Born in Caserta, Alfonso was the fourth-in-line heir to the throne of Two Sicilies since the time of his birth. Ahead of him in line were his older half-brother Francis and older brothers Prince Louis, Count of Trani and Prince Alberto, Count of Castrogiovanni. On 12 July 1844, Alberto died, two months short of his fifth birthday and naturally childless which made Alfonso the third-in-line. On 22 May 1859, Ferdinand II died, making Francis the king. Francis had no children yet from his wife Duchess Maria Sophie in Bavaria. Louis became his heir presumptive and Alfonso the second-in-line heir to their half-brother.
The Two Sicilies were conquered by the Expedition of the Thousand under Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1861 leading to the end of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Garibaldi served the Kingdom of Sardinia which was in the process of Italian unification. The deposed Royal House survived with Francis still at its head, even though he was no longer King. On 8 June 1886, Louis died. His only daughter Princess Maria Teresa was not in line for the throne, because females were barred from succession. Louis' death made Alfonso the heir presumptive to Francis, who had survived his own daughter. On 27 December 1894, Francis II died, making Alfonso the head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Alfonso later died at Cannes on May 26, 1934.
Personal life
Alfonso was also an artist, and received tuition from Achille Vianelli.[1]
Princess Maria Giuseppina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (25 February 1880 – 22 July 1971)
Prince Gennaro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (24 January 1882 – 11 April 1944)
∞ Beatrice Bordessa, created Countess of Villa Colli, born into a bourgeois Italian family from Chester in the North of England.[3] This marriage produced no issue.
Prince Alfonso's arms as Count of Caserta c.1840-1886
Prince Alfonso's arms as titular heir to the throne 1886-1894
Prince Alfonso's arms as head of the Royal House 1894-1934
Ancestry
Notes
^"The List". Abbott and Holder. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020.
^[1] Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine at www.borbone-due-sicilie.org
^Emerson, Maureen (April 12, 2018). Riviera Dreaming: Love and War on the Côte d'Azur. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781786723383. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^Worldroots.com Archived 2006-05-13 at the Wayback Machine at worldroots.com
^"Ritter-Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1918, pp. 52, 55, retrieved 13 August 2020
^"Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III", Guóa Oficial de España (in Spanish), 1930, p. 226, archived from the original on 20 June 2018, retrieved 4 March 2019
^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1908), "Königliche Orden" p. 9
References
Media related to Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta at Wikimedia Commons