Editing Zita of Bourbon-Parma (section)

==Widowhood==
[[File:Empress Zita in Leiquitio.jpg|thumb|The family in Belgium, standing in back: Felix, Adelheid, Rudolf and Elisabeth. Seated in front: Carl Ludwig, Otto, Charlotte, Empress Zita and Robert]]
After Charles's death, the former Austrian imperial family were soon to move again. [[Alfonso XIII of Spain]] had approached the British Foreign Office via his ambassador in London, and they agreed to allow Zita and her seven (soon to be eight) children to relocate to Spain. Alfonso duly sent the warship [[Spanish cruiser Infanta Isabel|''Infanta Isabel'']] to Funchal and this took them to [[Cadiz]]. They were then escorted to the [[El Pardo|Pardo Palace]] in Madrid, where shortly after her arrival Zita gave birth to [[Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria (1922–1993)|Archduchess Elisabeth]].<ref name = "Harding">Harding.</ref>{{Rp|274}} Alfonso XIII offered his exiled Habsburg relatives the use of Palacio Uribarren at [[Lekeitio]] on the [[Bay of Biscay]]. This appealed to Zita, who did not want to be a heavy burden to the state that harboured her.<ref name="Harding"/>{{Rp|289}} For the next six years Zita settled in Lekeitio, where she got on with the job of raising and educating her children.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|219–220}} They lived with straitened finances, mainly living on income from private property in Austria, income from a vineyard in Johannisberg in the Rhine Valley, and voluntary collections. Other members of the exiled Habsburg dynasty, however, claimed much of this money, and there were regular petitions for help from former Imperial officials.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|223–224}}

===Move to Belgium===
By 1929, several of the children were approaching the age to attend university and the family moved to a castle in the Belgian village of [[Steenokkerzeel]] near Brussels, where they were closer to several members of their family.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|231}} Zita continued her political lobbying on behalf of the Habsburg family, even sounding out links with [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]]'s Italy.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|233–236}} There was even a possibility of a Habsburg restoration under the Austrian Chancellors [[Engelbert Dollfuss]] and [[Kurt Schuschnigg]], with Crown Prince Otto visiting Austria numerous times. These overtures were abruptly ended by the [[Anschluss|annexation]] of Austria by [[Nazi Germany]] in 1938.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|240–265}} As exiles, the Habsburg family took the lead in [[Austrian resistance|resisting]] the Nazis in Austria, but this foundered because of opposition between [[monarchists]] and [[socialists]].<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|268–269}}

===Flight to North America===
With the Nazi invasion of Belgium on 10 May 1940, Zita and her family became war refugees. They narrowly missed being killed by a direct hit on the castle by German bombers and fled to Prince Xavier's castle at Bostz in France.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|271–272}} The Habsburgs then fled to the Spanish border, reaching it on 18 May. On 12 June, the Portuguese ruler António Salazar issued instructions to the Portuguese consulates in France to provide [[Infanta Maria Antónia of Portugal]] Duchess of Parma with Portuguese passports. With these Portuguese passports the family could get visas without creating problems for the neutrality of the Portuguese Government. This way the daughter of Maria Antónia, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, and her son Otto von Habsburg got their visas because they were descendants of a Portuguese citizen.<ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Madeira |first=Lina A. |date=2013 |title=O Mecanismo de (Des)Promoções do MNE: O Caso Paradigmático de Aristides de Sousa Mendes|page=458 |publisher=Coimbra University}}</ref>
They moved on to Portugal and resided in Cascais. Not long after, the archduke was informed by Salazar that Hitler had demanded his extradition. The demand would be refused, the Portuguese ruler told him, but hinted that his safety was precarious. On 9 July the United States government granted the family visas. After a perilous journey they arrived in New York City on 27 July, having family in [[Long Island]] and [[Newark, New Jersey]];<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|277}} at one point, Zita and several of her children lived, as long-term house-guests, in [[Tuxedo Park, New York]].

The Austrian imperial refugees eventually settled in [[Quebec]], which had the advantage of being French-speaking (the younger children were not yet fluent in English)<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|283}} and continued their studies in French at {{lang|fr|[[Université Laval]]|italic=no}}.<ref>Bernier Arcand, Philippe, « Les Bourbon-Parme dans les institutions d’enseignement du Québec », ''Histoire Québec'', 202, p. 24-28 ([https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/hq/2022-v28-n1-hq07421/100332ac/ lire en ligne] [archive])</ref> As they were cut off from all European funds, finances were more stretched than ever.  At one stage, Zita was reduced to making salad and [[spinach]] dishes from [[dandelion]] leaves.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|284}} However, all her sons were active in the war effort. Otto promoted the dynasty's role in a post-war Europe and met regularly with [[Franklin Roosevelt]];<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|270–271}} Robert was the Habsburg representative in London;<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|285}} Carl Ludwig and Felix joined the [[United States Army]], serving with several American-raised relatives of the Mauerer line;<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|290}} Rudolf smuggled himself into Austria in the final days of the war to help organise the resistance.<ref name="Brook-Shepherd"/>{{Rp|307}} In 1945 Empress Zita celebrated her birthday on the first day of peace, 9 May. She was to spend the next two years touring the United States and Canada to raise funds for war-ravaged Austria and Hungary.<ref name="Bogle"/>{{Rp|157}}