Carlist movement
Religious Wedding of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma and Annemarie Gualthérie van Weezel
It was on a sunny Saturday in Brussels that yesterday Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Parma and Piacenza married in a religious ceremony at the Abbey of La Cambre.
The groom, the 40-year-old Prince Carlos Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, is the titular Duke of Parma and Piacenza, the eldest son of the late Duke Carlos Hugo (best known as the Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne and Head of Carlism in the 1960s and 1970s) and Princess Irene of the Netherlands, daughter of Queen Juliana and sister of the present Queen Beatrix.
Origin of the Carlist Movement
The recent death of Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon Parma, Carlist claimant to the Spanish Throne, has highlighted some of the longstanding tensions and rivalries involved in the Carlist movement. When Prince Carlos Hugo died, his younger brother, Prince Sixte Henri, posted a very ungracious message on his website; for whatever reason, he and his eldest sister Princess Marie Francoise did not attend the funeral. This family division, with Prince Sixte Henri and Princess Marie Francoise (and their mother, Princess Madeleine) on one side and Prince Carlos Hugo and his three younger sisters on the other side, has its origin in the rival Carlist claims of the two brothers. The Carlist movement has divided families for a long time now.
Funeral of the Duke of Parma and Inauguration of his Son as Duke
Yesterday, 28 August 2010, saw the funeral of the late Duke of Parma, Carlos Hugo Prince de Bourbon Parma, at the Steccata Basilica, Parma.
Besides the new Duke, his son and heir Carlos Xavier and spouse Duchess Annemarie, daughter Princess Margarita with spouse Tjalling ten Cate, her twin brother Prince Jaime and Princess Maria Carolina as well as three sisters of the deceased, almost the entire Dutch Royal Family, 15 strong, attended the funeral of this warm modest man and beloved uncle. HM Queen Beatrix did not attend but was represented by TRH The Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima.
Death of the Duke of Parma
His Royal Highness Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, titular Duke of Parma and Piacenza and the Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain, died at 8 a.m. yesterday, 18 August 2010, in Barcelona. He was 80 years old.
He was born Prince Hugues Xavier of Bourbon-Parma (he officially changed his name to Carlos Hugo in 1963) in Paris on 8 April 1930, three years after the wedding of his parents, Prince Xavier (son of Duke Roberto I, the last reigning Duke of Parma, and his second wife, Duchess Maria Antonia) and Princess Madeleine, born Countess of Bourbon-Busset.