Princess Margherita of Bourbon-Parma

Infanta Margherita
Duchess of Madrid
Photograph by Atelier Nadar, 1878
Consort of the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne
Pretence3 October 1868 - 29 January 1893
Consort of the Legitimist claimant to the French throne
Pretence21 November 1887 - 29 January 1893
Born(1847-01-01)1 January 1847
Lucca, Duchy of Parma
Died29 January 1893(1893-01-29) (aged 46)
Viareggio, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1867)​
IssuePrincess Blanca, Archduchess Leopold Salvator of Austria
Prince Jaime, Duke of Anjou and Madrid
Princess Elvira of Bourbon
Princess Beatrice, Princess of Roviano
Princess Alice, Princess Friedrich of Schönburg-Waldenburg
Names
French: Marguerite Marie Thérèse Henriette
Italian: Margherita Maria Teresa Enrichetta
Spanish: Margarita Maria Teresa Enriqueta
HouseBourbon-Parma
FatherCharles III, Duke of Parma
MotherPrincess Louise Marie Thérèse of France

Princess Margherita of Bourbon-Parma (Italian: Margherita Maria Teresa Enrichetta, Principessa di Parma; 1 January 1847 – 29 January 1893) was the eldest child and daughter of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France, the eldest daughter of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry and Princess Caroline Ferdinande Louise of the Two Sicilies.[1]

Margherita was thus a great-granddaughter of Charles X of France. She was born in Lucca, Duchy of Parma. She was a niece of Henri, comte de Chambord, disputedly King of France and Navarre from 2 to 9 August 1830 and afterwards the Legitimist Pretender to the throne of France from 1844 to 1883. Through her marriage to Prince Carlos of Bourbon, Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne and Legitimist claimant to the French throne, Margherita was considered as the rightfull Queen of Spain from 1868 to 1893 and Queen of France from 1887 to 1893.

Early life

She was born the 1 January 1847 in Lucca, Duchy of Parma. Margherita was the eldest child and daughter of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France, who's the eldest daughter of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry and Princess Caroline Ferdinande Louise of the Two Sicilies. Margherita was thus a great-granddaughter of Charles X of France. She was a niece of Henri, comte de Chambord, disputedly King of France and Navarre from 2 to 9 August 1830 and afterwards the Legitimist Pretender to the throne of France from 1844 to 1883.

When she was one year old, the Revolutions of 1848 forced her parents to leave Parma. The family (Margherita's parents and brother Robert) found refuge at Queen Victoria court. Prince Charles and Princess Louise became friends with Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. They move back in Parma in 1849[2].

On Sunday 26 March 1854, Margherita's father, the Duke of Parma, was assassinated. She grew up in Parma until the Risorgimento. After that, her brother was deposed so the family moved in Venice. Here, Margherita's mother died. The siblings moved in their uncle's castle, Schloss Frohsdorf in Austria.

Marriage

Engagement

When she was around 17, Margherita fall in love with her second cousin, Prince Carlos of Bourbon, eldest son of Prince Juan of Bourbon and his wife Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este. Their romance was not approved by Margherita's uncle who believe she deserved a better match[3].

Margherita was engaged to Prince Carlos of Bourbon on Margherita's twentieth birthday, 1st January 1867, following Margherita's uncle consent.[3].

Wedding

On 4 February 1867, Margherita and Carlos were married privately in the Chapel of Schloss Frohsdorf in Frohsdorf, Lower Austria, Austrian Empire.

Margherita received a dowry of 32,000F (principally French railway actions) from her uncle, the Count of Chambord. Emperor Franz Joseph and King George of Hanover were the guests of honour[4].

Last year

Margherita separated from Carlos in 1881 when they were forced to leave France. The princess and her children find refuge in her father's legacy, the Tenuta Reale, a great villa in Viareggio.

Then, Margherita lived simply. In 1883 she attended her uncle's funeral at Schloss Frohsdorf. As her siblings, she was shocked by the Count of Paris attitude, especially when he presented his condoleance from the "House of France". In fact, the Count of Chambord's family, especially his widow, refused to recognized the Count of Paris as the rightfull heir to the French throne. They decided to recognize Margherita's father-in-law, Prince Juan of Bourbon, as the rightfull King of France because he was, by the death of his cousin and brother-in-law, the new head of the House of Bourbon.

Finally, Margherita died on 29 January 1893 at the age of 46. A few months later, Queen Victoria wrote to Margherita's niece, Princess Marie-Louise of Bulgaria, a letter in which she briefly mentions Margherita's death :

"My dear future niece, - Your very kind letter written in such beautiful English has given me the greatest pleasure, and I thank you very much for it, as well as for your photographs. I knew your grandparents well, and your father was with them here as a baby, as well as your poor aunt, whose death I was grieved to hear of..."[5].

According to her nephew, Archduke Leopold Ferdinand, she was known as Aunt Meg to her numerous nieces and nephews.[6]

Issue

∞ Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, had issue.
∞ Fabrizio Massimo, Principe di Roviano, had issue.
∞ Friedrich, Prince von Schönburg-Waldenburg, had issue.
∞ Lino del Prete, had issue.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Almanacco di corte per l'Anno 1856. (1856). Parma: (n.p.). Accessed via Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Almanacco_di_corte/GqESAAAAYAAJ
  2. ^ MICHAUD, Louis Gabriel (1851). Louise Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, Duchesse de Parme et de Plaisance, fille de l'infortuné Duc de Berri (in French).
  3. ^ a b Pardo, Ana Fernández. Eso no estaba en mi libro de historia de la nobleza española (in Spanish). Editorial Almuzara. ISBN 978-84-1052-295-4.
  4. ^ Burgo, Jaime del (1994). Carlos VII y su tiempo: leyenda y realidad (in Spanish). Fundación Hernando de Larramendi. ISBN 978-84-235-1322-2.
  5. ^ Victoria, Queen; Victoria, Victoria (2014-09-25). The Letters of Queen Victoria. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-07783-5.
  6. ^ Wölfling, Leopold (1931). My Life Story: From Archduke to Grocer. New York: E.P. Dutton. p. 57.
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