Duke of Parma
The Duke of Parma was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma, a small historical state of north Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859.
The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except for the first years of the rule of Ottavio Farnese, and the time of the Napoleonic wars, when the two were established as separate positions held by two different individuals. The Duke of Parma also usually held the title of Duke of Guastalla from 1746 until 1847, except for the Napoleonic era, when Napoleon's sister Pauline was briefly Duchess of Guastalla and of Varella. The last duke, Robert I, was driven from power in a revolution following France and Sardinia's victory over Austria. Its territory was merged into Sardinia in 1860.
The position is currently claimed by a member of the Bourbon family, which also holds the Spanish throne. Therefore, the current claimant to the Duchy of Parma is a legitimate claimant to the Kingdom of Spain. The recent pretender to the Parmese throne, the late Carlos-Hugo, was also a pretender to the Spanish throne in the 1970s.
Reigning Dukes of Parma (1545–1802)
House of Farnese 1545–1731
House of Bourbon-Parma 1731–1735
| Duke | Portrait | Birth | Marriages | Death |
| Charles I 29 December 1731 - 3 October 1735 | 20 January 1716 Madrid son of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth of Parma | Maria Amalia of Saxony 19 June 1738 13 children | 14 December 1788 Madrid aged 72 |
House of Habsburg 1735–1748
House of Bourbon-Parma 1748–1802
French dukedoms of Parma (1808–1814)
These did not actually rule over any territory of Parma and Piacenza, but were of the honorary, hereditary type duché grand-fief, granted by Napoleon I in 1808.| Duke | Portrait | Birth | Marriages | Death |
| Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès 1808-1814 | 18 October 1753 Montpellier son of Jean-Antoine de Cambacérès and Marie-Rose Vassal | never married | 8 March 1824 Paris aged 70 | |
| Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance 1808-1814 | 19 March 1739 Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin fourth son of Paul Lebrun and Louise Le Cronier | Anne Delagoutte 1773 3 sons and 2 daughters | 16 June 1824 Sainte-Mesme aged 85 |
Reigning dukes of Parma (1814–1859)
House of Habsburg-Lorraine, 1814–1847
- Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, the son of Marie Louise and Napoleon I, was at one time in the line of succession, but he was never Duke of Parma.
House of Bourbon-Parma, 1847–1859