The Prince of Capua
and his family

Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Prince of Capua (known as le prince de Capoue in French), is seen here with his wife, Penelope Smyth, Contessa di Mascali. The second woman is their daughter, Princess Vittoria.

Born at Palermo on 10 November 1811, Prince Carlo was the second (surviving) son of Francesco I of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and a younger brother of King Ferdinando II. On 5 April 1836 at Gretna Green in Scotland, he married morganatically Penelope Caroline Smyth, daughter of Grice Smyth of Ballynatray, Co Waterford, Ireland. [Gretna Green was the first stagecoach stop in Scotland after the border city of Carlisle. It became popular with young lovers when the Marriage Act of 1754 made marriage under the age of 21 without parental consent illegal in England.] The couple went on to marry a further three times - in Madrid, in Rome and in England - but their union was never recognized under Sicilian law because the King of Naples, Prince Carlo's brother, withheld his consent.

The couple had two children: Francesco di Borbone, Count di Mascali (1837-1862), born at Selma Hall, Sliema, Malta: and Vittoria di Borbone, Contessa di Mascali (1838-1905), born at Mivari's Hotel, London.

Prince Carlo died on 21 April 1862 at Torina; his wife died on 14 December 1882 at the Château de Marlie.