Prince Jaime de Bourbon, known as the Duke of Anjou and Madrid (; 27 June 1870 – 2 October 1931), was the Legitimist claimant to the throne of France as Jacques I and the holder of the Carlist claim to the throne of Spain under the name Jaime III, from 18 July 1909 until his death in 2 October 1931Enumerated after Jaime II, King of Aragon..

Family Don Jaime was never married and probably had no children.in 1911 his former cook sued Don Jaime over fatherhood of her son; the case was dropped in unclear circumstances, El Pais 03.11.12, available here, Juan Ramón de Andrés Martín, El caso Feliú y el dominio de Mella en el partido carlista en el período 1909–1912, [in:] Historia contemporánea 10 (1997), p. 113.

Parents

Don Jaime's father, Don Carlos de Bourbon (1848–1909), as Carlos VII was the 4th successive claimant to the Carlist throne (1868–1909) and later as Charles XI a legitimist claimant to the French one (1887–1909). Don Jaime's mother, Marguerite de Bourbon-Parme (1847–1893), was daughter to the second-last ruling Duke of Parma and sister to the last ruler of the Duchy of Parma. In 1894 Don Jaime's father remarried with Berthe de Rohan, an Austrian aristocrat and a descendant to one of the greatest French aristocrats familyFernand de Saint-Simon, Etienne de Séréville, Dictionnaire de la noblesse française, 1975, p. 869.Henri Jougla de Morenas Raoul de Warren, Grand Armorial de France, vol. 6, p. 45, read online., but the couple had no children.

Own marriage plans and speculations

Already when Jaime was 15 there were rumors about alleged Alfonsist plans to get him married with Mercedes, daughter to Alfonso XII;Kurjer Warszawski 24.10.85, available here; María de las Mercedes (1880–1904) in 1901 married her second cousin, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies the word kept circulating during the following years.allegedly the plan was created by the Vatican in collaboration with the imperial court in Vienna. For 1886 rumors on Maria's marriage with Don Jaime see e.g. El Siglo Futuro 19.05.86, available here. The rumors persisted and were repeated for years to come, for 1888 see e.g. La Lucha 25.07.88, available here, for 1889 see La Lucha 22.12.89, available here When he was 26, Don Jaime developed at least cordial correspondence with Mathilde, daughter of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria.Mathilde of Bavaria (1877–1906) married Prince Ludwig of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1900 In unclear circumstances, possibly related to intrigues of his stepmotherexact reasons for Bertha de Rohan's opposition to the marriage are not clear; some authors accused her of pure feminine jealousy and ill will. When talking to her husband, Doña Bertha allegedly charged Mathilde with misconduct, Melgar 1940, p. 159 and political problems with Madridit is not clear what exactly was the nature of Don Jaime's epistolographic relationship with princess Mathilde, yet both Prince Ludwig and Don Carlos understood the matter was serious. Prince Ludwig might not have been averse towards a would-be marriage, yet his wife Maria Theresa maintained friendly relationship with the court in Madrid and was reportedly opposed to her daughter marrying a Carlist prince, Melgar 1940, p. 161 the relationship dried up. Though when later serving in the Russian army in Warsaw Don Jaime had women in his mindone press note quoted Don Jaime declaring himself admirer of handsome Warsaw ladies, see Tygodnik Ilustrowany 21.05.98, available here, though the thread was not followed further on there is no confirmation of any amorous episodes. In his mid-30s he was rumored to marry Maria Sol Stuart Fitz-James,Las Provincias 01.02.05, available here; Eugenia Sol María del Pilar Fitz-James Stuart y Falcó (1880–1962) in 1906 married Duque de Santoña Maria Annunciata of Austria,La Cruz 08.08.06, available here; Maria Annunciata (1876–1961) in 1904 was supposed to marry a member of the imperial Habsburg family, but the engagement was broken. She has never married and Louise of Orléans.La Cruz 14.10.06, available here; Louise (1882–1958) in 1907 married Infante Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies In fact, he was attracted to a 16-year-old Bourbon-Parma cousin Maria Antonia,Maria Antonia of Bourbon-Parma (1895–1977) has never married and died as a Benedictine nun. She has caught Don Jaime's attention during family meetings due to her reported beauty, youth and charm. At that time she was only 16 years old and "casi una niña"; the affection was probably never revealed, yet it seems that Don Jaime was seriously pondering upon a would-be relationship, since he decided to discuss it with his secretary. Don Jaime's secretary reportedly tried to persuade his king the impracticability of such a union, Roman Oyarzun Oyarzun, Pretendientes al trono de España, Barcelona 1965, p. 84 but apparently realised impracticability of the would-be relationship. Don Jaime soon started to pursueallegedly Don Jaime pursued Zita zealously and stubbornly, though the source of this information, Elvira de Borbón, is of questioned credibility, España 16.09.22, available here. Zita wrote later that "qui avant demande ma main avec autant de zele que d'insucces", Jacques Bernot, Les Princes Cachés, Paris 2014, , p. 131 her slightly older sister Zita;Zita de Bourbon-Parma (1892–1989) married archduke Karl in 1911; the groom was second-in-line heir to the Austrian and Hungarian thrones though some claim that the two were about to get marriedMelgar 1940, p. 168 the girl has never watched her cousin favourably.Bernot 2014, p. 131 Rumors related to Princess Patricia of ConnaughtPatricia Connaught (1886–1974) was daughter to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, a member of the royal British family; she married with relatively low-rank English aristocrat in 1919. For news on her marriage with Don Jaime see L'Univers 20.03.14, available here and a niece of Kaiser Wilhelm IIe.g. in August 1910 the press announced Don Jaime's near marriage with an unnamed "niece of the German kaiser" or "a German princess", see Le Gaulouis 14.11.10, available here. The oldest niece of Wilhem II which was not married at the time was princess Helen of Greece, aged 14 followed; there was also a lawsuit about allegedly Don Jaime's son born by his former cook.El Pais 03.11.12, available here, Andrés Martín 1997, p. 113. Don Jaime has admitted to maintaining "intimate relations" with his female cook and seemed even prepared to accept the child as his natural one, but he noted that the woman had maintained relations also with a servant and a Russian colonel, so fatherhood was not clear. The Russian colonel interviewed as a witness refused to give evidence and the case was dropped. The cook pledged she would keep demanding justice from Don Jaime, but the press did not note any follow up When he was in his mid-40s the alarm bells were already ringing very loud and succession became a burning political issue. About to turn 50 Don Jaime mounted matrimonial plans focused on Fabiola Massimo, his 19-year-old niece;Fabiola Massimo (1900–1983), daughter to Don Jaime's younger sister Beatriz, married an Italian aristocrat in 1922 he already approached the Vatican about a dispensation. The permission has reportedly been denied, either due to protests of his brother-in-law or intrigues of the Madrid court.Melchor Ferrer, Historia del tradicionalismo español, vol. 29, Seville 1960, p. 140. Fabiola ended up marrying Italian aristocrat Enzo Galli Zugaro When he was in his 50s newspapers floated news about Don Jaime's designs related to unnamed "princesas austriacas",España 16.09.22, available here "a distinguished French lady"La Acción 03.07.23, available here or Blanca de Borbón y León.Blanca de Borbón y León (1898–1989) was daughter of Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví, himself son of Enrique, Duke of Seville; she married conde de Romanones in 1929. For the news of her would-be marriage with Don Jaime see Le Petit Parisien 07.10.24, available here The last rumours were circulated when aged 58, he was supposed to marry Filipa de Bragança.Filipa de Bragança (1905–1990) was daughter to Miguel II de Bragança, legitimist claimant to the Portuguese throne; she has never married. For news on heir would-be marriage with Don Jaime see Heraldo de Madrid 02.01.28, available here It seems that at least not all of these speculations should be dismissed as entirely ungrounded.e.g. upon news of nearing marriage with Filipa de Bragança political secretariat of Don Jaime issued an ambiguous statement; on the one hand it declared the news incorrect, on the other it referred to the information as "premature for now", La Epoca 05.01.28, available here. Don Jaime used to entertain Filipa and her mother in his Frohsdorf castle during a few weekly strings. His uncle noted that "una de las chicas [from the Braganca family] le gustaba mucho", but she was much younger and her family was skeptical, Ignacio Miqueliz Valcarlos (ed.), Una mirada intima al dia a dia del pretendiente carlista, Pamplona 2017, , p. 394

Childhood and youth

The formative years of Don Jaime are marked by absence of one or another parent; except the years of 1877–1880 the couple spent most of their time apart. Since turning 10 the boy lived away from the family boarded in various educational institutions, meeting his parents and sisters during short holiday spells; the exception were the years of 1886–1889, spent mostly with his mother and siblings in Viareggio. Don Jaime was growing up in rather cosmopolitan ambience, exposed to French, Spanish, German, English and Italian cultures; as a teenager he was already fluent in all these languages.which does not mean that Don Jaime was equally disposed towards all these nations. He considered himself a Spaniard and harbored very strong Francophone sympathies; he also admired the British. In his youth perfectly familiar with the German realm, during the Great War he developed adverse feelings towards especially the Austrians. Don Jaime in his youth consistently denigrated the Italians, his later views are not clear

Childhood