Many members of the Constantinian Order travelled to France for the wedding of their confrère, HRH Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma, a Constantinian Knight Grand Cross of Justice. Prince Amaury is the eldest child of HRH Prince Charles-Emmanuel of Bourbon-Parma, who is President of the Royal Commission for France of the Constantinian Order. On 8 July 2023, Prince Amaury married Pélagie de Mac Mahon, sister of the Duke of Magenta and a descendant of Patrice de Mac Mahon, Duke of Magenta, Marshal of France, who was President of France in the 1870s.
The wedding took place at the Cathedral of St. Lazarus in Autun, France. Among the many members of the Constantinian Order who attended the ceremony were the Grand Master, HRH Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, accompanied by HRH the Duchess of Calabria, and the Grand Prefect, HRH Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto, accompanied by HRH the Duchess of Noto.
Other guests included the head of the Bourbon-Parma branch of the House of Bourbon, HRH Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma, and members of the Austrian, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, Schaumburg-Lippe, and Murat dynasties.
As a 12 year old boy, Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma had an experience which exerted a significant effect on his childhood. In 2004, a Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Jean Honoré at the Basilica of St. Denis near Paris at the time the heart of the “Lost Dauphin”, the child king Louis XVII, was interred. The basilica is the mausoleum of the Royal House of France. Prince Amaury carried the small chest containing the heart during the Mass and interment ceremony.
King Louis XVII was the son and heir of King Louis XVI. Royalists considered that, at age 8, he had succeeded as king following the execution of his father in 1793. But at the time, and for the remainder of his short life, he was a prisoner of the French Revolution. Following the executions of his mother and father, the imprisoned and orphaned child was treated by his captors with extreme cruelty, deprived of sufficient food, sunlight, human contact, and education. He died in captivity at age 10. It is unknown whether he was murdered or succumbed to tuberculosis and the harsh conditions of his imprisonment. In his sermon during the 2004 Mass, Cardinal Honoré spoke of the sadism to which the child had been subjected.
At his death, Louis XVII’s body was buried in an unmarked grave, but, as was then the custom, his heart was removed and preserved. At some point, an urn containing a heart purporting to be that of the child came into the custody of the Archdiocese of Paris and later into the possession of the senior line of the House of Bourbon. In the 20th century, the heart was eventually turned over to Jacques, 8th Duke of Bauffremont (1922-2020), Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Constantinian Order and President of the Institute of the House of Bourbon. He made it available for DNA testing. In 2000, DNA testing proved that it was indeed the heart of Louis XVII, as, among other evidence, the mitochondrial DNA matched that of Queen Marie-Antoinette.
The young King Louis XVII had a Bourbon father and a Habsburg mother. The 2004 funeral Mass was attended by representatives of both dynasties, including the senior descendant of the House of Bourbon (Prince Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou) and the elder son (Archduke Karl of Austria) of Archduke Otto, head of the House of Habsburg. No senior officials of the French Government attended the Mass. Among the foreign attendees, Jay Jackson, President-General of the Society of the Cincinnati, and his wife Françoise de Chabert Jackson travelled from the United States to Paris to attend the Mass and pay their respects, in honour of the important role King Louis XVI played in the American War of Independence.
Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma, like Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria, is a direct descendant of King Charles X of France, younger brother of King Louis XVI and uncle of King Louis XVII.
Photos:
At top: HRH Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma, Grand Cross of the Order, with his bride after the wedding
Below on left: From left to right: HRH the Duchess of Noto, HRH Prince Jaime, Duke of Noto and Grand Prefect of the Constantinian Order standing beside his parents, HRH the Duchess of Calabria and HRH Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria and Grand Master of the Constantinian Order. Photo taken before the wedding dinner of Prince and Princess Amaury of Bourbon-Parma
Below, middle: The Mass in 2004 to inter the heart of King Louis XVI of France. Jacques, 8th Duke of Bauffremont (left), Constantinian Knight Grand Cross, is about to hand the urn containing the heart to the 12-year old Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma (right)
Below, right: King Louis XVII of France who died in captivity at age 10 in 1795
