House Bourbon Children Mercedes of Orleans Name Infanta Fernanda, | Religion Roman Catholicism Father Ferdinand VII of Spain | |
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Born 30 January 1832
Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain ( 1832-01-30 ) Burial (1897-02-02)2 February 1897
Infantes Pantheon, Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain Issue Infanta Maria Isabel, Countess of Paris
Mercedes, Queen of Spain
Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera Mother Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies Died February 2, 1897, Seville, Spain Spouse Antoine, Duke of Montpensier (m. 1846–1890) Parents Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand VII of Spain Siblings Isabel II of Spain, Agustin Munoz, 1st Duke of Tarancon Similar People Antoine - Duke of Montpensier, Isabel II of Spain, Maria Christina of the Two S, Ferdinand VII of Spain, Mercedes of Orleans | ||
Infanta María Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier (30 January 1832 – 2 February 1897) was Infanta of Spain and Duchess of Montpensier. She was the youngest daughter of king Ferdinand VII of Spain and his fourth wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, the queen-regent, who was also his niece.
Contents
- Heiress presumptive
- Marriage
- Issue
- Descendants
- Candidate for the Ecuadorian throne
- Titles styles honours and arms
- References
Heiress-presumptive
When her elder sister Isabella II of Spain succeeded to the throne, Infanta Luisa Fernanda was heiress-presumptive to the crown between 1833 and 1851, when Isabella's oldest surviving daughter was born.
Marriage
Isabella had been engaged to their first cousin the Duke of Cádiz, who was known to be homosexual and rumored impotent. Their kinsman, the King of the French calculated that no children would be born from Isabella's marriage, and planned the crown of Spain to eventually devolve to his own grandchildren. For this purpose, Luisa Fernanda was engaged to the Duke of Montpensier, the youngest son of King Louis Philippe, who also was Luisa's mother's first cousin.
Luisa Fernanda, only 14 years old, and Antoine, 22, had their nuptials on 10 October 1846 as a double wedding with Isabella and Francis', and young Antoine was elevated to the rank of an Infante of Spain. The couple moved to Paris and later to Sevilla. The relationship between Isabella and her sister was tense, due to Antoine's conspiracies against the queen.
Antoine's father was deposed in 1848. The same year, the then 16-year-old Luisa Fernanda gave birth to their first child, Maria Isabel. After Isabella was deposed, the family went to exile. Luisa returned to Sevilla years later, already widowed, where she died. She is buried at Escorial.
Issue
Luisa Fernanda and Antoine had nine children, but only five reached adulthood.
Descendants
Of all her children, just Isabelle de Paris and Antonio di Galliera left issue. Through Antonio, the now non-royal line of dukes di Galliera continues. Alfonso's grandchildren lost royal status due to non-dynastic marriages. The current Duke di Galliera is Alfonso's great-grandson, Don Alfonso Francesco de Orléans-Borbón y Ferarra-Pignatelli.
Through Marie Isabelle, she became great-grandmother of king Manuel II of Portugal, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, Aimone, Duke of Spoleto and Luis Filipe, Duke of Braganza; great-great-grandmother of Juan Carlos I of Spain and Henri, Count of Paris.
Candidate for the Ecuadorian throne
There are several documents, mostly diplomatic correspondence between Latin American embassies settled in London, in which the personal participation of the king Louis Philippe I is presumed in the plans to create a Kingdom of Ecuador traced by the former president Juan Jose Flores, because the French Government officially denied the support when those were presented in Paris some weeks before. For this, the King bring his own money in exchange for placing one of his descendants in the Ecuadorian throne.
According to Francisco Michelena Rojas, Ecuador's ambassador in London, the plans to create a Kingdom of Ecuador traced by the former president of that South American country, General Juan Jose Flores, would have been echoed in the major European Courts with interests in America. Michelena mainly accused France of stirring in different ways to establish its domination, offering their princes under family alliances, or their protectorate, trying to influence governments against national interests and humiliating their novel nationalities. For this, the money needed for the expedtition probably coming from the king Louis Philippe I.
In the other hand Manuel Moreno, Argentina's ambassador in London, also suspected the French intervention in Ecuador, believing that the candidacy to the throne offered to Agustín Muñoz of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, third child of the second marriage of the Queen Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, was only apparent and provisional, and that basically everything was run by the French monarch to end with the other part of the Treaty of Utrecht, and bring the House of Orléans to Latin America. Moreno based his hypothesis on the strategic marriage between Antoine d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier and the Spanish infanta Luisa Fernanda, for whose benefit would actually be the future monarchy their pretend to set up in America from Ecuador.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
The Duchess's complete style, after her marriage, was: Su Alteza Real la Serenísma y Egregia Señora Infanta Doña Luisa Fernanda de Borbón y Borbón, Duquesa de Montpensier (in English: Her Royal Highness the Most Serene and Egregius Lady Infanta Doña Luisa Fernanda de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier).