Far from the days when princes were only related to each other, a new royal romance has recalled the old days when the nobility had to choose a consort of lineage.
Prince Christian of Denmark, eldest son of Crown Prince Frederic and Maria of Denmark, forms a young couple with Princess Maria Clara of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of Prince Charles of Bourbon and Chevron-Villette, one of the pretenders to the leadership of the disputed royal house of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. She turned 18 on January 1st and he will come of age on October 15th.
According to the Danish royal house, Cristian’s priority this year will be to finish his studies while still playing a secondary role in the monarchy. But before that, in the summer, the prince spent a few days with Maria Clara’s family in Saint-Tropez, where her parents have a summer residence. Together they were seen accompanied by a group of friends while enjoying an ice cream on the streets of the Costa Blava town.
The couple have known each other since childhood, as their parents were already friends — Maria Clara’s father is godfather to Princess Josefina, one of Cristian’s younger sisters — but rumors about the relationship began in May for a picture in which they were photographed together at the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix. The photograph, published on social networks, also featured a group of friends and Maria Clara’s older sister, Princess Maria Carolina.
Once the uproar over the possible relationship, the princess, when asked about the relationship with the grandson of Queen Margarita II in the Corriere della Sera, replied: “We are only good friends, but I don’t see myself as a queen right now”. “There is a good understanding, there is a beautiful friendship and we have a lot of fun together,” he added.
Maria Clara studies fashion at the Marangoni Institute and social sciences at Harvard University. Advantaged in studies, she has offered multiple interviews in which she has demonstrated her intellect and philanthropy. He also attended the last Feria de Abril in Seville for the second consecutive year, in which he dressed as flamenco.
The young relationship recalls that of a cousin of Maria Clara, whose wedding recently united the old European royalty with the Scottish nobility. Prince James of Bourbon-Two Sicilies married in 2021 Lady Charlotte Lindesay-Bethune.
Beyond pretending to a missing throne, Clara’s father has faced a war in the last decade with Pere de Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Orleans, Duke of Calabria, over the direction of the royal house of the Bourbon-Two Sicilies. This has led to awkward situations, such as the fact that Princess Maria Carolina holds the same title as her fourth-degree uncle; and that Princess Maria Clara holds the same as her distant cousin, the Duchy of Noto. The dynastic mess means that there is another pretender, Francesc Felip de Borbó-Dues Sicílies, who is the most discreet and perhaps the one who has the most right to the succession conflict.
