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| Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto, and Lady Charlotte Lindesay-Bethune |
On Friday, 15 May, the engagement was announced between HRH Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto, and Lady Charlotte Lindesay-Bethune. The couple will marry in the Summer of 2021.
Don Jaime de Borbón y Landaluce was born at Madrid on 26 June 1992 as the first child of Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (b.1968) and Doña Sofía Landaluce y Melgarejo (b.1973). Jaime's parents married on 30 March 2001 at the Club de Hierro, Madrid, in an intimate ceremony attended by their family and close friends. In due time, Jaime was joined by six younger siblings: Juan (b.2003), Pablo (b.2004), Pedro (b.2007), Sofía (b.2008), Blanca (b.2011), and Maria (b.2015).
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| Anne and Carlos |
The paternal grandparents of Prince Jaime, Duke of Noto, are the Infante Don Carlos of Spain, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria (1938-2015), and Princess Anne d'Orléans (b.1938). The maternal grandparents of Prince Jaime are Don José Manuel Landaluce y Dominguez (b.1944) and Doña Blanca Melgarejo y Gonzales (1946-2009). Jaime is a great-grandson of the late Count and Countess of Paris.
Jaime's grandfather the Infante Don Carlos, Duke of Calabria, did not recognise the marriage of Pedro and Sofía as equal. In May 2002, a delegate of the Spanish branch of the Constantinian Order of Saint George wrote the following regarding the couple's union: "The marriage of the Duke of Noto was not authorised in accordance with the requirements of the Law on marriages of the Two Sicilies of 1829. No formal authorisation was given, the marriage did not conform to past precedents in the House, and the invitations were issued in the name of the bride and groom rather than jointly with the groom's parents. The descendants of this marriage will not therefore be Two Sicilies dynasts." Two years later, on June 2004, the same representative of the order, who was also a friend of the late Infante D. Carlos, stated: "D. Sofia is accorded the title of 'Duchess of Noto', but the children are not T-S dynasts; they are however Spanish dynasts. In the view of the Infante D. Carlos, they are Excelentisimo Senores." However, at some unknown date, presumably in or after 2004, the Infante D. Carlos decided to recognise the marriage of his son and daughter-in-law as dynastic. This change of heart was influenced by the Infante's first cousin and dear friend King Juan Carlos of Spain granting approval for the 2004 marriage of the Prince of Asturias, now King Felipe VI of Spain, to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, now Queen Letizia of Spain. Since this retroactive demorganatisation, the children of the Duke and Duchess of Noto (titled Duke and Duchess of Calabria since 2015) bear the style of Royal Highness and the title of Prince(ss) of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
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| The 16th Earl of Lindsay |
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| David, 15th Earl of Lindsay |
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| The Douglas-Scott-Montagu family by Bassano Ltd in 1934. Photograph (c) National Portrait Gallery. |
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| Duke Friedrich II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |
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| Duchess Magdalena Auguste of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |
Prince Jaime and Lady Charlotte are ninth cousins. The couple are both descended from Duke Friedrich II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676-1732) and Princess Magdalena Auguste of Anhalt-Zerbst (1679-1740). Furthermore, Jaime and Charlotte are descendants of King George II of Great Britain.
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| The Duke and Duchess of Calabria announce the engagement of their son Prince Jaime to Lady Charlotte. |
We send our best wishes to Prince Jaime and Lady Charlotte as well as to their families upon the occasion of this wonderful news.
To learn more about the ancestry of Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Lady Charlotte Lindesay-Bethune, please visit this link: The Heirs of Europe: Bourbon-Two Sicilies