Father Robert I of Parma | Name Prince of | |
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Tenure 6 November 1919 – 12 November 1964 Born 28 October 1893, Schwarzau am Steinfeld, Austria-Hungary ( 1893-10-28 ) Issue Jean of LuxembourgPrincess ElisabethPrincess Marie-AdelaidePrincess Marie GabrielePrince CharlesPrncess Alix Similar Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, Zita of Bourbon Parma, Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal Died 8 April 1970 (aged 76) Fischbach Castle, Luxembourg | ||
Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma (given names: Felix Marie Vincent; 28 September/28 October 1893 in Schwarzau am Steinfeld – 8 April 1970 in Schloss Fischbach), later Prince Felix of Luxembourg, was the husband of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the father of her six children, including Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the longest serving consort of Luxembourg.
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Early life
Prince Felix was one of the 24 children of the deposed Robert I, Duke of Parma, being the duke's sixth child and third son by his second wife, Maria Antonia of Portugal. His maternal grandparents were Miguel of Portugal and Adelaide of Lowenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.
He was also the younger brother (by sixteen months) of Empress Zita of Austria. Of the twelve children of Duke Robert's first marriage to Maria-Pia of the Two Sicilies, three died as infants, six had learning difficulties, and only three married. Despite loss of his throne, Duke Robert and his family enjoyed considerable wealth, traveling in a private train of more than a dozen cars among his castles at Schwarzau am Steinfeld near Vienna, Villa Pianore in northwest Italy, and the magnificent Chateau de Chambord in France.
Less than four months after Robert's death in 1907 the Grand Marshal of the Austrian Court declared six of the children of his first marriage legally incompetent, at the behest of Duchess Maria Antonia. Nonetheless, Robert's primary heir was Elias, Duke of Parma, (1880–1959), the youngest son of the first marriage and the only one to father children of his own. Duke Elias also became the legal guardian of his six elder siblings. Although Felix's elder brothers, Prince Sixte and Prince Xavier, eventually sued their half-brother Duke Elias to obtain a greater share of the ducal fortune, they lost in the French courts, leaving Prince Felix with modest prospects.
Marriage to Grand Duchess Charlotte
On 6 November 1919 in Luxembourg, the prince married his first cousin Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, having become also Prince of Luxembourg by Grand Ducal decree the day before. Unlike some European consorts, Felix neither adopted his wife's dynastic surname (of Nassau), nor relinquished his own title and name "Prince of Bourbon-Parma". His traditional style as a Bourbon prince of the Parmesan branch is the reason that cadet members of the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg enjoy the style of Royal Highness (but that style belongs to the Luxembourg monarch and heir apparent by right, as the historical prerogative of grand ducal dynasties).
Felix served in the Austrian Dragoons as Lieutenant and Captain, but resigned his commission in November 1918. He was President of the Luxembourg Red Cross between 1923 and 1932 and again between 1947 and 1969. He was also Colonel of the Luxembourg Volunteers Company since 1920 and Inspector-General of the Luxembourg Army between 1945 and 1967.
Urban legend has it that Felix lost the Grunewald, a forest owned by the Grand Duchess, at a casino in 1934, but this is false; part of the property was sold, along with Berg Castle, to the Luxembourgian government, with the revenue paying for the upkeep of the grand-ducal household, and was not spent on personal consumption, let alone gambling losses.
Marriage and children
On 6 November 1919 in Luxembourg, he married Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. They had six children: