A Staunch Humanitarian: Princess Cécile of Bourbon-Parma (1935-2021)

Princess Cécile of Bourbon-Parma.

On Wednesday, 1 September 2021, Princess Cécile of Bourbon-Parma died at the Hôpital Broca, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The princess was eighty-six years-old. 

Her death was announced on social media by her nephew Duke Carlos Javier of Parma and by only surviving brother, Prince Sixte-Henri.

Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma and Madeline de Bourbon-Busset on their wedding day, 1927.

Born on 12 April 1935 at Paris, Princess Cécile Marie Antoinette Madeleine Jeanne Agnès Françoise of Bourbon-Parma was the fourth child and third daughter of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma and Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset. The princess was named after Saint Cecilia; three of her paternal aunts had become nuns at the Abbaye Sainte-Cécile de Solesmes: Princess Adelaide (1885-1959; she became Mother Marie Bénédicte), Princess Francesca (1890-1978; she became Mother Scholastique), and Princess  Maria Antonia (1895-1979; she became Mother Maria Antonia). 

1955: Princess Cécile at her first ball at the Ritz in Paris. Photograph (c) Getty Images / Francois Pages.

Princess Cécile, Princess Marie-Thérèse, and Princess Marie-des-Nieges.

Cécile joined two older sisters and an older brother: Françoise (b.1928), Carlos Hugo (1930-2010), and Marie-Thérèse (1933-2020). The princess was followed by two younger siblings: Marie-des-Neiges (b.1937) and Sixte-Henri (b.1940). 

Princess Cecilia speaks at a Carlist gathering in Spain, 1966. Photo (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari.

Caption: "Princess Cecilia de Bourbon-Parma waving from the door of an aircraft with her parachute on her lap as she prepares for a parachute jump, Madrid, August 18th 1963." Photo (c) Getty Image / Central Press.

Cécile studied in Paris and Munich. She eventually obtained her pilot's license. When her brother Prince Carlos Hugo became engaged to Princess Irene of the Netherlands in 1964, Cécile was his only sibling who traveled with the pair from Madrid to the Netherlands for a meeting with Queen Juliana about the engagement. The princess remained deeply attached to her older brother and his children. Together with her sisters Marie-Thérèse and Marie-des-Nieges, Cécile was a steadfast supporter of Carlos Hugo's modern vision for the Carlist movement, which took on a distinctly socialist bent. Her stance pitted the princess against her parents, Duke Xavier and Duchess Madeleine, as well as her sister Princess Françoise and her brother Prince Sixte-Henri.

Princess Cécile calls for food drops to Biafra, January 1970.  

Between 1968-1970, Princess Cécile participated in humanitarian efforts to bring supplies to the inhabitants of Biafra. The princess undertook this mission as a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. She spent fifteen months in Biafra and was deeply concerned about the well-being of the population there. The Republic of Biafra was a short-lived nation in West Africa, a "break-away" region in Nigeria, that existed from May 1967 to January 1970. In 1969, most of Cécile's family was expelled from Spain due their Carlist ties: only the princess (owing to her charity work in Biafra) and her sister-in-law Princess Irene of the Netherlands were excluded from the order. In early 1970, Cécile was in Washington, DC, to lobby on behalf to the people of Biafra. She stated: "The need is so great. So many people are dying in terrible conditions. In two weeks it will be too late." In 1971, the princess was finally ordered to leave Spain due to her connections with the Carlist movement. From Madrid, Cécile was put on a flight to Paris, where she arrived aboard an Iberian Airlines plane, to which she had been escorted by plainclothes Spanish policemen. She noted that she was asked to leave Spain "undoubtedly because I was with Carlist friends."

(left to right): Princess Marie-des-Neiges, Princess Marie-Thérèse, and Princess Cécile of Bourbon-Parma. Photographed at the christening of their grand-nephew Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma in 2016. Photograph (c) PPE / Albert Nieboer. 

Thereafter, the princess made her home in the French capital. Cécile devoted herself to the preservation of the archives of her family. Princess Cécile also immersed herself in caring for the psychological and spiritual needs of terminally ill-people. Recently, for some years, she had been living with her sisters Marie-Thérèse and Marie-des-Neiges in Paris. 

Princess Cécile, Princess Marie-Thérèse, and Princess Marie-des-Nieges attend the funeral of their brother Duke Carlos Ugo of Parma, 2010. Photo (c) PPE / Albert Nieboer.

In 2014, Cécile became the godmother of her grand-niece Princess Cecilia of Bourbon-Parma (b.2013), the daughter of Duke Carlos and Duchess Annemarie of Parma. In 2016, the princess and her two closest sisters attended the christening of their grand-nephew Carlos, the eventual heir to the Ducal House of Parma.

Princess Cécile of Bourbon-Parma with Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark.

In 2020, Cécile lost her sister Marie-Thérèse to complications from the coronavirus. Maria Teresa, as she was known in Carlist circles, had come down with COVID-19 from interactions with the nurse who was looking after Marie-Thérèse, Cécile, and Marie-des-Neiges.

Princess Cécile at a Carlist event.

Duke Xavier and Duchess Madeleine of Parma with their two sons and three youngest daughters and their daughter-in-law.

May the Princess Rest in Peace.