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The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was unified with the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. The headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has been disputed since the death of claimant Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria on 7 January 1960 between Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria and his descendants and Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro and his descendants. The two current claimants to the former realm of the Two Sicilies are Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria and Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, both descended in the male line from Charles III of Spain, who obtained the crowns of Naples and Sicily and forged them into one hereditary monarchy.
As the Grand Magistry of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is extant and traditionally descends with the headship of the Two Sicilies dynasty, that organisation continues to be divided into rival chivalric orders with members espousing allegiance to one or the other entity.
King Charles ordained that the Spanish crown would be reserved for his eldest son's heirs, while his "Italian sovereignty" would descend to the heirs of his next eldest son. The succession law of the defunct Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as outlined in Charles III's Pragmatic of 6 October 1759 was semi-Salic, conferring that realm on King Charles's third son who became Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (the eldest son was mentally incompetent, while the second was, as Prince of Asturias, the heir apparent to Spain). It further stipulated that in future heirs male of the body of Charles III or, failing males, the female nearest in kinship to the last male in his descent or, that lineage also failing, the heirs male of Charles III's brothers, were to inherit the Neapolitan-Sicilian throne. However, the Pragmatic also required that the crowns of Spain and of the Two Sicilies were henceforth never to be combined, even if the Italian branch became entirely extinct, leaving only the Spanish Bourbons to inherit. In such a case, the Two Sicilies throne was always to be transferred to the next male dynast in the order of succession who was neither the monarch of Spain nor his heir, the Prince of Asturias.
Castro line of succession
At the Holy Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica celebrated in Rome on 14 May 2016, during the International Pilgrimage of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George to Rome and Vatican City, Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro made public his decision to change the rules of succession. This change was made in order to make the rules of succession compatible with international and European law, prohibiting any discrimination between men and women. The rule of absolute primogeniture will henceforth apply to his direct descendants.