Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier

Infanta María Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier (French: Marie Louise Ferdinande; 30 January 1832 – 2 February 1897) was the younger daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain and his fourth wife and niece, Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies. She became Duchess of Montpensier by marriage to her first cousin once removed, Antoine, Duke of Montpensier.

Infanta Luisa Fernanda
Duchess of Montpensier
Photograph c.1885
Born(1832-01-30)30 January 1832
Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain
Died2 February 1897(1897-02-02) (aged 65)
Palace of San Telmo, Seville, Spain
Burial(1897-02-02)2 February 1897
Infantes Pantheon, Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1846; died 1890)​
Issue
among others...
Names
Spanish: María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias
HouseBourbon
FatherFerdinand VII of Spain
MotherMaria Christina of the Two Sicilies
SignatureInfanta Luisa Fernanda's signature
Royal styles of
Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain,
Duchess of Montpensier
Reference styleHer Royal Highness
Spoken styleYour Royal Highness

Biography

Heiress-presumptive
Luisa Fernanda as a young girl (by Vicente López Portaña, 1842)

When her elder sister Isabella II of Spain succeeded to the throne, Infanta Luisa Fernanda was heir presumptive to the crown between 1833 and 1851, when Isabella's oldest surviving daughter was born.

Marriage

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.[1]

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 into exile. Luisa returned to Sevilla years later, already widowed, where she died.[1] She is buried at Escorial.

The María Luisa Park was named after her.[2]

Children
Infanta Luisa Fernanda with her husband the Duke of Montpensier and four of their children.

Luisa Fernanda and Antoine had ten children, but only five of them reached adulthood.[3]

Descendants
Portrait of Luisa Fernanda in 1847 (by Franz Xaver Winterhalter)

Of all her children, only Marie Isabelle and Antonio survived to adulthood. Through Antonio, the now non-royal line of dukes of Galliera continues. Alfonso's grandchildren lost royal status due to non-dynastic marriages. The current Duke of Galliera is Alfonso's great-grandson, Don Alfonso Francesco de Orléans-Borbón y Ferarra-Pignatelli.[3]

Through Maria Isabel, 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.

Arms
  • Heraldry of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier
  • Coat of arms of Infanta Luisa Fernanda
    Coat of arms of Infanta Luisa Fernanda
  • Arms of alliance of Infanta Luisa Fernanda and her husband
    Arms of alliance of Infanta Luisa Fernanda and her husband
  • Arms as Duchess Dowager
    Arms as Duchess Dowager

Ancestry

References
  1. Archived November 2, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Secreta, Sevilla (20 October 2020). "La trágica historia de María Luisa, la mujer que da nombre al parque". Sevilla Secreta (in European Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  3. "HRH Infanta Doña Luisa Fernanda and her descendants". Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 9.
  5. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ferdinand VII. of Spain" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  6. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 96.
  7. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Francis I. of the Two Sicilies" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  8. Ortúzar Castañer, Trinidad. "María Cristina de Borbón dos Sicilias". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia.
  9. Navarrete Martínez, Esperanza. "María de la O Isabel de Borbón". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
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