Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon (born 29 July 1958) claims to be the senior descendant of the House of Bourbon and thus the pretender to the throne of the defunct Kingdom of France.
Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon | |
|---|---|
 Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon of Bourbon-Bhopal with his family, 2013 | |
| Born | 29 July 1958 |
| Noble family | House of Bourbon-Bhopal |
| Spouse(s) | Elisha Pacheco |
| Issue | Frederick de Bourbon Michelle de Bourbon Adrian de Bourbon |
| Father | Salvador III de Bourbon |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Bourbon claim
editHis family, the "Bourbons of India", claim to be legitimate descendants of the House of Bourbon, descended from Jean Philippe de Bourbon, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, an exiled French noble who served in Mughal Emperor Akbar's court. The family is also known as "Bourbon-Bhopal", a name derived from the city of Bhopal in central India where their last few generations have resided and worked in the royal court of the princely Bhopal State. Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon, the current head of the family is a lawyer and a part-time farmer by profession. He is married to Elisha Pacheco and has three children: Frederick, Michelle, and Adrian. His mission is "to preserve for history the political, cultural and religious contribution of the Bourbons of India in the subcontinent and prevent this important contribution from being relegated to a footnote in history books."[1]
On 22 May 2013, the Ambassador of France to India visited Bhopal and met with Balthazar of Bourbon at a function and in a statement declared, "It is extraordinary to have a Bourbon here today!"[2][3]
In his historical novel, Le Rajah Bourbon,[4] the publication of which spurred a renewed interest in this claim to the French throne, Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark claimed that Balthazar Napoleon IV is the eldest in line to the French throne.[5][6][7][8] Prince Michael of Greece said he would be willing to organize a DNA test to verify de Bourbon's claim of kinship.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Bourbon-Bhopal, The Royal "House of Bourbon" in India official website
- ^ "April 2013 - Note from the Consul General". Consulate General of France in Bombay. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ "'France for better ties with MP'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Michel de Grèce 2007.
- ^ Found in India the last king of France, 2 March 2007, The Guardian
- ^ The next King of France? An Indian!, 21 August 2007, Manchester Evening News
- ^ Bourbon of Indian vintage, 10 January 2008, Los Angeles Times
- ^ The lost Bourbon, in India, 4 March 2007, The Hindu
- ^ Bourbon of Indian vintage, 10 January 2008, Los Angeles Times
Bibliography
edit- "Indian lays claim to 'Duke of France' title". Agence France-Presse. 15 April 2007a. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
- Calle, Marie-France (14 October 2007). "Un Indien serait en tête des héritiers au trône de France". Le Figaro (in French). France.
- Chrisafis, Angelique (3 March 2007). "Found in India: the last king of France". The Guardian. UK.
- Revise, Nicolas (12 April 2007). "Balthazar Napoléon III, le Bourbon 'made in India' se rêve en duc de France". Aujourd'hui l'Inde (in French). Agence France-Presse.
- "Lost in France, found in India". The Telegraph. Kolkota, India. 5 March 2007a. Archived from the original on 7 March 2007.
- "France's king without a crown in India". Taipei Times. Agence France-Presse. 10 January 2006a.
Further reading
editFiction
edit- Michel de Grèce (March 2007). Le Rajah Bourbon. Jean-Claude Lattès. ISBN 978-2-7096-2922-5.
Non-fiction
edit- de Bourbon, Salvadore (2003). Lucien Jailloux (ed.). Les Bourbons de l'Inde: souvenirs de Salvadore de Bourbon. Mickaël Le Guen, translator. Christian. ISBN 978-2-86496-095-9.
- Decloitre, Andre (2010). "Généalogie de la Maison Royale de France – Troisième branche: les Bourbons". Généalogies Royales et Princières (in French).
- Desai, Bharat (15 March 1996). "House of the Bourbons: A Branch of the former French royal family lives with its glorious past and obscure present". India Today. Vol. 21, no. 1. Thomson Living Media India Ltd. pp. 13 et seq.
- Tharoor, Ishaan (8 March 2007). "The Bourbon of Bhopal". Time. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- van Kerrebrouck, Patrick (2004). La maison de Bourbon: 1256–2004. Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste maison de France (in French). Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). ISBN 978-2-9501509-5-0.
- de Warren, Raoul; de Lestrange, Aymon (1990). Les prétendants au trône de France (in French). L'Herne. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-2-85197-281-1.
External links
edit- Bourbon-Bhopal, The Royal "House of Bourbon" in India official website
- Marek, Miroslav. "Jean Philippe, a courtier of the khan, 1525". Genealogy.EU.