Princess Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies


Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies was a Princess of the Two Sicilies and titular Duchess consort of Parma as the wife of Robert I, Duke of Parma. She was the daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and Maria Theresa of Austria. Maria Pia was forced into exile along with the rest of her family following the unification of Italy in 1861.

Marriage and issue

Maria Pia married Robert I, the exiled Duke of Parma and Piacenza and son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and his wife Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France, on 5 April 1869 in Rome. Maria Pia and Robert, who were half first cousins once removed, had twelve children, of whom six were mentally disabled:
  1. Princess Marie Louise of Parma she married Ferdinand I of Bulgaria on 20 April 1893. They had four children.
  2. Prince Ferdinando of Parma
  3. Princess Luisa Maria of Parma she was mentally disabled.
  4. Henry, Duke of Parma he was mentally disabled
  5. Princess Maria Immacolata of Parma she was mentally disabled.
  6. Joseph, Duke of Parma he was also mentally disabled
  7. Princess Maria Teresa of Parma she was mentally disabled.
  8. Princess Maria Pia of Parma she was mentally disabled.
  9. Princess Beatrice of Parma she married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli on 12 August 1906. They had three sons:
  10. *Count Antonio Lucchesi-Palli
  11. *Count Roberto Lucchesi-Palli he married Stefania Ruffo di Calabria on 7 June 1941. They have four sons.
  12. *Count Adinolfo Lucchesi-Palli he married Sarolta Teleki Gräfin von Szek on 2 June 1946. They have six children.
  13. Elias, Duke of Parma he married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria on 25 May 1903. They had eight children.
  14. Princess Maria Anastasia of Parma Died in infancy.
  15. Prince Augusto of Parma stillborn child

Later life

Maria Pia died as a result of childbirth and was buried at Villa Borbone near Viareggio. After her death, Robert I remarried in 1884 to Maria Antonia of Portugal, daughter of the deposed Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg; they had twelve children.