Spouse Alfonso XII of Spain House House of Orleans | Name Mercedes Orleans | |
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Tenure 23 January 1878 – 26 June 1878 Born 24 June 1860Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain ( 1860-06-24 ) Died 26 June 1878(1878-06-26) (aged 18)Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain Burial Cathedral of la Almudena Father Antoine d\'Orleans, Duke of Montpensier | ||
Maria de las mercedes of orleans queen of spain
Maria de las Mercedes of Orléans (24 June 1860 – 26 June 1878) was Queen of Spain as the first wife of King Alfonso XII. She was born in Madrid, the daughter of Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier and of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain.
Contents
- Maria de las mercedes of orleans queen of spain
- Family and upbringing
- Marriage
- Death
- Legacy
- Titles and styles
- References
Family and upbringing
She was born at the Palacio Real in Madrid, the sixth of her parents' nine children, none of whom died in infancy but only four of whom would live to the age of 20. Her mother's elder sister, Queen Isabella II, and brother-in-law, King Francis, served as Mercedes' godparents at her christening, when she was given the names: María de las Mercedes Isabel Francisca de Asís Antonia Luisa Fernanda Felipa Amalia Cristina Francisca de Paula Ramona Rita Cayetana Manuela Juana Josefa Joaquina Ana Rafaela Filomena Teresa Santísima Trinidad Gaspara Melchora Baltasara et omni sancti.
Although Mercedes was patrilineally a French princess, she was also a Spanish infanta and spent the first eight years of her life in Spain. Her childhood was spent at the palace of San Telmo in Andalusia, her father's rumoured aspirations to obtain his sister-in-law's crown periodically rendering him unwelcome at the royal court in Madrid.
Marriage
When Queen Isabella II was deposed in 1868, Mercedes' family left Spain for exile. It was reportedly during that banishment, in 1872, that she met her first cousin, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, also living in exile.
Upon restoration, King Alphonso married Maria de la Mercedes at the church of Atocha, in Madrid on 23 January 1878, following a huge ball in December 1877. Allegedly the king's choice dashed the hopes of his still-exiled mother, Queen Isabella, for Alfonso's marriage to the Blanca de Borbón, daughter of his Carlist rival, Carlos, Duke of Madrid.
Death
However, shortly after their honeymoon, it became evident that the bride suffered from typhoid fever. The marriage would last only six months, during which she had a miscarriage. Queen Mercedes succumbed to the illness in Madrid two days after her 18th birthday, on 26 June 1878, having been unconscious for several days.
Legacy
Queen Mercedes co-initiated the building of the Cathedral of la Almudena in Madrid, opposite the royal palace, construction beginning in 1883. In May 2004 Felipe, Prince of Asturias was wed there to Letizia Ortiz. Queen Mercedes' remains were re-interred there on 8 November 2000, in accordance with the wishes of her widower.
A town in the province of Isabela, located in the Philippines, was named Reina Mercedes in her honor during the Spanish colonial period.
When the king's minister Cánovas del Castillo suggested that he take a new wife, Alfonso acquiesced, choosing his Mercedes' sister, Maria Cristina. But she, too, contracted tuberculosis, and died during the engagement period. In late 1879 he married Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria-Teschen; the eldest of their children, the Princess of Asturias, was named in honour of Queen Mercedes.