Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma explained

Prince Michel
Full Name:Michel Marie Xavier Waldemar Georg Robert Karl Eymar
Birth Date:4 March 1926
Birth Place:Paris, France
Death Place:Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Spouse:
    House:Bourbon-Parma
    Father:Prince René of Bourbon-Parma
    Mother:Princess Margaret of Denmark
    Issue:Princess Inès
    Prince Erik
    Princess Sybil, Mrs. Richards
    Princess Victoire, Mrs. Rodriguez
    Prince Charles-Emmanuel
    Princess Amelie
    Religion:Roman Catholicism

    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.

    He was a son of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and his wife Princess Margaret of Denmark. Paternally, he was a grandson of Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848–1907), while through his mother he was a great-grandson of Christian IX of Denmark. Prince Michel was also the younger brother of Queen Anne of Romania.[2]

    Biography

    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 commissioned as a 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 the First Indochina War in order to fight against the Viet Minh.[4] Dropped on 28 August 1945 by parachute, he was captured the same day by the Viet Minh, who kept him prisoner 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 Prixin 1967, he was a nearby spectator when the Lorenzo Bandini accident occurred: With the help of a marshal he managed to extract the driver from the burning wreck of his Ferrari.

    Prince Michel started civilian life at the age of 20, engaging in business over the following decades. He worked for a company that had created the Zodiac inflatable rubber boat, which enjoyed huge commercial success after the war. Later, he negotiated contracts for French companies with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, until he was deposed in the Islamic revolution of 1979. In later life, he lived between his house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and his house in Palm Beach, Florida.

    Marriages and children

    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]

    Prince Michel had a daughter out of wedlock with Laure Le Bourgeois (born 1950):

    In 2003 he married Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (1934), daughter of King Umberto II and Maria José of Belgium, who had divorced Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia.

    Ancestry

    See also: Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark.

    Bibliography

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Morto a Parigi il principe Michele di Borbone Parma - Gazzetta di Parma . 2018-07-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180709010715/https://www.gazzettadiparma.it/news/italia-mondo/525567/morto-a-parigi-il-principe-michele-di-borbone-parma.html . 2018-07-09 . dead .
    2. Willis, Daniel. The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain. Clearfield, Baltimore, 2002. pp. 422-425. .
    3. Prince Michel profile; Palm Beach Daily News http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/french-born-prince-and-part-time-palm-beacher-mich/nMC5Y/
    4. de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. ‘’Le Petit Gotha’’. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 594-595. (French)
    5. Bernier Arcand . Philippe . 2022 . Les Bourbon-Parme dans les institutions d'enseignement du Québec . Histoire Québec . fr . 28 . 1 . 24–28 . 1201-4710.
    6. BBC News: Allied 'bandits' behind enemy lines http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8085383.stm
    7. Enache, Nicolas. La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg. ICC, Paris, 1996. p. 418. (French).
    8. Ford Anglia 105E - 1964 Monte Carlo Rally Report http://anglia-models.co.uk/race-1964-montewu.htm
    9. Web site: Descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark. Heinbruins. 3 June 2023.
    10. Web site: Gabriella d'Autriche et Henri de Bourbon-Parme, mariage impérial au Tyrol. 23 September 2020. 23 September 2020. Point de vue. fr.
    11. Web site: Prince Henri of Bourbon-Parma marries Archduchess Gabriella of Austria in glamorous European Royal Wedding. 14 September 2020. Tatler. 14 September 2020. en.
    12. Web site: La nièce du Grand-Duc Henri a eu un bébé. L'Essentiel. 19 December 2017. 19 December 2017. fr.
    13. Web site: Erzherzogin Gabriellas Tochter. 20 December 2017. 20 December 2017. Luxemburger Wort. de.
    14. Web site: Henri de Bourbon-Parme et Gabriella d'Autriche sont parents pour la seconde fois. 6 September 2021. 6 September 2021. Gala.fr. fr.
    15. Web site: Les fiançailles d'Amaury de Bourbon-Parme et de Pélagie de Mac Mahon. fr. Point de vue. 21 January 2023. 3 June 2023.
    16. Web site: Fiançailles de Pélagie de Mac Mahon et le prince Amaury de Bourbon-Parme : "La tradition écossaise est à l'honneur". fr. 7 April 2023. 3 June 2023. Point de vue.
    17. Web site: Pélagie et Amaury de Bourbon Parme nous présentent leur fille Sybille. 21 March 2024. 22 March 2024. Point de Vue. fr.
    18. Web site: Charlotte de Bourbon-Parme et Javier Valladares Urruela se sont mariés !. fr. Point de vue. 6 July 2022. 3 June 2023.
    19. Web site: Cariès, Françoise. Igor convole à Chambord . September 30, 2009. 2023-09-08 . . fr.

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