Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou
Louis Alphonse was born in Madrid, the second son of Alfonso de Borbón, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, and of his wife María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, eldest granddaughter of Francisco Franco. Alfonso was at that time the dauphin (using "Duke of Bourbon" as title of pretence) according to those who supported the claim of his father, Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia to the French throne. On 20 March 1975, the Infante Jaime ("Henri VI" by Legitimist reckoning) died. Alfonso then asserted his claim to be both Head of the House of Bourbon and Legitimist claimant to the throne of France and the Co-Principality of Andorra. As such, he took the title "Duke of Anjou", and on 19 September 1981 gave Louis Alphonse the title Duke of Touraine.
Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma
Residing in Paris and sustained by his remaining portion of the family wealth, Xavier reached his mid-30s before making marriage plans; his fiancée being Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, who was nine years his junior and the daughter of the Count de Lignières. She belonged to a non-royal branch of the French Bourbons. The Bourbon-Bussets have been the subject of a centuries-old controversy: historically regarded as non-dynastic when the line was founded, it has never been established that the Bourbon ancestor from whom they undisputedly descend, Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège (1436-1482), was ever lawfully married. The proposed marriage of Prince Xavier and Madeleine might deprive their children of Bourbon-Parma ducal succession rights, depending upon the decision of the head of the house. Since the death of Duke Robert, Prince Élie, Xavier's eldest half-brother, headed the family. He declared the would-be marriage morganatic. Despite this obstacle, Xavier wed Madeleine in 1927 and some newspapers titled her "princesse".
As the Bourbon-Bussets enjoyed significant wealth, the marriage changed the financial status of Xavier. The couple settled in Bostz castle, where Xavier managed the rural estate of his in-laws. Their eldest, Hugues, was born in 1928 and was followed by five more children, the last one was born in 1940. Following the 1932 death of his father-in-law, Xavier became head of the family's enterprise, including the Château de Lignières. Little is known of his public activity at that time, except that he was engaged in various non-political, Catholic initiatives. In 1934 the premature death of Sixte deprived Xavier of his closest comrade.