Princess Cécile Marie of Parma

Princess Cécile Marie Antoinette Madeleine 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. During her exile, she made connections in French intellectual circles and attending the 1973 World Congress of Peace Forces and 1974 Berlin Conference. She was present, along with some of her siblings, at the Montejurra massacre in 1976.

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 in Marina Alta. 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 Marie was born on 12 April 1935 as the fourth children and third daughter of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, the Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma, and his wife Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, the daughter of the Count de Lignières and a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. and in Allier before finishing her studies at the Institut Catholique de Paris. She also attended events such as a reception and party at the Hotel Wellington in Madrid in 1959 or the Paris Ball held at the French Embassy in Brussels in 1960.

Activism Princess Cécile Marie (first from left in the second row), with Princess Marie-Thérèse, Prince Carlos Hugo and Princess Irene of the Netherlands; 1964.

Princess Cécile Marie accompanied her father on a trip to Spain in 1951, In 1956, she moved to Spain, taking charge of the private political secretariat for the Carlists. Described by her family as a "Carlist militant" and a "tireless fighter", she was active in Spanish political reforms throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

The Princess carried on the activities of the Carlist dynasty of Spain also by traveling and making carlism known to other Spanish cities: she visited numerous Spanish cities as an Carlist Infanta of Spain: in 1963 she was in Banyoles, where she took part in carlist events and to others: she attended an exhibition of the main local industrial and agricultural products, visited the city's Archaeological Museum and was invited by the Traditionalist Community to lunch. In September of the same year she began a visit to various areas of Spain with her sister Marie-Thérèse, and this was seen as a move by the Bourbon-Parma family aimed at the Franco regime who was starting to think about naming Prince Juan Carlos (son of another pretender to the Spanish throne, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona) as heir to the throne: that the Bourbon-Parma family would not give up their claim to the throne of Spain despite the wedding of Prince Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia of Greece, which took place the year before, in May 1962. Princess Cécile worked as a nurse at the Fontilles leper colony in Marina Alta, volunteered to help victims of the floods in Vallès, and worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization in Laos. In 1977, she authored a book, "Diccionario del carlismo" (in Spanish), who talk about carlism and its changes during the time. She was allowed to return to Spain in November 1977 where she settled to help her brother Carlos Hugo in managing Carlism.

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.

Last years, death and burial

In addition to Carlist activities, in her last years Cécile Marie also took part in events related to the Royal and Ducal House of Bourbon-Parma: on 5 April 2014, she acted as godmother at the baptism of Princess Cecilia Maria of Bourbon-Parma, the daughter of her nephew. In July of the same year, during an interview with a French newspaper, Cécile Marie spoke about her sister Marie Thérèse, when asked why her sister had never married, Cécile Marie stated that "she has a very high standard. If she were presented with an opportunity, she would have seized it. But nothing in line with her aspirations has come to distract her from her cult of independence." In 2016 Cécile Marie returned to Parma, where she had already been in 2014 and 2012, to attend the baptism of Prince Carlos Enrique of Bourbon-Parma, third child of the Duke of Parma. On that occasion the Princess was photographed while being helped to walk by her sisters Marie Thérèse and Marie des Neiges and by her nephew Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz, who represented Princess Marie Françoise. In the same year she visited the ancient ducal lands, and in particular the city of Fontanellato, where she was received by the mayor, Francesco Trivelloni.

In 2018, Cécile Marie and her sisters Marie Thérèse and Marie des Neiges reconciled with their older sister, Marie Françoise, with whom they had come into conflict because of their different views on Carlism. The sisters spent a lot of time together after reconciling. In particular, she suffered from an important and serious illness which kept her confined to her home in the last years of her life. Her death was announced in an official statement made by her nephew, Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma. A Catholic funeral was held at the Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris on 10 September 2021. The funeral mass was attended by members of her family including Prince Carlos, 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; Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma and Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz. Finally, she was cremated, and her remains were buried in the family crypt in Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma, Italy, on 18 March 2022.

Ancestry

Honours 70px Senator Grand Cross with necklace of the Angelic Imperial Holy Constantinian Order of St. George