Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma

Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (Michel Marie Xavier Waldemar Georg Robert Karl Eymar de Bourbon-Parme; 4 March 1926 – 7 July 2018) was a French prince, businessman, soldier and racing car driver, who was a member of the deposed sovereign royal and ducal House of Bourbon-Parma.

He was a son of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and his wife Princess Margaret of Denmark. Paternally, he was a grandson of Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848–1907), while through his mother he was a great-grandson of Christian IX of Denmark. Prince Michel was also the younger brother of Anne of Romania.

Biography Prince Michel grew up in Paris, where his father worked for a propane gas tank manufacturer. In 1940, Prince Michel and his family fled the German invasion and left for New York City, where his mother worked in a hat shop. Michel was enrolled in a Jesuit school in Montreal, the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf.

Three years later, at age 17, he joined the U.S. Army with his father's permission, and was commissioned as a lieutenant.

After the liberation of France, Prince Michel was deployed to the First Indochina War in order to fight against the Viet Minh.

Demobilized at the age of 20, the prince became a race car driver, participating in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1964 and 1966. Both times his car failed to finish. In 1964, he also raced in the Tour de France Automobile where he finished second. At the Monaco Grand Prix in 1967, he was a nearby spectator when the Lorenzo Bandini accident occurred: With the help of a marshal he managed to extract the driver from the burning wreck of his Ferrari.

Prince Michel started civilian life at the age of 20, engaging in business over the following decades. He worked for a company that had created the Zodiac inflatable rubber boat, which enjoyed huge commercial success after the war. Later, he negotiated contracts for French companies with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, until he was deposed in the Islamic revolution of 1979. In later life, he lived between his house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and his house in Palm Beach, Florida.

Marriages and children Following a civil wedding in Paris on 23 May 1951, on 9 June, the thirtieth anniversary of his parents' wedding, he married religiously at Chaillot, Princess Yolande de Broglie-Revel (1928–2014), daughter of Prince Joseph de Broglie-Revel (1892–1963) and his wife, Marguerite de La Cour de Balleroy (1901-1976). Princess Marie Gabrielle Yolande Camilla Philippine of Bourbon-Parma (born Paris, 23 December 1982). Married on 17 October 2022 to Martin Kjeldsen at Ledreborg Castle, Denmark. She had one son (out of wedlock). Prince Henri Luitpold Antoine Victor Marie Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born Roskilde, 14 October 1991). Married on 12 September 2020 to his second cousin, Archduchess Gabriella of Austria, at Tratzberg Castle, Jenbach, Tyrol, Austria. They have three daughters: Princess Victoria Antonia Marie-Astrid Lydia of Bourbon-Parma (b. 30 October 2017, Geneva, Switzerland). Princess Anastasia Erika Alexandra Marie Yolande of Bourbon-Parma (b. 3 July 2021, Geneva, Switzerland). Princess Philippine Alexandra Marie-Gabrielle Immaculata of Bourbon-Parma (b. 8 December 2022, Geneva, Switzerland) Princess Sybil Marie Josephine Anne Victorie of Bourbon-Parma (born Paris, 10 November 1954), married in 1997 Craig Richards. Princess Victoire Maria Pia Joseph Philippe Isaure of Bourbon-Parma (8 November 1957 – 2001), married on 26 February 1974 in Beaumont-le-Roger and divorced before 1988, Baron Ernst Alexis von Gecmen-Waldek (born Prague, 11 July 1943) before remarrying in 1993, with Carlos Ernesto Rodriguez. She had two children with her first husband: They have two daughters: Princess Sybille Marie Zita Amélie Constance Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born Paris, 25 December 2023). Princess Aliénor Yolande Cherry Charlotte Marie Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born September 2025) Princess Charlotte Alexe Yolande Marie Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born Boulogne-Billancourt, 18 July 1993). Married on 25 June 2022 to Javier Valladares Urruela at the Church Saint-Aubin de Tourouvre, Tourouvre au Perche, Normandy, France. Princess Elisabeth Flore Angélique Marie Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born Boulogne-Billancourt, 12 June 1996). Married on 6 July 2024 to Xavier Denis at the Church Saint-Aubin, Tourouvre au Perche, Normandy, France. Princess Zita Angélique Inès Marie Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born Boulogne-Billancourt, 1 April 1999)

Prince Michel had a daughter out of wedlock with Laure Le Bourgeois (born 1950): Amélie (born 13 March 1977), legally adopted by her father on 5 June 1997, assuming the surname "de Bourbon-Parme".

In 2003, he married Princess Maria Pia of Savoy (born 1934), daughter of King Umberto II and Queen Maria José of Italy, who had divorced Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia.

Ancestry