Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans

Marie Isabelle
Countess of Paris
Consort of the Orléanist pretender to the French throne
Pretendence30 May 1864 – 5 August 1873
Consort of the Unionist pretender to the French throne
Pretendence24 August 1883 – 8 September 1894
Born(1848-09-21)21 September 1848
Royal Alcázars of Seville, Seville, Spain
Died23 April 1919(1919-04-23) (aged 70)
Palacio de Orléans, Villamanrique de la Condesa, Spain
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1864; died 1894)​
IssueAmélie, Queen of Portugal
Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans
Princess Hélène, Duchess of Aosta
Princess Isabelle, Duchess of Guise
Louise, Princess Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Montpensier
Names
French: Marie Isabelle Françoise d’Asis Antoinette Louise Ferdinande Christine Amélie Philippine Adélaïde Joséphine Hélène Henriette Caroline Justine Rufine Gasparine Melchiore Baltassare Mâté d’Orléans
Spanish: María Isabel Francisca de Asís Antonia Luisa Fernanda Cristina Amelia Felipa Adelaida Josefa Elena Enriqueta Carolina Justina Rufina Gasparina Melchora Baltasara Matea [1]
HouseOrléans
FatherPrince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier
MotherInfanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain

Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans (María Isabel de Orleans y Borbón; 21 September 1848 – 23 April 1919) was a Spanish infanta and French princess of the House of Orléans. She was the wife of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, and as such was Countess of Paris and consort of the Orléanist/Unionist pretender to the French throne.

Biography

She was born in Seville to Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain. Antoine was the youngest son of Louis-Philippe I, the last King of France, and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Infanta Luisa was the daughter of Ferdinand VII of Spain and his fourth wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies. All four of her grandparents and seven of her eight great-grandparents were members of the French Royal House of Bourbon.

Marriage and issue

On 30 May 1864 at St. Raphael's Church in Kingston upon Thames, England, when she was only fifteen, Isabelle married her cousin Philippe d'Orléans, claimant to the French throne as Philippe VII. They had eight children:

As the French royal family had been in exile since their grandfather King Louis Philippe abdicated in 1848, Marie Isabelle and her husband first lived at York House, Twickenham in England. In 1871 the family was allowed to return to France, where they lived in the Hôtel Matignon in Paris and in the Château d'Eu in Normandy.

The Countess of Paris was known for her rather masculine habits of smoking cigars and participating in field sports, especially shooting, yet could surprise people with her elegance on formal occasions.[2]

In 1886, they were forced to leave France for a second time. In 1894, her husband died in exile at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire. Marie Isabelle lived in the Château de Randan in France, and died in 1919 at her palace in Villamanrique de la Condesa, near Seville.

References

  1. ^ "Esta noche ha dado á luz con toda felicidad S.A.R. la Serma. Sra. Infanta Doña María Luisa Fernanda una princesa" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid. September 25, 1848.
  2. ^ Hanson, The Wandering Princess, 30, 32
  • Généalogie des rois et des princes by Jean-Charles Volkmann Edit. Jean-Paul Gisserot (1998)
  • "The Wandering Princess: Princess Hélène of France, Duchess of Aosta (1871-1951), by Edward Hanson. Fonthill, 2017.
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