page_title: Charles Ferdinand, Prince of Capua
section_title: Exile
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Ferdinand, Prince of Capua / Exile
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Carlo di Borbone, principe di Capua (1811-1862) con la moglie morganatica Penelope Smyth (1826-1882), contessa di Mascali, e la loro figlia figlia Vittoria di Borbone, contessa di Mascali (1838-1905).English: Charles of Bourbon-Naples, prince of Capua (1811-1862) with his morganatic wife Penelope Smyth (1826-1882), countess of Mascali, and their daughter Vittoria, countess of Mascali (1838-1905).
context_page_description: Prince Charles of the Two Sicilies, Prince of Capua was the second son of Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Maria Isabella of Spain. He contracted a morganatic marriage in 1836 and had to live for the rest of his life in exile.
context_section_description: Defying his brother's will, Charles married morganatically Penelope Smyth on 5 April 1836 in Gretna Green. Gretna Green was the first stagecoach stop in Scotland after the border city of Carlisle. It was a popular place for young lovers to marry. There it was sufficed for couples to declare their wish to marry before witnesses. A residence requirement or parental consent was not needed.
  Later, Charles applied for special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury in order to marry (or remarry) Miss Smyth at St George's, Hanover Square. In the court order they are described as a bachelor and a spinster respectively. The King's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Count de Ludolf, objected to the grant of the licence and a hearing took place in the Court of Faculties on 4 May 1836. The Master of the Faculties, Dr John Nicholl, refused to grant the licence on the grounds that the royal succession might be affected by the non-recognition of the marriage in Naples. Banns of Marriage were read for the final time in St George's, Hanover Square on 8 May 1836.
  The Prince of Capua and Penelope had two children:
  Francesco, Conte di Mascali (24 March 1837 – 2 June 1862)
  Vittoria di Borbone, Contessa di Mascali (15 May 1838 – 9 August 1895)
  Ferdinand II never forgave his runaway brother. Charles was forced to live for the rest of his life in exile. He remained loyal to his wife, but all his estates were confiscated except the county of Mascali in Sicily, which he had inherited from his father. As Mascali was not run efficiently, it provided just a small revenue and the prince had to live modestly. For years Charles tried to obtained a pardon from his brother and be allowed to return to Naples, but to no avail. He had to settle in London at the expense of his wife and her relatives, accumulating debts.
  The government of Lord Palmerston tried to intervene in his favor as a counterbalance to Ferdinand II's despotism. In 1848, Charles aspired in vain to the crown of Sicily. When Palmerston got tired of him, Charles moved to Turin. Pursued by his creditors the prince moved constantly.
  A contemporary who met him in the Tuileries Palace in 1853 described him as follows: "The Prince is stout, vulgar, and usually rigged up like a rustic charlatan. He is adorned with a long and dirty grey beard, and his hair is also long, dirty and grey "
  At his brother Ferdinand II's death on 22 May 1859, Charles's hopes were raised. Ferdinand II bequeathed him a small amount of money, and the new King Francis II, his nephew, ordered the restoration of all his income and property. However, Charles, who moved between Geneva, Spa and Aix les Bains with his wife and their two adolescent children, did not see any of it. The following year the Bourbons were overthrown. With the Piedmontese invasion,
  everything was confiscated by Giuseppe Garibaldi.
  Charles was offered an allowance by King Victor Emanuel II, but he rejected it, fearing that it would affect further claims. He died two years later on 21 April 1862 at Turin, aged 50. His son Francesco, who suffered from mental illness, died few months later. His widow received a pension and a villa near Lucca.
caption: The Prince of Capua with his wife, The Countess of Mascali, and their daughter, Vittoria.
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