H.R.H. Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Castro
H.R.H.
Prince Ferdinand Pius,
Duke of Castro
On May 28, 1934, Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta and Head of the Royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies since 1894, passed away. Prince Alfonso was immediately succeeded as Head of the Royal House by his son, Prince Ferdinand Pius of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (de jure, Ferdinand III). Prince Ferdinand Pius had previously succeeded as Grand Master of the Dynastic Orders of the Royal House by order and letter from his father, Prince Alfonso, dated December 27, 1931. The public letter was written three years before his death. As part of his duties as Grand Master, Prince Ferdinand Pius established new Statutes for the Constantinian Order of Saint George.
Born in 1869, Prince Ferdinand lived in Bavaria and led a life of sincere Christian piety. During his life, he reconciled his differences with the Italian House of Savoy, after having long protested against the forced annexation of Bourbon territories into the Kingdom of Italy. The exile of the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies, in effect since 1861, finally ended following the Allied occupation and the liberation of Italy from 1943 to 1945.
Prince Ferdinand Pius donated part of the Bourbon Archives to the Italian Republic, which he recognized as the legitimate successor to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Italian Republic and the Royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies have continued to maintain an excellent working relationship to this day.
Prince Ferdinand Pius died without heirs on January 7, 1960 (his only son having died at the age of 13 in 1914); therefore, all his dynastic rights were transferred to his brother, His Royal Highness Prince Ranieri of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Prince Charles, having renounced all dynastic rights for himself and his descendants, had become an Infante of Spain some years earlier).
