| Prince Carlos | |
| Infante of Spain | |
| Birth Date: | 10 November 1870 |
| Birth Place: | , Bolzano, Austria-Hungary |
| Death Place: | Seville, Spain |
| Burial Place: | Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador, Seville |
| Full Name: | Italian: Carlo Maria Francesco d'Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Alfonso Andrea Avelino Tancredi |
| House: | Bourbon-Two Sicilies |
| Father: | Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta |
| Mother: | Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies |
| Signature: | Firma de Carlos de Borbón.svg |
Don Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain (Full Italian name: Carlo Maria Francesco d'Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Alfonso Andrea Avelino Tancredi, Principe di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, Infante di Spagna; 10 November 1870 - 11 November 1949) was the son of Prince Alfonso of the Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and his wife Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and nephew of the last King of the Two Sicilies, Francis II.
On 14 February 1901 in Madrid, Carlos married Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, elder daughter of the late King Alfonso XII of Spain and of his wife Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria. Mercedes was the elder sister and heir presumptive to King Alfonso XIII of Spain, an unmarried teenager. A week before the wedding, on 7 February, Carlos was given the title of Infante of Spain.[1]
Carlos and Mercedes had three children:
Mercedes died in childbirth in 1904.
In 1907, Carlos married secondly to Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris. The couple had four children:
Prince Carlos's descendants include King Felipe VI of Spain, Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria, Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza, and Prince Peter of Yugoslavia, among others.
Carlos served in the Spanish Army in the Spanish–American War and received the Military Order of Maria Cristina.[2] Eventually he rose to the rank of Inspector General.[3]
In 1894, Carlos's father Alfonso became the head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. On marrying his first wife, Carlos renounced on 14 December 1900 his future rights of succession to the non-existent Crown of Two Sicilies in an official document, known as the Act of Cannes, subject to a requirement in the Treaty of Naples of 1759 and the Pragmatic Decree of 6 October 1759 that the Crown of Spain should not be combined with the "Italian Sovereignty".[4] In 1960, Carlos' elder brother Ferdinand died without male issue, and a dispute arose between Carlos' son Alfonso and Carlos' younger brother Ranieri on the headship of the house, this with competing claims: by the law of primogeniture, Carlos' son Alfonso was considered the heir, but Ranieri claimed that Carlos had renounced his rights and those of his descendants according to the Act of Canness. Alfonso refuted that claim by stating that it was only a promise from his father to relinquish this right if the crown of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were to be united with the Spanish Crown. Since this did not happen, Carlos' son Alfonso reclaimed his rights. The dispute is still not resolved. Whereas the claim of Ranieri and his descendants was supported by most royal houses in Europe,[5] the claim of Alfonso and his descendants is supported by the Spanish Royal House.[6] Also, five of the highest organs of the Spanish State, including the Council of State, investigated the dispute and concluded unanimously in favour of the line descended from Infante Don Alfonso.
Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 8 June 1902[14]