Defying his brother's will, Charles married
morganatically Penelope Smyth on 5 April 1836 in
Gretna Green, the first stagecoach stop in
Scotland after the border city of
Carlisle. It was a popular place for young lovers to marry since it was sufficient there for couples to declare their wish to marry before witnesses, and residence requirement or parental consent was not needed. Later, Charles applied for
special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury to marry (or remarry) Miss Smyth at
St George's, Hanover Square. In the court order, they were described as a bachelor and a spinster respectively. The King's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Count de Ludolf, objected to the grant of the licence and a hearing took place in the Court of Faculties on 4 May 1836. The
Master of the Faculties, Dr
John Nicholl, refused to grant the licence on the grounds that the royal succession might be affected by the non-recognition of the marriage in Naples.
Banns of Marriage were read for the final time in St George's, Hanover Square, on 8 May 1836. The Prince of Capua and Penelope had two children: •
Francesco, Conte di Mascali (24 March 1837 – 2 June 1862) •
Vittoria Augusta di Borbone, Contessa di Mascali (15 May 1838 – 9 August 1895) Ferdinand II never forgave his runaway brother. Charles was forced to live for the rest of his life in exile. He remained loyal to his wife, but all of his estates were confiscated except the county of Mascali in Sicily, which he had inherited from his father. As Mascali was not run efficiently, it provided just a small revenue and the prince had to live modestly. For years, Charles tried to obtain a pardon from his brother and be allowed to return to Naples but to no avail. He had to settle in London at the expense of his wife and her relatives and accumulated debts. The government of
Lord Palmerston tried to intervene in his favour as a counterbalance to Ferdinand II's despotism. In 1848, Charles aspired in vain to the crown of Sicily. When Palmerston got tired of him, Charles moved to
Turin. A contemporary who met him in the
Tuileries Palace in 1853 described him as follows: "The Prince is stout, vulgar, and usually rigged up like a rustic charlatan. He is adorned with a long and dirty grey beard, and his hair is also long, dirty and grey". Charles was offered an allowance by King
Victor Emanuel II, but he rejected it for fear that it would affect further claims. ==Death==