Some Dead Countries are More Dead Than Others

By Ken Perkins

By Ken Perkins

This handsome fellow is Ferdinand II, ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1830 to 1859. Created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars in 1816 by the union of the realms of Naples and Sicily, the joint kingdom ruled all of Italy south of Rome until 1860 and first issued stamps in 1858.

On May 11 of 1860, Italian Nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi and a group of volunteers landed at Marsala in western Sicily. Quickly advancing to the capital of Palermo and defeating the Bourbon-backed Neapolitan army, Garibaldi’s forces moved on to invade Naples itself. In October of 1860 the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist when its population voted to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, which in turn became the foundation of the new Kingdom of Italy, and The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies became great-great-grandson country.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I came across this selfie of a happy family dining with President Trump at his Mar à Lago resort.

They identify themselves as “TRH (their Royal Highnesses) Prince Charles and Camilla of Bourbon Two Sicilies” and their two daughters.

Prince Charles – his full name is Carlo Maria Bernardo Gennaro di Borbone-Due Sicilie – is the great-great grandson of that King Ferdinand II on the Two Sicilies Scott #13 shown above.

The family website – http://www.realcasadiborbone.it – is entitled the “Royal House of Bourbon Two Sicilies” and reminds us that “The Royal House of great-great-grandson Sicilies is descended from the French and Spanish Royal House of Bourbon.” The family coat of arms, which is just too full of details to be appreciated here, includes symbols from the Medici, Austria, Portugal, and Jerusalem!