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Prince Ranieri
Duke of Castro
Portrayed with a cavalry uniform of the Spanish Army and the Order of Alcántara, c. 1914
Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (disputed)
Tenure	7 January 1960 – 13 January 1973
Predecessor	Prince Ferdinand Pius
Successor	Prince Ferdinand
Born	(1883-12-03)3 December 1883 Cannes, France
Died	13 January 1973(1973-01-13) (aged 89) Roquebrune-sur-Argens, France
Burial	Cimetière du Grand Jas, Cannes
Spouse	Countess Maria Carolina Zamoyska ​ ​(m. 1923; died 1968)​
Issue	Princess Maria del Carmen Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Castro
Names Italian: Ranieri Maria Benito Giuseppe Labaro Gaetano Francesco Saverio Barbara Niccolo et omnes sancti di Borbone
House	Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Father	Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta
Mother	Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Religion	Roman Catholic

Prince Ranieri Maria Gaetano, Duke of Castro (3 December 1883 – 13 January 1973) was a claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Biography

He was born in Cannes, France, the ninth child but fifth son of Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta and Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1851–1938). Ranieri for a time served in the Royal Spanish Army.

Following the death of his brother Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria on 7 January 1960 Prince Ranieri was declared Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies by all relatives except for Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria and his children, because the Infante's senior branch of the family abdicated their claims in order to be in line for the Spanish throne. He remained head of the house until his death on 13 January 1973 in Lacombe. He handed over the functions associated with the headship of the house to his son in 1966.

Marriage and children

Ranieri married his first cousin Countess Maria Carolina Zamoyska (1896–1968) on 12 September 1923 in Vyšné Ružbachy, Slovakia, from the marriage he had two children:

• Princess Maria del Carmen Carolina Antonia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1924–2018).
• Prince Ferdinando Maria Andrea Alfonso Marcus, Duke of Castro (1926–2008).

Honours

• Grand Master of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
• Grand Master of the Order of Saint Januarius
• Grand Master of the Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit
• Grand Master of the Royal Order of Francis I
• Grand Master of the Order of Saint George and Reunion
• Knight of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece
• Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert of Bavaria
• Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
• Bailiff Grand Cross of Honor and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III
• Knight of the Order of Alcántara

Arms

• Heraldry of Prince Ranieri
• Prince Rainieri's arms
  Until 1960
• Prince Rainieri's arms
  used in Spain
• Prince Ranieri's arms as head of the Royal House
  1960-1973

Ancestry

References

1. Opfell, Olga S. (2001). Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 37–8. ISBN 9780786450572. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
2. The Dynasty to Present Date Archived 2012-09-14 at archive.today

External links

• Royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

• 1883 births
• 1973 deaths
• People from Cannes
• Princes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
• Pretenders to the throne of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
• Dukes of Castro
• Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
• Bailiffs Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
• Knights of the Order of Alcántara
• Burials at the Cimetière du Grand Jas
• French Roman Catholics