Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma

Prince Xavier
File:Xavier, Duke of Parma.jpg
Duke of Parma
Preceded by	Duke Robert
Succeeded by	Duke Carlos Hugo
Personal details
Born	(1889-05-25)25 May 1889 Villa Pianore, Lucca, Kingdom of Italy
Died	7 May 1977(1977-05-07) (aged 87) Zizers, Switzerland
Spouse(s)	Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset (m. 1927)
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known in France before 1974 as Prince Xavier de Bourbon-Parme, known in Spain as Francisco Javier de Borbón-Parma y de Braganza or simply as Don Javier (25 May 1889 – 7 May 1977), was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma and Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.

He was the second son of the last reigning Duke of Parma Robert I and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, although born after his father lost the throne. Educated with austerity at Stella Matutina, he grew up in France, Italy and Austria, where his father had properties. During World War I, he joined the Belgian army, fighting with distinction. With his brother Sixtus he was a go-between in the so-called Sixtus Affair, a failed attempt by his brother-in-law, Emperor Charles I of Austria to negotiate a separate peace with the Allies (1916–1917) through the Bourbon-Parma brothers.

In 1936 Don Alfonso Carlos de Borbón, Duke of Madrid died, ending the male line of pretenders to the Spanish throne descended from the rebel founder of Carlism, Infante Carlos, Count of Molina. Having no children with his wife, Maria das Neves of Portugal, Don Alfonso Carlos designated her nephew Xavier to succeed him as regent in exile of the "Carlist Communion".

During the Spanish civil war (1936-1939), he entered Spain twice and the Carlist troops, known as Requetés, sided with the nationalists of General Franco. He visited the North Front and Andalucia, but was expelled from Spain in 1938. He settled in France at the castle of Bostz, a property of his wife. During World War II, he reenlisted in the Belgian army. After Belgium and France were invaded by the Nazis, he moved to Vichy and took part in the French Resistance. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1941, he was condemned to death for espionage and terrorism. Pardoned by Pétain, he was confined in Clermont-Ferrand, Schirmeck, Natzwiller and lastly, in September, he was imprisoned in Dachau from which he was freed by the Americans in April 1945.

During the 1950s and 1960s he was active in the Carlist movement. In May 1952, persuaded of the need to be appointed king by the National Council of Traditionalist Communion, he agreed to conclude the sixteen years of his regency by being proclaimed King of Spain in Barcelona under the name Javier I. Soon thereafter he was expelled from Spain by order of the Francoist government. At the death of his unmarried nephew Robert of Parma in 1974, Prince Xavier became titular Duke of Parma. By then he was in frail health, having suffered life-threatening injuries in a 1972 traffic accident. He transferred all political authority to his eldest son, Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, and formally abdicated as the Carlist king in his elder son's favor in 1975.

Road to Spain

Family

Duke Robert I of Parma and his family. Prince Xavier is the young boy next to his mother in the center of the picture.

In the male line, Xavier was a descendant of Louis XIV of France and of his grandson, King Felipe V of Spain. Prince Xavier was born into the Parma branch of the House of Bourbon which, in the mid-18th century, diverged from the Spanish Bourbons as the cadet branch which ruled the Duchy of Parma until that throne was abolished in 1859 and the duchy was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy. Xavier's father, Robert (1848-1907) was the last ruling Duke of Parma, and Xavier's mother, Maria Antonia de Bragança (1862-1959), was born in exile, daughter of King Michael of Portugal who had lost his throne in 1834.

Xavier's siblings included his elder half-sister Marie Louise, whose husband eventually became King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria; his younger sister, Zita who became, by marriage, the last empress of Austria and queen of Hungary from 1916 to 1918; and his younger brother Felix, who was prince consort of Luxembourg from 1919 to 1970.

Youth

Four of the children of Robert I of Parma and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal. (l- R) : Xavier (1889-1977), Felix (1893-1970), Zita (1892-1989) and Francesca (1890-1978). 1906

Prince Xavier was born at the Villa Pianore in the Italian Province of Lucca on 25 May 1889. Though deposed, Duke Roberto retained massive wealth, comprising estates in Italy and Lower Austria. In the late 19th century the Bourbon-Parmas inherited the famous Chambord castle in France. Robert had 24 children, 12 from the first and 12 from the second marriage, born between 1870 and 1905. Some died in early infancy, some left the family home while Xavier was a toddler, and some were born after Xavier had left</ref> They lived in homes at Pianore and at Schwarzau. They usually spent half a year in each location, shuttling between in a special train, and taking even the children's horses with them.

In childhood Xavier enjoyed serenity, luxury and cheer. The Bourbon-Parmsa were deeply Roman Catholic Their home life was essentially French in culture and understanding; another language spoken was German. In his childhood Xavier also picked up: Italian - spoken with the Pianore locals; English – spoken with various visitors; Spanish – used in certain relations; Latin – used in church, and Portuguese. Family guests frequently included aristocrats, authors and scholars.

In 1899 Xavier followed in the footsteps of his older brother Sixte, entering the Stella Matutina, a prestigious Jesuit establishment in the Austrian Feldkirch. Though catering to Catholic aristocracy from all over Europe, the school featured Spartan conditions; when later Xavier was asked how he survived the Nazi concentration camp, the prince joked, "I frequented the Stella. It's not easy to kill us". The school provided humble religiosity, the staff ensured high teaching standards, and the mix of boys from different countries ensured a spirit of international comradeship. Xavier graduated in the early 1900s; (in 1906, according to some authors, which indicate he also attended the German Carlsberg, moved to Paris, still trailing his older brother and commencing university studies.

Unlike Sixte, who studied law, he pursued two different paths: political-economic science and agronomy. He completed both, graduating as an engineer in agronomy and doctor in politics/economy. The year or years of his curriculum completion are not clear; one source points to 1914. He never engaged in a professional career.

The six sons of Duke Robert I of Parma and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal. From Left to right: Luigi, Rene, Xavier, baby Gaetano, Sixtus and Felix of Bourbon-Parma.

In 1910 the wealth of the late Duke Roberto was divided among the family. Children from the first marriage, and especially Élie, custodian of his handicapped siblings, were allocated most of the real estate; Robert's second wife and children from the second marriage were earmarked substantial financial compensation, usufruct rights and minor properties. Already on his own at that time, Xavier was based in Paris but travelled across Europe. Family business led to some of this travel, which was often also somewhat politically motivated, e.g. in 1911 Xavier travelled to Austria to attend the wedding of his sister with the imperial heir eventual, Archduke Karl; in 1912 he travelled via Spain to Portugal, accompanying his aunt during a Portuguese legitimist plot. Xavier also traveled in pursuit of his own interests. He associated much with Sixte, who often engaged in geographical exploration. In 1909 both brothers travelled to the Balkans; in 1912 they roamed across Egypt, Palestine and the Near East. In 1914 they intended to travel to Persia, India and possibly the Himalayas.

Soldier and diplomat (1914-1918)

Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma with his uniform of the Belgian artillery, 1914.

News of the Sarajevo assassination reached Xavier and Sixte in Austria, en route to Asia. Enraged by murder of their step-cousin, both brothers intended to enlist in the Austrian army to pursue revenge. Things changed when France declared war on Vienna. Though some of the Bourbon-Parma siblings – Zita, René, Felix and Élie – sided with Austria-Hungary, with the men joining the imperial troops, Xavier and Sixte felt themselves thorough Frenchmen. They openly made plans to enlist in the French army, which might have evoked their detention. It took personal appeals from Zita before the Emperor took steps which prevented their incarceration, and allowed them to leave Austria for a neutral country. When back in France Xavier and Sixte indeed volunteered, only to find that French law banned members of foreign dynasties from serving. Determined to fight, they contacted their cousin, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, who looked to it that both were allowed to serve in the Belgian military. Due to a car accident involving Sixte, however, the brothers joined the ranks of the Belgian army no sooner than late November 1914. Xavier was initially accepted as a private in medical services and was seconded to the 7th artillery regiment. Exact details of his service are not clear; what was left of the pre-war Belgian army served on a relatively calm sector of the frontline in Flanders and France, next to the English Channel. At an unspecified time Xavier was released from the line and assigned to an officer training course, organized by the Belgian general staff, which he completed. By mid-1916 he was sub-lieutenant, later promoted to captain.

Prince Sixte( left) and Prince Xavier during the Great War

In late 1916 Xavier became involved in the Sixtus Affair, a secret Austrian attempt to conclude a separatist peace. The new emperor, Karl I, decided to exploit his family ties and friendship with the Bourbon-Parma brothers, trusting especially in the skills and intelligence of Sixte. As French citizens, both agreed to undertake the mission only upon obtaining the consent of the French government. The role of Xavier is generally considered secondary to that of Sixte, though he was present during some crucial meetings, whether with the French authorities in Paris or with the Austro-Hungarian envoys in Switzerland, and in Vienna; and some scholars do refer to "mediation des princes Sixte et Xavier". Negotiations broke down in early 1917 and the matter seemed closed; leaked by Clemenceau in May 1918, it turned into a political crisis and a scandal, which damaged the prestige of the young emperor. Xavier and Sixte, at that time in Vienna, were considered endangered, menaced either by the Austrian foreign minister Czernin's willingness to eliminate witnesses, or as victims of popular wrath. The incident is considered "perhaps the ultimate example of amateurish aristocratic diplomacy gone awry during the First World War", although none of the sources consulted tends to blame Xavier for the final failure. It is not clear whether he returned to military service afterwards. At the moment of the armistice he was a major in the Belgian army, awarded the French Croix de Guerre, the Belgian Croix de Guerre, and the Belgian Ordré de Léopold.

Plaintiff and husband (1920s)

The four eldest sons of Robert I, Duke of Parma by his second wife, Maria Antonia of Portugal. (L-R) : Sixtus (1886-1934), Xavier (1889-1977), Felix (1893-1970) and René (1894 –1962) of Bourbon-Parma. 1920

Immediately after the war Xavier was engaged in assisting Zita and Karl following their deposition. In 1919, together with Sixte, he travelled to England and contacted King George V; British support materialized when a liaison officer was dispatched to republican Austria to assist the unhappy couple on their route to exile.

However, it soon turned out that it was his own business which attracted most of Xavier's attention. Following wartime financial turmoil and expropriations of some family estates, economic prospects of both brothers were bleak. As a counter-measure, they decided to challenge the French state, which in 1915 seized Chambord as the property of an Austrian officer, Élie. Versailles Treaty stipulations allowed France to conclude the seizure legally if compensation was duly paid to the owner. Sixte and Xavier sued, claiming that the family-approved 1910 property settlement, based on the Austrian concept of an indivisible family trust, was unenforceable under French law. Thus, they argued, any proceeds of the Chambord property should be divided among multiple family heirs. They further claimed that, as war time volunteers with the French and Belgian armies, they should not be liable to expropriation. Given that effective ownership of the Chambord property was attributed by France to the eldest of the Bourbon-Parma sons deemed legally competent, the lawsuit was directed against Prince Élie. In 1925 the court accepted the brothers’ claim, a decision immediately appealed by their half-brother. In 1928 that ruling was overturned in favor of Élie, which decision was, in its turn, appealed by both brothers. In 1932 the Court of Cassation upheld the 1928 decision, leaving Xavier and Sixte frustrated in their bid.

Residing in Paris and sustained by his remaining portion of the family wealth, Xavier reached his mid-30s before making marriage plans; his fiancée being Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, who was nine years his junior and the daughter of the Count de Lignières. She belonged to a non-royal branch of the French Bourbons. The Bourbon-Bussets have been the subject of a centuries-old controversy: historically regarded as non-dynastic when the line was founded, it has never been established that the Bourbon ancestor from whom they undisputedly descend, Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège (1436-1482), was ever lawfully married. The proposed marriage of Prince Xavier and Madeleine might deprive their children of Bourbon-Parma ducal succession rights, depending upon the decision of the head of the house. Since the death of Duke Robert, Prince Élie, Xavier's eldest half-brother, headed the family. He declared the would-be marriage morganatic. Despite this obstacle, Xavier wed Madeleine in 1927 and some newspapers titled her "princesse".

Bostz

As the Bourbon-Bussets enjoyed significant wealth, the marriage changed the financial status of Xavier. The couple settled in Bostz castle, where Xavier managed the rural estate of his in-laws. Their eldest, Hugues, was born in 1928 and was followed by five more children, the last one was born in 1940. Following the 1932 death of his father-in-law, Xavier became head of the family's enterprise, including the Château de Lignières. Little is known of his public activity at that time, except that he was engaged in various non-political, Catholic initiatives. In 1934 the premature death of Sixte deprived Xavier of his closest comrade.

From Prince Xavier to Don Javier (1930s)

patch of Vendean royalists

Until the mid-1930s Xavier did not engage in open political activity, though he figured prominently in some French royalist initiatives.

Son of a deposed ruler, he had relatives – associated with France, Spain and Portugal's monarchical regimes – engaged in legitimist politics, although others – in Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark and Italy – were affiliated with dynasties reigning in liberal-democratic frameworks. His views on contemporary French politics are not clear from known records. He upheld the legitimist claim of the Spanish Bourbons to the crown of France. On the other hand, the head of the family, Élie, openly abandoned the legitimist cause, acknowledging Alfonso XIII as the legitimate king of Spain Then Traditionalist author Francisco Melgar asserts that Prince Xavier remained within "más pura doctrina tradicionalista", demonstrating "adhesion profunda" to legitimist claimants, while others suggest that he nurtured democratic ideas.

Indeed, despite the fact that his uncle was, until 1909, the legitimist claimant to the throne of Spain, Prince Xavier lived and fought as a Frenchman, and did not reveal any particular interest in Spanish issues. Yet he maintained close links with his uncle's successor in the 1920s, who lived in Paris. Don Jaime, Duke of Madrid died unexpectedly in 1931 and was succeeded in his Carlist claim by his uncle, who became Carlist King Alfonso Carlos I. Resident in Vienna, octogenarian and childless, Alfonso Carlos was doubly related to the Bourbon-Parmas; the two families remained on close terms. Xavier's accession to the Carlist claim was, from the onset, plagued by the succession problem, as it was already evident that the Carlist dynasty would become extinct in the male line, yet Salic law was the founding tenet of the Carlist movement. In the early 1930s Alfonso Carlos pondered seeking reconciliation with the Alfonsine branch. It is not clear whether he commenced talks with other members of the family about retaining a separate Carlist succession only if reconciliation negotiations failed, or if he embarked on that course having abandoned plans for a dynastic agreement in 1934-1935.

Carlist standard

Following the death of Sixte in 1934 Xavier became the most senior Bourbon-Parma partner of Alfonso Carlos. In particular, it is not clear whether Alfonso Carlos suggested that Xavier succeed him as a king-in-pretence, or whether regency was the option preferred. Scholars speculate that it was Prince Xavier's legitimism, Christian spirit, modesty, impartiality and lack of political ambition which prompted Alfonso Carlos to appoint him as future regent. The regency was supposed to provide royal continuity until a general Carlist assembly appointed a new king.

Regent

Wartime leader (1936-1939)

File:Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma and his uncle.jpg

Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma with Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San Jaime, who was married to his maternal aunt Maria das Neves of Portugal.

Contrary to expectations, the Spanish February 1936 elections produced victory for the Popular Front and the country embarked on a proto-revolutionary course. Carlists first commenced preparations for their own campaign, and then entered into negotiations with military counter-revolutionaries toward a conspiracy. The latter asked Xavier to supervise the conspiracy. Prince Xavier, known in Spain as "Don Javier", established headquarters in Sant-Jean-de-Luz, where he received Carlist politicians from June to July. In negotiations with the generals, he adopted an orthodox and intransigent Carlist stand. Although some Carlists pressed for almost unconditional adherence to the military conspiracy, Don Javier demanded that a deal for a political partnership be concluded first. He was eventually outmaneuvered, and the Carlists joined the coup on vague terms; their key asset was the pre-agreed Jefe Supremo del Movimiento, General Sanjurjo, who in earlier Lisbon talks with Don Javier pledged to represent Carlist interests.

The death of Sanjurjo was a devastating blow to Carlist plans; political power among the rebels slipped to a group of generals, indifferent if not skeptical about the Carlist cause. Don Javier, in the late summer watching the events unfold from Sant-Jean-de-Luz, was supervising increasing Carlist military effort, yet was unable to engage in discussion with the generals. Following the death of Alfonso Carlos on 1 October Don Javier was declared the regent. He found himself heading the movement during overwhelming turmoil. Denied entry to Spain, he limited himself to written protests over the marginalisation of Carlism within the Nationalist faction. Faced with growing pressure to integrate the Carlist organization within a new state party in early 1937, he advocated intransigence, but was again outmaneuvered into a silent wait-and-see stance. Following Unification Decree He entered Spain in May; sporting a requeté general's uniform, and in apparent challenge to Franco he toured the front lines, lifting Carlist spirits. A week later he was expelled from Spain.

Requete on parade, 1937

Following another brief visit and another expulsion in late 1937, Don Javier aimed at safeguarding Carlist political identity against the unification attempts, though he refrained also from burning all bridges with the emerging Francoist regime. He permitted few trusted Carlists to sit in the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET) executive, but expelled from the Comunión Tradicionalista those who had taken seats without his consent.

In full accord with the actual Carlist political leader in Spain, Manuel Fal Conde, in 1938-1939 Don Javier managed to prevent incorporation into the state party, thus the intended unification turned into absorption of offshoot Carlists. On the other hand, Don Javier failed to prevent the marginalisation of Carlism, the suppression of its circulars, periodicals and organizations, and failed to avert growing bewilderment among rank and file Carlists. In 1939 he repeated his offer to Franco. Franco reportedly advised the prince that many generals of republican mindset who had joined the coup were unhappy about Don Javier's presence. He also suggested that Don Javier might do more good for the Nationalist cause from abroad. Don Javier agreed to leave, but refused to associate with the Paris link suggested, claiming the person recommended, Manuel de Santa Cruz (Alberto Ruiz de Galarreta], was an SS operative. In Manifestación de ideales, a document was put forth recommending immediate restoration of Traditionalist monarchy with a transitory collective regency, possibly encompassing Don Javier and Franco. The proposal was left without response.

Soldier, incommunicado, prisoner (1939-1945)

Belgian artillery, 1940

Upon the outbreak of the Second World War Prince Xavier resumed his duties in the Belgian Army, serving as major in his old artillery unit. As the Germans advanced swiftly, the Belgians were pushed back to Flanders, towards the English Channel. Incorporated into the French troops, the regiment was withdrawn into Dunkerque. In the mayhem that followed, the Belgians did not make it to the British evacuation ships and Don Javier became a German POW.

Released promptly, he returned to the family castles of Lignières in Berry and of Bostz, in Besson dans l’Allier. The properties were divided by the demarcation line, Lignières in the occupied zone and Bostz in the Vichy zone.

In late 1940 and early 1941, Prince Xavier assisted in opening the so-called "Halifax-Chevalier negotiations", a confidential correspondence exchange between the British Foreign Secretary and the Petain-government's education minister, centred mostly on working out a modus vivendi between the British and French colonies. The exact role of Prince Xavier is unclear. Some scholars claim he served as an intermediary, trusted by the British royal family, including King George VI, and by Pétain; as he did not leave France, it seems that he wrote letters which provided credibility for the envoys sent. Though the episode is subject to controversy, by some viewed as a proof of Pétain's double game and by some largely as a hagiographic mystification, the debate hardly relates to the role of Xavier.

In the early 1940s, Prince Xavier was increasingly isolated from Spanish affairs; neither he nor the Spanish Carlists were permitted to cross the frontier, while correspondence remained under wartime censorship. Documents he passed, the most notable of which was the Manifiesto de Santiago (1941), urged that intransigence, though not openly rebellious anti-Francoist actions, be maintained. With the regent, and periodically detained Fal, largely incommunicados, Carlism decayed into bewilderment and disorientation.

liberation of Dachau, 1945

In 1941-1943 Prince Xavier lived in political isolation, devoting time to his family and managing the Bourbon-Parma fortune. In 1941 he inherited from his late aunt the Puchheim castle in Austria. Prince Xavier became increasingly sympathetic to the anti-Pétain opposition and, via local priests, maintained informal contact with district Resistance leaders. At one point he joined works of the Comité d'Aide aux Réfractaires du STO and welcomed labor camp escapees in wooden areas of his estates, providing basic logistics and setting up shelters for the sick in his library. When two of them were detected and detained, Prince Xavier cycled to Vichy and successfully sought their release. Exposing himself, following a surveillance period in July he was arrested by the Gestapo. Sentenced to death for espionage and terrorism, he was pardoned by Pétain; first confined in Clermont-Ferrand, Schirmeck and Natzwiller, in September he was finally imprisoned in Dachau as prisoner no. 156270. The Nazis asked Franco about his fate; the Caudillo declared total disinterest. Periodically condemned to the starvation bunker, when freed by the Americans in April 1945, Prince Xavier weighed 36 kg.

Re-launch (1945-1952)

San Sebastian, early Francoism

Having returned to health, in late summer of 1945 prince Xavier testified at the trial of Pétain; his account was largely favorable to the marshal. In December he clandestinely entered Spain for a few days. In a series of meetings held mostly in San Sebastián, the regent and the Carlist executive agreed on re-organisation of basic Carlist structures. Don Javier fully confirmed the authority of Fal Conde and affirmed the intransigent political line, formulated in a 1947 document known as La única solución. It was based on a non-collaborative, though also non-rebellious approach, toward Francoism, refusal to enter into dynastic negotiations with the Alfonsine branch, and adopted a hard line toward those who demonstrated excessive support for their own Carlist royal candidates, even if theoretically they did not breach loyalty to Don Javier's regency. With the rank and file, Don Javier communicated by means of manifestos, read aloud during Carlist feasts, urging loyalty to Traditionalist values.

In the late 1940s the policy of Don Javier and Fal Conde, dubbed javierismo or falcondismo, was increasingly contested within the Comunión. The Sivattistas pressed for terminating the regency and for Don Javier to declare himself the king. They suspected that the protracted regency was an element of Don Javier's policy toward Franco; according to them, the regent intended to ensure the crown for the Bourbon-Parma by means of appeasement rather than by means of open challenge. In particular they were enraged by an allegedly ambiguous opposition toward the proposed Francoist Ley de Sucesión, considering it an unacceptable backing of the regime.

On the other hand, the "possibilists" were becoming impatient of what they perceived as ineffective intransigence and lack of legal outposts. They recommended a more flexible attitude. Following the 1949 news about Franco's negotiations with Don Juan, Don Javier found himself under pressure to assume a more active stance.

Coat of Arms used as Clamaint King of Spains by Xavier of Bourbon.

Don Javier and Fal stuck to rigorous discipline and dismissed Sivatte from Catalan jefatura, though they also tried to reinvigorate Carlism by permitting individual participation in local elections, seeking a national daily and building up student and workers’ organizations.

Fal gradually became convinced that the regency was a burden rather than an asset. There were almost no calls to terminate it as initially envisioned by Alfonso Carlos, i.e. by staging a grand Carlist assembly, and there were no signs that Don Javier contemplated such an option. Almost all voices called for him simply to assume monarchic rights himself. During the 1950 tour across Vascongadas and during 1951 tour across Levante he still tried to maintain a low profile. In 1952 Don Javier decided to bow to the pressure, apparently against his own will. During the Eucharistic Congress in Barcelona he published a document, in the form of a letter to his son, that referred to the "assumption of royalty in succession to the last king", pending "promulgation at the nearest opportunity" and with no mention about the regency.

King

Rather not a king (1952-1957)

Lignières castle

The Carlist leaders were exhilarated and made sure that the declaration, worded as the termination of the regency and commencement of the rule of King Javier I, was disseminated across the party network. Upon receiving the news, the rank and file Carlists were euphoric. However, the very next day Don Javier acknowledged that, when approached by Spain's Minister of Justice, Antonio Iturmendi Bañales, he denied signing the document, explaining that his statement in no way implied he had proclaimed himself a king. These assurances were unconvincing to the Francoist regime which, in a matter of hours expelled Don Javier from Spain.

The years of 1953-54 provide a contrasting picture: Carlist leaders boasted of having a new king, while Don Javier withdrew to Lignières, reducing his political activity to receiving guests and to correspondence. In private, he downplayed what had already become known as the "Acto de Barcelona", dubbing it "un toutté petite ceremonie".

Carlist dissenters, temporarily silenced, started to make themselves heard again. Don Javier seemed increasingly tired of his role and leaning toward a dynastic understanding with Don Juan. His early 1955 visit to Spain en route to Portugal was brief yet fueled angry rumours of forthcoming rapprochement with the Alfonsists, as Don Javier made ambiguous comments, named the 1952 statement "a grave error", and claimed that he had been bullied into it.

At this point relations between him and Fal reached the lowest point; Fal, attacked from all sides and feeling no royal support, resigned. Don Javier was reputed to have sacked him in "a rather cowardly, backhand manner". Fal was soon replaced by a collegial executive. In late 1955 Don Javier issued a manifesto which declared the Carlists "custodians of patrimony" rather than a political party in search of power. In private he considered his royal claim a hindrance to a broader alliance. In 1956, while en route to a Carlist session in Madrid, Don Javier was overrun at his quarters in Bilbao by Carlist youths who, on knees and with tears and intimidation, made a fervent plea, extracting from Don Javier a commitment to refrain from alliance with the Alfonsists. However, once in Madrid Don Javier confirmed that he viewed the Acto de Barcelona as a grave error.

The Carlist executive demanded clarification, provided in the form of a makeshift note, read by Rafael Gambra, allegedly negotiated earlier, that ruled out agreement with Don Juan. Later the same day Iturmendi intervened; Don Javier denied that he had approved the note, which did not spare him another expulsion from Spain. Later the same year Don Javier met the Sivattistas in Perpignan and agreed to sign a document rejecting any deal either with the Juanistas or with Franco. However, he declined to sign as king, preferring the vague title of an "abanderado", and later insisting that the document be kept private. one episode cost Don Javier another expulsion from Spain.

Montejurra

The apparent stalemate was interrupted by emergence of a new force. The young Carlists, disappointed with vacillating Don Javier, focused on his oldest son Hugues instead. Entirely alien to politics and at the time pursuing a PhD in economics at Oxford, he agreed to involve himself in Carlist affairs. Don Javier consented to his 1957 appearance at the annual Montejurra gathering of Carlists, where the young prince, guided by his equally young aides, made explicit references to "my father, the king". As Prince Hugues was ignorant as to Carlism and barely spoke Spanish, it appeared that his father had not groomed him as his successor, perhaps eager, rather, to free himself and the entire family from the increasingly heavy Carlist burden. To many, it seemed that he "had given up prevaricating".

Rather a king (1957-1962)

as king in Carlist review

Under leadership of José María Valiente and with the consent of Don Javier, the collegial Carlist executive commenced cautious collaboration with the regime. The young entourage decided to introduce Hugues as representing a new strategy and presenting an offer to Franco. According to another interpretation, Don Javier saw his son's involvement as an opportunity to consider new strategies for long-term gains, and changed course in the hope that the regime might one day crown the younger prince. Still another view was that the changing political course and the political coming of age of Hugues simply coincided coincidentally coincided. One way or another, starting in 1957 Don Javier gradually permitted his son to assume an increasing role within Carlism.

prince Xavier at the wedding of his daughter Maria Francisca, Paris 1960

In the late 1950s Don Javier firmly abandoned any discussion of reconciliation with the Alfonsinos. He instructed that harsh measures be taken against those who approached them. However, he remained respectful towards Don Juan and avoided open challenge, He also stopped short of explicitly claiming the kingly title. He supported Valiente – his position gradually reinforced formally up to the new Jefe Delegado in 1958-1960 - in attempts to eradicate internal forces of rebellion against collaboration, and to combat new openly secessionist groups. Though 20 years earlier he expelled from the Comunión those who had accepted seats in Francoist structures, at the beginning of the sixties Don Javier viewed the appointment of five Carlists to the Cortes as the success of the collaborationist policy, especially because the Franco regime permitted new Carlist legal outposts, and the movement participated openly in the public discourse.

Another milestone came in 1961-62. First, in a symbolic gesture Don Javier declared Hugues "Duque de San Jaime", a historic title borne by Alfonso Carlos; then, he instructed his followers to envision the prince as the embodiment of "a king". Hugues, legally renaming himself "Carlos Hugo", settled in Madrid and set up his Secretariat, a personal advisory body. Yet for the first time in history, a Carlist heir officially lived in the capital and openly pursued his own politics. From this moment onwards, Don Javier was increasingly perceived as ceding daily business to his son and merely providing general supervision from the back seat. Carlos Hugo gradually took control of communication channels with his father, replacing him also as a key representative of the House of Bourbon-Parma in Spain. Moreover, the three daughters of Don Javier, all in their 20s, with apparent consent of their father engaged themselves in campaigns intended to enhance the standing of their brother with the Spanish public; the younger son of Don Javier, Sixte, soon followed suit.

King, the father (1962-1969)

Montejurra, 1960s

Carlos Hugo and his aides embarked on an activist policy, launching new initiatives and ensuring that the young prince gets increasingly recognized in national media. In terms of political content the group started to advance heterodox theories, focused on society as means and objective of politics. In terms of strategy, until the mid-1960s it was formatted as advances towards the socially-minded, hard Falangist core; later it started to assume an increasingly Marxist flavor. Orthodox Traditionalists grew increasingly perturbed by Carlos Hugo's active political advances toward the socially-minded, hard Falangist core, which assumed an increasingly Marxist flavor. They tried to alert Don Javier. However, Don Javier gave them repeated assurances that he maintained full confidence in Carlos Hugo In 1967 Don Javier confirmed that nothing need be added to the Carlist dogma of "Dios, Patria, Fueros, Rey". Yet he also affirmed that new times required new practical concepts. He endorsed subsequent waves of structural changes, and declared some personal decisions. By the mid-1960s Don Javier allowed the Comunión in Carlos Hugo's control and that of his supporters. In the so-called Acto de Puchheim of 1965, for the first time Don Javier explicitly called himself "rey", and consistently claimed that title henceforth.

Such writers as Josep Carlos Clemente and Fermín Pérez-Nievas Borderas maintain that Don Javier was fully aware and entirely supportive of the transformation of Carlism triggered by Carlos Hugo, intended as renovation of genuine Carlist thought and as shaking off Traditionalist distortions.

Another group of scholars claim that the aging Don Javier, at that time in his late 70s, was increasingly detached from Spanish issues and substantially unaware of the political course sponsored by Carlos Hugo. They argue that he was, perhaps, manipulated – and at later stages even incapacitated - by his son and two daughters, who intercepted incoming correspondence and re-edited their father's outgoing communications.

Another group of scholars largely refrain from interpretation, confining itself to referring readers to correspondence, declarations and statements.

Carlist gathering, near Madrid 1960s

As late as 1966 Don Javier continue to court Franco, but the years of 1967-1969 re-defined his relation with Carlism and with Spain. In 1967 he accepted the resignation of Valiente, the last Traditionalist bulwark in the executive, and entrusted political leadership of the Comunión to a set of collegial bodies dominated by hugocarlistas; the move marked their final victory in the struggle to control the organization.

In 1968 Carlos Hugo was expelled from Spain; In a gesture of support, a few days later Don Javier flew to Madrid and was promptly expelled – for the fifth time. This episode marked the end of an increasingly sour dialogue with the regime and the Carlist shift to unconditional opposition;

In 1969 the Alfonsist prince Juan Carlos de Borbón was officially introduced as the future king and successor to Franco; the ceremony marked the ultimate crash of the Bourbon-Parmas’ hopes for the crown. When Franco died in 1975, Juan Carlos did indeed become king of Spain.

Old king, former king (1969-1977)

with wife and daughter Maria de las Nieves, 1970

Resident mostly at Lignières, Don Javier withdrew, issuing sporadic manifestos, read by his son at Carlist gatherings.

In 1972 Don Javier suffered life-threatening injuries resulting from a traffic accident and formally transferred all political authority to Carlos Hugo. In 1974, upon the childless death of his half-nephew Prince Robert, Duke of Parma, Don Javier ascended as head of the Bourbon-Parmas and assumed the Duke of Parma title. On the one hand, he was in a position to enjoy family life; though his four younger children did not marry, the elder two did, the marriages producing eight grandchildren (born between 1960 and 1974). On the other hand, family relations were increasingly subject to political tension. While Hugo-Carlos, Marie-Thérèse, Cécile and Marie des Neiges formed one team advancing the progressive agenda, the oldest daughter Françoise Marie, the youngest son Sixte, and their mother Madeleine opposed the bid. Sixte, in Spain known as Don Sixto, openly challenged his brother; he declared himself the standard-bearer of Traditionalism and started building his own organization.

Carlos Hugo, 1970s

In 1975 Don Javier abdicated as the Carlist king in favor of Carlos Hugo and according to a source, he would have expelled Sixto from Carlism for refusing to recognize the decision. It is not clear what his view on the commencing Spanish transición was; following the 1976 Montejurra events he lamented the dead, officially disowned the political views of Don Sixto and called for Carlist unity. However, in a private letter, Don Javier claimed that at Montejurra "the Carlists have confronted the revolutionaries", which has been interpreted as the followers of Don Sixto being the real Carlists according to Don Javier.

Early March 1977 proved convulsive. On Friday 4th, accompanied by his son Sixto, he was interviewed by the Spanish press and his responses showed Carlist orthodoxy. That same day he issued a declaration certified by a Paris notary objecting to his name being used to legitimize a "grave doctrinal error within Carlism", and implicitly disowned the political line promoted by Carlos Hugo. However, in few days Don Javier issued another declaration, certified by a different Paris notary, confirming his oldest son as "my only political successor and head of Carlism". In order to justify the first declaration, Carlos Hugo alerted the police that his father had been abducted by Sixto, an accusation which was denied publicly by Don Javier himself. Then it was Doña Madalena who declared that her husband had been taken by Carlos Hugo from hospital against medical advice and his own will, and that Carlos Hugo had threatened his father to obtain his signature on the second declaration. Eventually Don Javier was transferred to Switzerland, where he soon died. The widow blamed the oldest son and three daughters for his death.

Reception and legacy

Carlists, 1980s

Barely noted in Spain until the Civil War, also afterwards Don Javier remained a little known figure, partially the result of censorship; Franco considered him a foreign prince. Among European royals he was respected but politically isolated. In the Carlist realm he grew from obscurity to iconic status, yet since the late 1950s he was being abandoned by successive groups, disappointed with his policy. Disintegration of Carlism accelerated after Don Javier's death; Partido Carlista won no seats in general elections and in 1979 Carlos Hugo abandoned politics. This was also the case of his 3 sisters, though Marie Therese became a scholar in political sciences and advisor to Third World politicians. Sixte is heading Comunión Tradicionalista, one of two Traditionalist grouplets in Spain, and poses as a Carlist standard-bearer. The oldest living grandson of Don Javier, Charles-Xavier, styles himself as the head of the Carlist dynasty, oddly enough, without claiming the Spanish throne. In France a grouplet referred to as Lys Noir called him in 2015 a "king of France for tomorrow". The group is classified by some as Far Right and by some associated with Trotsky, Mao and Gaddaffi.

In partisan discourse Don Javier is generally held in high esteem, though Left-wing Partido Carlista militants and Right-wing Traditionalists offer strikingly different pictures of him.

Authors admitting their Hugocarlista pedigree claim that from his youth Don Javier has nurtured democratic, progressive ideas, and in the 1960s he lent his full support to renovation of Carlist thought.

Authors remaining within the Traditionalist orthodoxy suggest that although generally conservative, but in his 70s impaired by age, bewildered by Vaticanum II, misled and possibly incapacitated by his children, Don Javier presided over destruction of Carlism. A few go farther, claiming that evidence points to Don Javier having been fully supportive of the course sponsored by his son, they either talk about "deserción de la dinastía" or – with some hesitation - point to treason. Some, highly respectful though disappointed by Don Javier's perceived ineptitude and vacillation as a leader, consider him a candidate for sainthood rather than for kingship.

Sixto Enrique, 2014

In historiography Prince Xavier has earned no academic monograph yet; books published fall rather into hagiography. Apart from minor pieces related to the Sixtus Affair, Chambord litigation and Halifax-Chevalier negotiations, he is discussed as a key protagonist in various works dealing with Carlism during the Francoist era. There are four PhD dissertations discussing post-civil-war Carlism, yet they offer contradictory conclusions. One presents Don Javier as a somewhat wavering person who eventually endorsed changes to be introduced by Carlos Hugo. One carefully notes his "peculiar position" yet it cautiously claims he kept backing the transformation. Two point to his "contradictory personality" and admit that his stand "might seem confusing", though they claim that he was generally conservative and was faithful to Traditionalist principles, Don Javier was misguided and manipulated, inadvertently legitimizing the change he did not genuinely support. Some hints suggest that he never seriously contemplated his own royal bid, and headed Carlism as a cultural-spiritual movement, perhaps modelled on French legitimism.

At least since 1957 Don Javier purported to exercise the kingly prerogative as a fount of honour, occasionally conferring Carlist chivalric orders, such as the Legimitad Proscrita, upon Valiente, Fal and Zamanillo; in 1963 he conferred the Gran Cruz of the same order on his wife. Don Javier has also created and conferred a number of aristocratic titles, but with one exception (Fal Conde) only for members of his family: Duque de Madrid and Duque de San Jaime for Don Carlos Hugo; Condesa de Poblet for Doña Cecilia; Condesa del Castillo de la Mota for Doña María de las Nieves; Duque de Aranjuez for Don Sixto.

Children

• Princess Marie-Françoise of Bourbon-Parma, 19 August 1928(1928-08-19), married Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz (1926–2010).
• Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, 8 April 1930 – 18 August 2010(2010-08-18) (aged 80), married Princess Irene of the Netherlands (born 1939).
• Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma, 28 July 1933(1933-07-28).
• Princess Cecilia of Bourbon-Parma, 12 April 1935(1935-04-12).
• Princess Maria de las Nieves of Bourbon-Parma, 29 April 1937(1937-04-29).
• Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma, 22 July 1940(1940-07-22).

In fiction

The television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles presents Xavier (played by Matthew Wait) and his brother Sixtus (played by Benedict Taylor) as Belgian officers in World War I who help the young Indiana Jones.

Writings

• La République de tout le monde, Paris: Amicitia, 1946
• Les accords secrets franco-anglais de décembre 1940, Paris: Plon, 1949.
• Les chevaliers du Saint-Sépulcre, Paris: A. Fayard, 1957.

Honours

• Calabrian House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Calabrian Two Sicilian Order of Saint George
• Belgium: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
• Belgium: Croix de Guerre
• France: Croix de Guerre

See also

• Carlism
• Traditionalism (Spain)
• House of Bourbon-Parma
• Robert I of Parma
• Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma
• Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma

Further reading

• René Baret, Un Saint ami, le prince Xavier de Bourbon, duc de Parme, s.l. 1984
• Edvard op de Beeck, Z. K. H. Prins Xavier de Bourbon-Parma: Biografisch Essai, Aarschot 1970
• Wolfdieter Bihl, Marianne Walle, La mission de médiation des princes Sixte et Xavier de Bourbon-Parme en faveur de la paix, [in:] Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains 170 (1993), pp. 31–75
• María Teresa Borbón Parma, Josep Carles Clemente, Joaquín Cubero Sánchez, Don Javier: una vida al servico de la libertad. Barcelona 1997, ISBN 9788401530180
• María Teresa Borbón Parma, Asi fueron, asi son, Barcelona 2009, ISBN 9788408088967
• Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, El naufragio de las ortodoxias. El carlismo, 1962–1977, Pamplona 1997; ISBN 9788431315641
• Josep Carles Clemente, Aproximación biográfica a un rey carlista: Don Javier de Borbón y Parma, Sevilla 2008, ISBN 9788495735362
• Joaquín Cubero Sánchez, Don Javier de Borbón Parma en el exilio: El carlismo contra el fascismo, Madrid 2017 [no ISBN]
• Daniel Jesús García Riol, La resistencia tradicionalista a la renovación ideológica del carlismo (1965-1973) [PhD thesis UNED], Madrid 2015
• J. Pelluard, La familie de Bourbon-Parma, Chambord, enjeu d’un procés de famille, [in:] Memoires de la Societe des sciences et lettres de Loir-et-Cher 37 (1982), pp. 53–61
• Tamara Griesser-Pečar, Die Mission Sixtus: Österreichs Friedensversuch im Ersten Weltkrieg. München 1988, ISBN 3850022455
• Francisco Manuel Heras y Borrero, Carlos Hugo el Rey que no pudo ser, Madrid 2010, ISBN 9788495009999
• Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis UNED], Valencia 2009
• Javier Onrubia Rebuelta, El pensamiento cristiano de Don Javier de Borbón Parma, Pamplona 1997
• Javier Onrubia Rebuelta (ed.), El pensamiento político de Don Javier de Borbón Parma (1968-1977), Sevilla 2006, ISBN 9788495735201
• Ignacio Romero Raizabal, El prisionero de Dachau 156.270, Santander 1972
• Ramón María Rodón Guinjoan, Invierno, primavera y otoño del carlismo (1939-1976) [PhD thesis Universitat Abat Oliba CEU], Barcelona 2015
• Gaston Schmitt, Les accords secrets franco-britanniques de novembre-décembre 1940. Histoire de ou Mystification, Paris 1957
• Mercedes Vázquez de Prada, El final de una ilusión. Auge y declive del tradicionalismo carlista (1957-1967), Madrid 2016,
• Eusebio Ferrer Hortet. Los Reyes que Nunca Reinaron: Los Carlistas, Kindle edition, ASIN: B00YASODW4

External links

• official Borbon-Parma website
• Le Souvenir Vendéen website
• Puchheim castle gallery website
• Por Dios y por España; contemporary Carlist propaganda