Royal Relatives and the Spanish Aristocracy celebrated the Wedding of Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto and Doña Sofía Landaluce y Melgarejo at the Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro in Madrid on this day in 2001, 25 years ago!
Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto, son of the Duke of Calabria and Princess Anne of Orléans, married Doña Sofía Landaluce y Melgarejo, a great-granddaughter of the Duke of San Fernando de Quiroga, at the Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro in Madrid.
The Duke of Noto, Pedro de Borbón Dos Sicilias, son of Infante Carlos and Princess Anne of France, and Sofía Landaluce Melgarejo, great-granddaughter of the Dukes of San Fernando de Quiroga, were married last Friday, March 30, in the Chapel of the Royal Club Puerta de Hierro in Madrid.
It took the couple nine years to convince the family that no law in this world could prevent their love story from ending in marriage. Nine years of a secret relationship —all to avoid contradicting the rules of the House of Calabria and its head, the groom’s father, who had hoped for a more princely marriage for his firstborn—have come to an end with a discreet but definitive wedding. Defending the dynasty and the rules of succession, Infante Don Carlos—cousin of the King and Infante of Spain, a descendant of Alfonso XII—is the custodian of the dynastic legacy of the Bourbons of Naples and, as such, was obligated to defend the dynasty and the succession rules of the House of the Two Sicilies.
The Duke of Noto , however, a forestry engineer, prevailed over his love and retired to live on the La Toledana estate with Sofía . To the province where he had met her in 1991, since the father of the now Duchess of Noto, Manuel Landaluce, runs an estate in the Calabria family’s property region where partridge hunting and organized hunts take place. There they cultivated wheat, barley, and olive trees, even installing a fish farm… Not a scandal, not a hint of ill will. Only a long-suffering, stifled passion lived in silence and, most importantly, the birth, in 1993, of Jaime , who was immediately registered with the surnames Borbón Landaluce.
The strength of blood ties between a grandson who frequently visited his grandparents gradually healed the cracks between the Calabria and Noto families over the years … until, finally, Infante Carlos. He eventually came to understand that the embrace of an innocent child doesn’t have to conflict with breaking dynastic rules. Last Friday, he finally walked his son down the aisle. As for the grandson, Jaime , the pride of the couple, he celebrated his sweet victory by acting as his parents’ page and reading a passage from the Gospel during the Mass.
The new Duchess of Noto wore the historic Bourbon-Two Sicilies Diamond Button Tiara.
The ceremony, officiated by Father Marco Álvarez de Toledo y Marone —grandson of Infanta Cristina —had Manuel Landaluce , the bride’s father, and the Duchess of Calabria , the groom’s mother, as godparents. The Spanish Royal Family was represented by Prince Felipe , who arrived through the Puerta del Pardo gate driving his own car; Infanta Elena , who attended with her husband, the Duke of Lugo ; and Infanta Margarita and her husband, the Duke of Soria , with their children, María and Alfonso Zurita .
The groom’s witnesses were: Don Felipe de Borbón , the Duke of Calabria ; his sisters, Princesses María, Cristina, Victoria, and Inés ; and his brothers-in-law, Pedro López Quesada and Archduke Simeon of Austria . All of them, happy that Pedro and Sofía had finally seen their dream of marriage fulfilled, accompanied the couple until the early hours of the morning.
The couple had their first child, Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto, in 1992, and have welcomed six more children since their marriage. Prince Pedro became the Duke of Calabria and Count of Caserta, Pretender to the defunct throne of the Two Sicilies, in 2015
