Sixto Enrique de Borbón
Encyclopedia
- There is an earlier Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma who was an officer in the Belgian army in the First World War.
Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma is considered Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Spain by some Carlists
Carlism
Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on the Spanish throne. This line descended from Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , and was founded due to dispute over the succession laws and widespread...
who accord him the titles Duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
of Aranjuez
Aranjuez
Aranjuez is a town lying 48 km south of Madrid, in the southern part of the Community of Madrid. It is located at the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama rivers, 48 km from Toledo. As of 2009, it has a population of 54,055.-History:...
, Infante of Spain, and Standard-bearer of Tradition.
Early life
Sixtus was born in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France, the second son of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-ParmaXavier, Duke of Parma
Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known before 1974 as Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma, pretender to the defunct throne of Parma, and Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain under the name Javier I.-Early life:Xavier...
(then Prince Regent, later pretender to the throne of Spain and Duke of Parma) and his wife Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset
Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset
Madeleine de Bourbon was the Duchess of Parma and was also Carlist queen of Spain by virtue of marriage to Xavier of Parma, the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne,....
.
From an early age Sixtus devoted himself to the cause of Carlism
Carlism
Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on the Spanish throne. This line descended from Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , and was founded due to dispute over the succession laws and widespread...
. He studied with the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
, Benedictines and Marist
Society of Mary (Marists)
The Society of Mary , is a Roman Catholic religious congregation or order, founded by Father Jean-Claude Colin and a group of other seminarians in France in 1816...
s, as well as with his preceptress, Professor María Teresa Angulo, from Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. He later took courses in law, classical and modern languages, and finance.
Under the nom de guerre of Enrique Aranjuez he enlisted in the Spanish Foreign Legion in 1965. On 2 May that year he swore loyalty to the Spanish flag with the oath then in use, which excluded political compromise (as opposed to the later one, which states fidelity to the Spanish Constitution of 1978).
Carlism
Sixtus's followers claim that his older brother Carlos Hugo of Bourbon, Duke of ParmaCarlos Hugo of Bourbon, Duke of Parma
Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and Piacenza was the head of the House of Bourbon-Parma from 1977 until his death...
abandoned the ideological ideals of his branch of the family and believe that Sixtus has become head of the Traditionalist Communion
Carlism
Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on the Spanish throne. This line descended from Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , and was founded due to dispute over the succession laws and widespread...
. Sixtus put forth the claim to be Regent when his father Xavier died in 1977, and took the title of Standard-bearer of Tradition.
Sixtus was present at the episcopal ordination of four bishops
Ecône Consecrations
The Écône consecrations were a set of episcopal consecrations that took place in Écône, Switzerland, on 30 June 1988. They were performed by Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Meyer, and the priests raised to the episcopacy were four members of Lefebvre's Society...
who belong to the Society of Saint Pius X by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as an Apostolic Delegate for West Africa and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing the changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.In 1970,...
on 30 June 1988 at Ecône
Ecône
Écône is an area in the municipality of Riddes, district of Martigny, in the canton of Valais, in Switzerland. It is the location of The International Seminary of Saint Pius X.-External links:*...
, Switzerland, and was the first to publicly congratulate him.
Sixtus has travelled widely in Latin America, both Spanish and Portuguese-speaking. In January 2001, while travelling through Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, he suffered a serious traffic accident, from which he is still recovering. He has difficulties walking as a result of this accident. As a result of this, his public appearances have been limited.
In the French presidential election, Sixtus endorsed the candidature of Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
, the candidate of the Front National
Front National (France)
The National Front is a political party in France. The party was founded in 1972, seeking to unify a variety of French far-right currents of the time. Jean-Marie Le Pen was the party's first leader and the undisputed centre of the party from its start until his resignation in 2011...
.
In 2010, Sixtus began seeking a court order
Court order
A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case...
to prevent the continued exhibition of artworks by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami
is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low art...
at the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
. He has publicly stated that it "denatures" French culture
Culture of France
The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the seventeenth...
.
Sixtus is a Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.