Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (Michel Marie Xavier Waldemar Georg Robert Karl Eymar de Bourbon-Parme; 4 March 1926 – 7 July 2018)[1] 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.
Prince Michel grew up in Paris,[3] 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,[4] where his mother worked in a hat shop. Michel was enrolled in a Jesuit school in
Montreal, the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf.[5]
Three years later, at age 17, he joined the U.S. Army with his father's permission, and was appointed lieutenant.[4] Serving in
Operation Jedburgh, he was parachuted into Nazi-occupied France as part of a three-man sabotage team (with Maj.
Tommy Macpherson and Sgt O. A. Brown) to operate deep behind German lines.[6]
After the liberation of France, Prince Michel was deployed to
Indochina in order to fight against the
Viet Minh.[4] Dropped on 28 August 1945 by parachute, he was captured the same day by the Vietnamese resistance, who kept him for eleven months, during which his group of six captives attempted several escapes and were recaptured.[4] They were led from camp to camp through the dense jungle, bound together with strips of
bamboo. Each lived on a bowl of rice a day. Toward the end of the ordeal, the men were asked to sign statements saying that they had been well treated, which they refused. Four of them were killed before the two survivors finally made it back to France due to the French negotiating a ceasefire agreement with the Viet Minh at the Geneva Conference. Prince Michel was one of 3000 prisoners to survive of the 12,000 French prisoners taken by the Viet Minh. A chevalier of France's
Legion of Honour, for his services during war, he was also awarded the British
Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre.[7]
Demobilized at the age of 20, the prince became a race car driver, participating in the
Le Mans 24 Hours in
1964[8] 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 Bandiniaccident occurred: With the help of a marshal he managed to extract the driver from the burning wreck of his Ferrari.
Following a civil wedding in Paris on 23 May 1951, on 9 June 1951, 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).[2][4]
Although the couple separated legally on 26 June 1966 and reconciled 19 December 1983,[7] the marriage ended in divorce in 1999.[4] They had five children together:[4]
Princess Inès Marie Joseph Margarethe Yolande Tatiana of Bourbon-Parma (9 May 1952 – 20 October 1981), she had a daughter out of wedlock:
Marie Mélodie de Bourbon (born
Geneva, 4 June 1977). Adopted by her grandfather, Prince Michel, 20 November 1982.[2]
Prince Erik Marie Joseph René Michel Pierre of Bourbon-Parma (28 August 1953 – 21 January 2021 in
Copenhagen), married in
Ledreborg, Denmark, on 8 August 1980 Countess Lydia of
Holstein-Ledreborg (born 22 February 1955), daughter of
Princess Marie Gabrielle of Luxembourg, divorced in 1999. They had five children:[2]
Princess Antonia Monica Charlotte Marie of Bourbon-Parma (born
Roskilde, 10 June 1981). Married on 18 May 2010 to Martin Krusbak at
Ledreborg Castle,
Danemark. They have three children.[9]
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,
Danemark. They have one son.[9]
Princess Alexia Thérèse Sybille Erica Marie of Bourbon-Parma (born
Palm Beach, Florida, 7 March 1985). Married in 2007 to Fabian Davis. They have two daughters.[9]
Prince Michel Knud John Joseph Marie of Bourbon-Parma (born Roskilde, 12 February 1989)
Princess Anastasia Erika Alexandra Marie Yolande of Bourbon-Parma (b. 3 July 2021,
Geneva, Switzerland).[14]
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 Baron Ernst Alexis von Gecmen-Waldek:[2]
Baroness Tatiana von Gecmen-Waldek (born 22 June 1974), married Michael Berger-Sandhofer in September 1995 in
Versailles.
Baron Vincent Nicholas von Gecmen-Waldek (born 30 August 1981)
Prince Charles-Emmanuel Joseph Jacques Hély of Bourbon-Parma (born Paris, 3 June 1961), married on 25 May 1991, Baroness Constance
de Ravinel (born Paris, 18 July 1971), daughter of Yves, Baron de Ravinel and his wife, Alix de
Castellane-Esperron (of the
Dukes of Almazán de Saint Priest).[7] They have four children:[2]
Prince Amaury Yves Michel Marie Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born
Boulogne-Billancourt, 30 October 1991). Married civilly on 4 June 2023 and religiously on 8 July 2023 in
Sully to Pélagie de
Mac Mahon, daughter of 4th Duke of Magenta.[15][16] They have one daughter:
Princess Sybille Marie Zita Amélie Constance Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born Paris, 25 December 2023).[17]
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.[18]
Princess Elisabeth Flore Angélique Marie Joseph of Bourbon-Parma (born Boulogne-Billancourt, 12 June 1996). Engaged from 2023 to Xavier Denis.[9]
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".[2][19] She married in October 2009 to
Igor Bogdanoff at
Château de Chambord.[19]
^
abcdefgde Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. ‘’Le Petit Gotha’’. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 594-595. (French)
ISBN2-9507974-3-1