913) – unmarried
  • Princess Giovanna Isabella (1916) – unmarried
  • Princess Alicia Maria (1917) – married Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Calabria, had issue
  • Princess Maria Cristina (1925) – unmarried

When Elia’s father Roberto I died in 1907, the headship of the family passed to Elia’s eldest living brother, Enrico. However, Enrico, and several of his siblings, were mentally disabled. Within just a few months, the Austrian court declared that Enrico and several of his siblings were legally incompetent. Elia served as regent for two of his elder brothers – Elia and Giuseppe, before legitimately becoming head of the house in 1950.

A dispute emerged between Elia and his younger half-brothers over their father’s estate. An agreement was reached in 1910, in which Elia received half of the estate while the rest would be divided among the others. Elia’s half included the famed Château de Chambord in France, later confiscated during World War I as enemy property. Several years later, Elia’s half-brothers sued him to gain a larger share of their father’s estate, claiming their 1910 agreement violated French law. The French court initially ruled in their favor, but it was overturned in 1928. Four years later, the appeal was upheld because the brothers entered into a valid agreement willingly in 1910, thus superseding the French law of equal division. This decision also recognized Elia’s claim to Chambord. While the chateau was not returned to him, he was compensated with a payment of 11 million francs.

Prince Elia died on June 27, 1959 in Friedberg, Austria, and is buried nearby in Mönichkirchen. He was succeeded by his second son, Robert Hugo.

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Duchy of Parma Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Prince Giuseppe of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Prince Giuseppe of Bourbon-Parma was the titular Duke of Parma from 1939 until his death in 1950. As he was mentally disabled, his younger brother Elia served as regent.

Prince Giuseppe of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma source: Wikipedia

Prince Giuseppe was the third son of Roberto I, the last reigning Duke of Parma, and his first wife, Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was born in Biarritz, France on June 30, 1875. He had 11 siblings:

  • Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870 – 1899), married Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria (later Tsar), had four children including Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria,
  • Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza (born and died 1871 ), died in infancy
  • Princess Luisa Maria of Bourbon-Parma (1872 – 1943), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Enrico, Titular Duke of Parma (1873 – 1939), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias took up the role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Parma (1874 – 1914), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (1876 – 1959), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (1877 – 1915), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Parma (1879 – 1946), married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli, had four children
  • Elias, Titular Duke of Parma (1880 – 1959), married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, had eight children, from 1907 to 1950, he served as regent for the claims of his two older disabled brothers, Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Anastasia of Bourbon-Parma (born and died 1881), died in infancy
  • Prince Augusto of Bourbon-Parma (stillborn 1882)

He also had 12 siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal:

Giuseppe succeeded his elder brother, Enrico, as titular Duke of Parma and head of the house. However, a few months after their father’s death in 1907, Giuseppe and five of his siblings were all declared legally incompetent due to their mental disabilities. His younger brother, Elia, became guardian of the six siblings, and served as regent during the tenure of both Enrico and Giuseppe.

Unmarried and childless, Giuseppe died on January 7, 1950 in Pianore, near Lucca, Italy. As he was unmarried and had no children, he was succeeded as titular Duke of Parma by his brother Elia.

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Duchy of Parma Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma was the titular Duke of Parma from 1907 until his death in 1939. As he was mentally disabled, his younger brother Elia served as regent.

Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma – source: Wikipedia

Prince Enrico was the second son of Roberto I, the last reigning Duke of Parma, and his first wife, Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was born at Wartegg Castle in Rorschach, Switzerland on June 13, 1873. He had 11 siblings:

  • Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870 – 1899), married Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria (later Tsar), had four children including Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria,
  • Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza (born and died 1871 ), died in infancy
  • Princess Luisa Maria of Bourbon-Parma (1872 – 1943), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Parma (1874 – 1914), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Giuseppe, Titular Duke of Parma (1875 – 1950), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias continued his role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (1876 – 1959), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (1877 – 1915), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Parma (1879 – 1946), married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli, had four children
  • Elias, Titular Duke of Parma (1880 – 1959), married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, had eight children, from 1907 to 1950, he served as regent for the claims of his two older disabled brothers, Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Anastasia of Bourbon-Parma (born and died 1881), died in infancy
  • Prince Augusto of Bourbon-Parma (stillborn 1882)

He also had 12 siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal:

Enrico, as the oldest surviving son, succeeded his father Roberto I as titular Duke of Parma and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma. Just a few months later, at the request of Roberto’s second wife, Enrico and several of his full siblings were declared legally incompetent due to their mental disabilities. Enrico’s younger brother, Elia, became guardian of the six siblings, and took on the role of Head of House and served as regent during Enrico’s tenure.

Unmarried and childless, Enrico died on November 16, 1939, at the Villa Borbone (link in Italian) in Viareggio, Kingdom of Italy. He was buried in the chapel at the Villa Borbone in Viareggio, Italy. He was succeeded as titular Duke of Parma by his brother Giuseppe, who was also mentally disabled. Their younger brother Elia once again served as regent.

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Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro is one of the current claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and pretender to the throne of the former kingdom. He succeeded his father in 2008.

photo: By Rereader1996 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84255835

Prince Carlo Maria Bernardo Gennaro was born on February 24, 1963 in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France, the only son of Prince Ferdinando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Chantal de Chevron-Villette. He has two older sisters:

Prince Carlo undertook his education in France – at the Institute of the Marist Fathers in Toulon, the College Stanislas in Nice, and the Universite Internationale Libre in Paris. Following university, he worked for several years managing a public relations firm in New York City. Upon returning to Europe, he worked with several large Italian companies.

photo: Par ImperialArchivesRU — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113754227

On October 13, 1998 in Monaco, Prince Carlo married Camilla Crociani, daughter of Camillo Crociani and Edy Vessel, an Italian actress. The couple have two daughters:

  • Princess Maria Carolina, Duchess of Palermo (2003)
  • Princess Maria Chiara, Duchess of Capri (2005)

Upon his father’s death in 2008, Carlo succeeded him as one of the claimants to the former throne and headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, along with his distant cousin, Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria.

Six years later, in January 2014, the two branches of the house signed an Act of Reconciliation, ending over 50 years of feuding. Both agreed to work toward overcoming the “obstacles which stand in the way of peace and family harmony.” There was no mention of which branch was the rightful claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Prince Carlo and Prince Pedro (who succeeded his father Infante Carlos in 2015), continued to work toward reconciliation, but an announcement by Prince Carlo in 2016 put an end to their efforts.

On May 14, 2016, Prince Carlo announced that, as he had no male heirs, he was changing the rules of succession to allow his elder daughter to succeed him. Prince Pedro objected as it was in direct conflict with the laws and rules of the former Kingdom of Two Sicilies. This declaration seems to have ended any attempts at reconciliation between the two branches of the family,

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Prince Ferdinando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Prince Ferdinando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro, was a claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and the former throne of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, from 1973 until his death in 2008.

Prince Ferdinando Maria Andrea Alfonso Marcus was born in Podzamcze, Poland on May 28, 1926, the only son of Prince Ranieri of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Countess Maria Carolina Zamoyska. He had one older sister, Princess Maria del Carmen, born in 1924.

On July 23, 1949, in Giez, Switzerland, Prince Ferdinando married Chantal de Chevron-Villette. The couple had three children:

  • Princess Beatrice (1950) – married Prince Charles Bonaparte, had issue
  • Princess Anne (1957) – married Baron Jacques Cochin, had issue
  • Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro (1963) – married Camilla Crociani, had issue

Ferdinando’s father became one of the claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Parma in 1960. Ferdinando succeeded him in 1973, although he had assumed the functions of the position in 1966.

Prince Ferdinando died in Draguignan, France on March 20, 2008, and was succeeded by his only son, Prince Carlo.

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Prince Peter Romanoff

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Peter Romanoff; Credit – Linkedin

Prince Peter Romanoff, a great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, is the heir to his half-brother Prince Alexis Romanoff, currently one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family.

The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house. Peter’s father Prince Andrew Romanoff inherited the claim after the death of Prince Dimitri Romanov who had no sons. With his death, the male line of Dmitri’s Nikolavevichi Branch of the Russian Imperial Family descended from Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, became extinct, transferring the claim to the Mikhailovichi Branch, descended from Grand Duke Michael Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Andrew was also the great-grandson of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, through their elder daughter Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia.

Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, died on November 28, 2021, two months short of his 99th birthday at an assisted living center in San Anselmo, California after a long illness. His eldest son Prince Alexis Romanoff, known as Alex, then inherited his claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. All descendants of the Russian Imperial House, except for rival claimant Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and her son Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, recognized Alex’s claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. Since Alex has no children, the heir to his claim is his half-brother Prince Peter Romanoff.

Prince Peter Romanoff was born in 1961 in San Francisco, California. He is the elder of the two sons of Prince Andrew Romanoff and his second wife Kathleen Norris (1935 – 1967) who died from pneumonia. Peter’s father dropped his royal style and title when he came to the United States in 1949, calling himself Andrew Romanoff. Peter’s paternal grandparents were Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife Duchess Elisabetta Sasso-Ruffo Di Sant Antimo. His maternal grandparents were Dr. Frank Norris and Alice McCreery. Peter is the great-grandchild of Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia (the daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Dagmar of Denmark, known as Maria Feodorovna after her marriage) and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (the grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia).

Peter has one younger brother:

  • Prince Andrew Romanoff (born 1963), married Elizabeth Flores, had one daughter

Peter has one elder half-brother from his father’s first marriage to Elena Konstantinovna Durnova:

Since 1980, Peter has worked as an auto technician at several garages in Marin County, California. On May 2, 2009, in Marin County, California, Peter married Barbara Anne Jurgens (born 1968). The couple has no children. Peter’s younger brother Andrew is second in the line of succession to the claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family.

Peter has been a member of the Romanov Family Association since 1996. His aunt Princess Olga Romanoff has been president of the Romanov Family Association since 2017. On July 17, 1998, together with other members of the Romanov family, Peter attended the reburial of the remains of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife and three daughters, and their servants at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2006, Alex attended all the events related to the transfer of the remains of his great-great-grandmother Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark from Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia where she was interred next to her husband.

The headship of the House of Romanov has been contested since the death of the last undisputed male dynast Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia in 1992. Upon his death, competing claims over the headship of the House of Romanov emerged between Prince Nicholas Romanov and Grand Duke Vladimir’s daughter Maria Vladimirovna. Prince Nicholas’ claim was based on a 1911 Ukase issued by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia that the equal marriage rule applied only to Grand Dukes (the sons and grandsons of an emperor) and that princes (the great-grandsons onward of an emperor) could marry women of “good standing” for their marriage to be dynastic and therefore transmit succession and dynastic rights to their children, and that women, namely Maria Vladimirovna, could succeed only on the total extinction of the male line. The Romanov Family Association recognized Prince Nicholas Romanov as the senior male dynastic representative and head of the family on December 31, 1992, in Paris, France and this was symbolically re-confirmed on Russian soil after the state burial of Emperor Nicholas II and his family in 1998. The Romanov Family Association further stated that they consider the marriage of Maria Vladimirovna’s parents to be unequal. (See Maria Vladimirovna’s article for more information.)

Peter’s brother Alex and his predecessors Prince Nicholas Romanov, Prince Dmitri Romanov, and Prince Andrew Romanoff have not acted for the restoration of the monarchy or engaged in dynastic activities such as the distribution of Russian imperial titles and orders. Maria Vladimirovna claims the status of de jure Empress of All Russia, styles herself as Grand Duchess and her son as Grand Duke and Tsarevich, the title of the heir apparent, and actively distributes the Russian imperial orders, all of which have been condemned by the Romanov Family Association.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Prince Alexis Romanoff, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/prince-alexis-romanoff/ (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/andrew-romanoff-born-prince-andrew-romanov/ (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • Massie, Robert K. (1995) The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. New York: Random House
  • Peter Romanoff – Auto Technician – Chedas Garage | linkedin. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-romanoff-1b127047 (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • Романов, Алексей Андреевич (великий князь) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_(%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8C) (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • The Romanov Family Association. Available at: http://www.romanovfamily.org/index.html (Accessed: 20 August 2023)

Prince Alexis Romanoff

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Alex and his wife Zoey; Credit – Alex Romanoff Facebook Page

Prince Alexis Romanoff, a great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, has been one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family since the death of his father Prince Andrew Romanoff in 2021. The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house. Alexis’ father Andrew inherited the claim after the death of Prince Dimitri Romanov who had no sons. With his death, the male line of Dmitri’s Nikolavevichi Branch of the Russian Imperial Family descended from Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, became extinct, transferring the claim to the Mikhailovichi Branch, descended from Grand Duke Michael Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Andrew was also the great-grandson of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, through their elder daughter Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia.

Alex’s parents on their wedding day; Credit – Credit – http://russculture.ru/2021/12/02/ushel-iz-gzizni-poslednii-nastojashii-romanov/

Prince Alexis Romanoff, who does not use the title Prince and is known as Alex, was born on April 27, 1953, in San Francisco, California. He is the only child of Prince Andrew Romanoff and his first wife Elena Konstantinovna Dourneva (1927 – 1992), who divorced in 1959. Alex’s father dropped his royal style and title when he came to the United States in 1949, calling himself Andrew Romanoff. Alex’s paternal grandparents were Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife Duchess Elisabetta Sasso-Ruffo Di Sant Antimo. His maternal grandparents were Russian émigrés Konstantin Afanasievich Dournev and Felixa Stanislavna Zapalski. Alex is the great-grandchild of Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia (the daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Dagmar of Denmark, known as Maria Feodorovna after her marriage) and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (the grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia).

Alex has two half-brothers from his father’s second marriage to Kathleen Norris (1935 – 1967) who died from pneumonia.

  • Prince Peter Romanoff (born 1961), married Barbara Anne Jurgens, no children, Peter is the heir to his half-brother’s claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family
  • Prince Andrew Romanoff (born 1963), married Elizabeth Flores, had one daughter, Andrew is second in the line of succession to the claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family

Alex in his younger years; Credit – Facebook: Europe Royal Family

After his parents’ divorce, Alex lived with his mother. He attended Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, California, and then attended the University of California, Berkeley. On September 19, 1987, in Oakland, California, Alex married Zoetta “Zoe” Leisy (born 1956) but the couple have no children. Since 2002, Alex has owned two businesses in Oakland California, where he and his wife Zoe also live: The Romanoff Agency, which provides bookkeeping and finance services to companies and individuals, and A to Z Printing which provides printing services to local businesses.

Alex has been a member of the Romanov Family Association since 1981 and has served as a committee member. His aunt Princess Olga Romanoff has been president of the Romanov Family Association since 2017. On July 17, 1998, together with other members of the Romanov family, Alex attended the reburial of the remains of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife and three daughters, and their servants at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2006, Alex attended all the events related to the transfer of the remains of his great-great-grandmother Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark from Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia where she was interred next to her husband.

Alex’s father Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, died on November 28, 2021, two months short of his 99th birthday at an assisted living center in San Anselmo, California after a long illness. Upon his father’s death, Alex inherited his claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. All descendants of the Russian Imperial House, except for rival claimant Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and her son Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, recognized Alex’s claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. Since Alex has no children, the heir to his claims is his half-brother Prince Peter Romanoff.

The headship of the House of Romanov has been contested since the death of the last undisputed male dynast Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia in 1992. Upon his death, competing claims over the headship of the House of Romanov emerged between Prince Nicholas Romanov and Grand Duke Vladimir’s daughter Maria Vladimirovna. Prince Nicholas’ claim was based on a 1911 Ukase issued by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia that the equal marriage rule applied only to Grand Dukes (the sons and grandsons of an emperor) and that princes (the great-grandsons onward of an emperor) could marry women of “good standing” for their marriage to be dynastic and therefore transmit succession and dynastic rights to their children, and that women, namely Maria Vladimirovna, could succeed only on the total extinction of the male line. The Romanov Family Association recognized Prince Nicholas Romanov as the senior male dynastic representative and head of the family on December 31, 1992, in Paris, France and this was symbolically re-confirmed on Russian soil after the state burial of Emperor Nicholas II and his family in 1998. The Romanov Family Association further stated that they consider the marriage of Maria Vladimirovna’s parents to be unequal. (See Maria Vladimirovna’s article for more information.)

Alex and his predecessors Prince Nicholas Romanov, Prince Dmitri Romanov, and Prince Andrew Romanoff have not acted for the restoration of the monarchy or engaged in dynastic activities such as the distribution of Russian imperial titles and orders. Maria Vladimirovna claims the status of de jure Empress of All Russia, styles herself as Grand Duchess and her son as Grand Duke and Tsarevich, the title of the heir apparent, and actively distributes the Russian imperial orders, all of which have been condemned by the Romanov Family Association.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/andrew-romanoff-born-prince-andrew-romanov/ (Accessed: 19 August 2023).
  • Royalpedia. (2023). Alexis Andreievich, Prince of Russia. [online] Available at: https://royalty.miraheze.org/wiki/Alexis_Andreievich,_Prince_of_Russia [Accessed 19 Aug. 2023].
  • Massie, Robert K. (1995) The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. New York: Random House
  • Романов, Алексей Андреевич (великий князь) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_(%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8C) (Accessed: 19 August 2023).
  • The Romanov Family Association. Available at: http://www.romanovfamily.org/index.html (Accessed: 19 August 2023)

Prince Ranieri of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Prince Ranieri of Bourbon-Two Sicilies was one of two claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and the throne of the former Kingdom of Two Sicilies, from 1960-1973.

source: Wikipedia

Prince Ranieri Maria Benito Giuseppe Labaro Gaetano Francesco Saverio Barbara Niccolo was born in Cannes, France on December 3, 1883, a younger son of Prince Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had 11 siblings:

Countess Maria Carolina Zamoyska. source: Wikipedia

On September 12, 1923, in Slovakia, Prince Ranieri married his first cousin, Countess Maria Carolina Zamoyska. She was the daughter of Count Andrzej Zamoyski and Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. The couple had two children:

The death of Ranieri’s eldest brother, Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in 1960 brought about the current dispute over the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. As Ferdinando Pio had no surviving sons, it should have passed to the descendants of his younger brother, Prince Carlo, who had died in 1949. Carlo’s son, Infante Alfonso of Spain, claimed to be the rightful heir. However, Prince Ranieri claimed that Carlo had renounced his rights of succession when he married the Spanish heiress-presumptive, Maria de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, in 1901. At the time, Carlo became a Spanish subject and was made an Infante of Spain. Prince Ranieri interpreted this as a renunciation of any claims to the throne of Two Sicilies, thus making him the rightful heir. However, Infante Alfonso argued that the renunciation would have only taken effect if Mercedes had ascended to the Spanish throne. The dispute continues today, with two branches of the family claiming to be the rightful heir and Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Prince Ranieri died in France on January 13, 1973. He is buried in the Cimetière du Grand Jas, in Cannes.

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.