Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria

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Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria (Maria Dorothea Amelia; German: Maria Dorothea Amalie, Erzherzogin von Österreich; 14 June 1867 – 6 April 1932) was a member of the Hungarian line of the House of Habsburg and an Archduchess of Austria by birth. Through her marriage to Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans, Maria Dorothea was also a member of the House of Orléans. Philippe was the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France from 1894 to 1926 and known to Orléanist monarchists as "Philippe VIII of France." Thus, to Orléanist monarchists, Maria Dorothea was titular Queen of France from 1896 to 1926, and Dowager Queen of France until her death in 1932.

Family

Maria Dorothea was the second-eldest daughter and child of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria and his wife Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Through her father Joseph Karl, Maria Dorothea was the great-granddaughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Through her mother, she was a great-granddaughter of Louis Philippe I.

She was known as Mariska to her relatives.

Marriage

Maria Dorothea married her second cousin, Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans ("Philippe VIII" in the list of French pretenders), eldest son of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris ("Louis Philippe II" or "Philippe VII") and his wife Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans, on 5 November 1896 in Vienna.[1][2]

After several years of marriage, the couple's marriage deteriorated and Maria Dorothea began to spend more and more time each year at her family's estate, Alcsút Palace. Nevertheless, in 1906, Philippe attempted to reconnect with his wife and went to Alcsút to convince her to settle with him at the Manoir d'Anjou near Brussels. Maria Dorothea resisted the living arrangement and remained at Alcsút.[3][4]

Ancestry

References

  1. 1.The Annual Register: World Events .... 1896. - 1897. ProQuest. 1897.
  2. 2.Hanson, Edward W. (2017-05-13). The Wandering Princess: Princess Helene of France, Duchess of Aosta 1871-1951. Fonthill Media.
  3. 3.Thorn, Dr Gary (2019-04-17). The Locusts: British Critics of Portugal before the First World War. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-78284-582-9.
  4. 4.The Day. The Day.