Princess Cécile Marie of Bourbon-Parma

Princess Cécile Marie Antoinette Madeline Jeanne Agnès Françoise of Bourbon-Parma, Countess of Poblet (Spanish: Cecilia María de Borbón-Parma, French: Cécile Marie de Bourbon-Parme; 12 April 1935 – 1 September 2021) was a French humanitarian and political activist. A Carlist, she supported the claims of her father, Prince Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Parma and his claim to the Spanish throne. She later supported the claim of her older brother, Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and his progressive reforms to Carlist ideology over that of her younger brother Prince Sixtus Henry, Duke of Aranjuez's claims and traditionalist stance. An anti-fascist, she opposed the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and was expelled from Spain multiple times for working to promote democratic reforms.

Princess Cécile Marie
Countess of Poblet
Princess Cécile in 1968
Born(1935-04-12)12 April 1935
Paris, France
Died1 September 2021(2021-09-01) (aged 86)
Paris, France
Burial
Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata, Parma
Names
Cécile Marie Antoinette Madeleine Jeanne Agnès Françoise
HouseBourbon-Parma
FatherPrince Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza
MotherMadeleine de Bourbon-Busset
OccupationHumanitarian, political activist

Princess Cécile was very involved in humanitarian and religious causes. A trained pilot, she volunteered with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta during the Nigerian Civil War to fly in resources and provide humanitarian aid. Through the United Nations, she worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization in Laos, helped victims of floods in Vallès, and worked as a nurse in a leper colony. Towards the end of her life, she lived in Paris and was a volunteer with the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care.

Early life and family

Princess Cécile was born on 12 April 1935. She was the daughter of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, a Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne, and Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, the daughter of the Count de Lignières and a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon.[1][2][3] She was the younger sister of Princess Marie-Françoise, Prince Carlos Hugo, and Princess María Teresa and an older sister of Princess María de las Nieves and Prince Sixtus Henry. She was a niece of Austrian empress Zita of Bourbon-Parma.

On 22 April 1955, Princess Cécile was presented as a debutante at a coming out ball hosted by her parents at the Hôtel Ritz Paris.[4] Her father bestowed her with the title Countess of Poblet.

Activism

After her father, who assumed the title Duke of Parma and the role as head of the House of Bourbon-Parma from his nephew, Robert Hugo, Duke of Parma, ceded his role to his oldest son, Prince Carlos Hugo, a political rift occurred in the family. Princess Cécile, Princess María Teresa, and Princess María de las Nieves supported new progressive Carlist ideologies and the claim of their brother while Princess Marie Françoise, Prince Sixus Henry, and their mother opposed the claim and political and ideological reforms.[5] Described by her family as a "Carlist militant" and a "tireless fighter", she was active in Spanish political reforms throughout the 1960s and 1970s.[3] She was expelled from Francoist Spain on several occasions due to her political activism and anti-fascist views, as she worked to recover democratic freedoms that had been taken away by the dictatorship.[3]

Princess Cécile worked as a nurse in a leper colony, volunteered to help victims of the floods in Vallès, and worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization in Laos.[3] When the Nigerian Civil War began in 1967, she volunteered with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta as a pilot, flying into the country to bring humanitarian aid.[3] She was also passionate about Catholic theology and archiving.

She lived her last years in Paris, where she volunteered with the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care.[3]

Death and burial
Princesses Marie-Françoise and María de las Nieves at Princess Cécile's funeral mass.

Princess Cécile died in Paris on 1 September 2021, five days after she attended the funeral of her sister Princess María Teresa.[3] Her death was announced in an official statement made by her nephew, Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma.[3][6] A Catholic funeral was held at the Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris on 10 September 2021.[7] She was cremated, and her remains were buried in the family crypt in Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma, Italy.

The funeral mass was attended by members of her family including the Duke of Parma and Piacenza; Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi; Princess Margarita, Countess of Colorno; Princess Carolina, Marchioness of Sala; Princess Marie-Françoise, Princess Edouard de Lobkowicz; Princess Marie des Neiges, Countess of Castillo de La Mota; and Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz.

References
  1. "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  2. "Princess Maria Teresa First Royal to die from Coronavirus". Sathiyasreesblog. 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  3. Cater, Deborah (2021-09-02). "Princess Cecilia de Bourbon Parma dies five days after her sister's funeral". InSpain.news. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  4. "Bourbon-Parma Ball at the Ritz in Paris, 1955". The Royal Watcher. 2020-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  5. The first signs of discord between the two brothers, already grave and possibly including violence, were noted in 1967. García Riol 2015, p. 112. As late as 1972 relations between Carlos-Hugo and Sixte were still correct, as Sixte served as godfather at the christening of his brother's first daughter, Margarita. Heras y Borrero 2010, p. 110
  6. "Princess Cecilia of Bourbon-Parma (86) died in Paris". Paudal. 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  7. Funeral Princess Cecilia de Bourbon Parma, retrieved 2022-04-22
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