Louis Alphonse de Bourbon

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is de Borbón and the second or maternal family name is Martínez-Bordiú.

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon
Duke of Anjou (more)
Louis Alphonse in 2020
Legitimist pretender to the French throne
Pretence30 January 1989 – present
PredecessorAlfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz
Heir apparentLouis [1]: 47 
BornLuis Alfonso Gonzalo Víctor Manuel Marco de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú
(1974-04-25) 25 April 1974 (age 50)
Madrid, Spain
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2004)​
Issue
  • Eugénie[1]: 47 
  • Louis[1]: 47 
  • Alphonse[1]: 47 
  • Henri[1]: 47 
HouseBourbon
FatherAlfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz
MotherCarmen Martínez-Bordiú
ReligionCatholic Church

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon[2] (Spanish: Luis Alfonso Gonzalo Víctor Manuel Marco de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú;[3][4][5] born 25 April 1974) is the head of the House of Bourbon. Members of his family formerly ruled France and other countries.

According to the French Legitimists, Louis Alphonse is the rightful claimant to the defunct throne of France, under the name Louis XX.[6] His claim is based on his descent from Louis XIV (r. 1643–1715) through his grandson Philip V of Spain. Philip renounced his claim to the French throne under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The rival Orleanist pretenders argue that this, as well as being born a Spanish citizen, makes Louis Alphonse ineligible for the throne.[7] They also question whether he truly is the heir-male of Louis XIV, given the rumors of illegitimacy surrounding Alfonso XII (his great-great-grandfather).[8]

Louis Alphonse is patrilineally the senior great-grandson of Alfonso XIII, King of Spain. However, his grandfather Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, renounced his rights to the Spanish throne for himself and his descendants owing to his deafness. The crown of Spain has descended to his second cousin, King Felipe VI of Spain. Through his mother, he is also a great-grandson of Spain's caudillo (dictator) General Francisco Franco; and through his father, a great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.[3] Since the death of his father in 1989, he has used the courtesy title of Duke of Anjou.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d e Etat présent de la Maison de Bourbon (6th ed.). Paris: Le Léopard d'or. 2020. p. 55. ISBN 9782863772782.
  2. ^ a b His name is given as "Prince Louis Alphonse of Bourbon and Martínez-Bordiú, Duke of Anjou" by Olga S. Opfell in Royalty who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe (2001), p. 11.
  3. ^ a b Eilers, Marlene A. Queen Victoria's Descendants. Princess Beatrice. Rosvall Royal Books, Falkoping, Sweden, 1997. pp. 166, 181; ISBN 91-630-5964-9
  4. ^ Enache, Nicolas. La Descendanace de Marie-Therese de Habsburg Reine de Hongrie and Boheme. Maison royale regnante d'Espagne. ICC/Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris, 1999, p. 535. (French). ISBN 2-908003-04-X.
  5. ^ Willis, Daniel A. The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain. The Descendants of Princess Anne, The Princess of Orange. Clearfield, Baltimore, 2002. p. 231. ISBN 0-8063-5172-1
  6. ^ Ardisson, Thierry, Louis XX: Contre-enquête sur la monarchie, 1986. ISBN 978-2855653341.
  7. ^ Opfell, Olga S. (2001). Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0901-3.
  8. ^ Juan Sisinio Pérez Garzón, Isabel II: Los Espejos de la Reina (2004)