page_title: Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma
section_title: Old king, former king (1969–1977)
hierarchical_section_title: Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma / King / Old king, former king (1969–1977)
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Prins Carlos Jr. Bernardo wordt gedoopt in kerk te Lignieres, Frankrijk, door Kardinaal Lefebre&#160;; Prins Carel Hugo
context_page_description: Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known in France before 1974 as Prince Xavier de Bourbon-Parme, known in Spain as Francisco Javier de Borbón-Parma y de Braganza or simply as Don Javier, was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma and Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.
  He was the second son of the last reigning Duke of Parma Robert I and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, although born after his father lost the throne. Educated with austerity at Stella Matutina, he grew up in France, Italy and Austria, where his father had properties. During World War I, he joined the Belgian army, fighting with distinction. With his brother Sixtus he was a go-between in the so-called Sixtus Affair, a failed attempt by his brother-in-law, Emperor Charles I of Austria to negotiate a separate peace with the Allies through the Bourbon-Parma brothers.
  In 1936 Don Alfonso Carlos de Borbón, Duke of Madrid died, ending the male line of pretenders to the Spanish throne descended from the rebel founder of Carlism, Infante Carlos, Count of Molina.
context_section_description: Resident mostly at Lignières, Don Javier withdrew, issuing sporadic manifestos, read by his son at Carlist gatherings.
  In 1972 Don Javier suffered life-threatening injuries resulting from a traffic accident and formally transferred all political authority to Carlos Hugo. In 1974, upon the childless death of his half-nephew Prince Robert, Duke of Parma, Don Javier ascended as head of the Bourbon-Parmas and assumed the Duke of Parma title. On the one hand, he was in a position to enjoy family life; though his four younger children did not marry, the elder two did, the marriages producing eight grandchildren (born between 1960 and 1974). On the other hand, family relations were increasingly subject to political tension. While Hugo-Carlos, Marie-Thérèse, Cécile and Marie des Neiges formed one team advancing the progressive agenda, the oldest daughter Françoise Marie, the youngest son Sixte, and their mother Madeleine opposed the bid. Sixte, in Spain known as Don Sixto, openly challenged his brother; he declared himself the standard-bearer of Traditionalism and started building his own organization.
  In 1975 Don Javier abdicated as the Carlist king in favor of Carlos Hugo and according to a source, he would have expelled Sixto from Carlism for refusing to recognize the decision. It is not clear what his view on the commencing Spanish transición was; following the 1976 Montejurra events he lamented the dead,  officially disowned the political views of Don Sixto and called for Carlist unity. However, in a private letter, Don Javier claimed that at Montejurra "the Carlists have confronted the revolutionaries", which has been interpreted as the followers of Don Sixto being the real Carlists according to Don Javier.
  Early March 1977 proved convulsive. On Friday 4th, accompanied by his son Sixto, he was interviewed by the Spanish press and his responses showed Carlist orthodoxy. That same day he issued a declaration certified by a Paris notary objecting to his name being used to legitimize a "grave doctrinal error within Carlism", and implicitly disowned the political line promoted by Carlos Hugo. In order to justify that declaration, Carlos Hugo alerted the police that his father had been abducted by Sixto, an accusation which was denied publicly by Don Javier himself, who had to be hospitalized heavily affected by the scandal generated. Shortly afterwards Don Javier issued another declaration, certified by a different Paris notary, confirming his oldest son as "my only political successor and head of Carlism". Then it was Doña Madalena who declared that her husband had been taken by Carlos Hugo from hospital against medical advice and his own will, and that Carlos Hugo had threatened his father to obtain his signature on the second declaration. Eventually Don Javier was transferred to Switzerland, where he soon died. The widow blamed the oldest son and three daughters for his death.
caption: Carlos Hugo, 1970s
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