Jump to content

Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier

From Catholicism Wiki
Prince Antoine
Duke of Montpensier
Studio portrait by Nadar
Studio portrait by Nadar
Born 31 July 1824
Château de Neuilly, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Kingdom of France
Died 4 February 1890 (aged 65)
Palacio de Orléans-Borbón, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Kingdom of Spain
Burial 8 February 1890
Infantes Pantheon, Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
Spouse Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain
(m. 1846)
Issue
among others...
Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans, Countess of Paris
Princess Maria Amelia
Princess Marie Christine
Mercedes, Queen of Spain
Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera
Names
French: Antoine Marie Philippe Louis d'Orléans
Spanish: Antonio María Felipe Luis de Orleans
House Orléans
Father Louis Philippe I of France
Mother Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily

Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier (Antoine Marie Philippe Louis d'Orléans; 31 July 1824 – 4 February 1890[1]), was a member of the House of Orléans. He was the youngest son of King Louis Philippe I and his wife Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies. He was styled as the Duke of Montpensier.

Marriage and issue

On 10 October 1846 at Madrid, Spain, he married Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, the daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain and Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies.[2]

They had ten children:

  1. Marie Isabelle (21 September 1848 – 23 April 1919), later known as Countess of Paris. Married her first cousin Prince Philippe, Count of Paris (1838–1894), pretender to the French throne, and had issue.
  2. Maria Amelia (28 August 1851 – 9 November 1870)
  3. Maria Cristina (29 October 1852 – 28 April 1879)
  4. Maria de la Regla (9 October 1856 – 25 July 1861)
  5. Stillborn child (31 March 1857 – 31 March 1857)
  6. Fernando (29 May 1859 – 3 December 1873)
  7. Mercedes (24 June 1860 – 26 June 1878), married her first cousin King Alfonso XII and became Queen of Spain, had no issue.
  8. Felipe Raimundo Maria (12 May 1862 – 13 February 1864)
  9. Antonio (23 February 1866 – 24 December 1930), became Duke of Galliera in Italy. He married his first cousin Infanta Eulalia of Spain (1864–1958), daughter of Isabella II, and had two sons.
  10. Luis Maria Felipe Antonio (30 April 1867 – 21 May 1874)

Candidate for the Spanish throne

Antoine de Montpensier lived in Spain from 1848 when he and his family had to leave France after the Revolution of 1848. During the Spanish revolution of 1868, he supported the insurgents under Juan Prim against Queen Isabella II, his own sister-in-law.[3]

In 1870 he fought a duel against Infante Enrique, Duke of Seville, the brother of King Francisco, and killed him. Antoine was convicted and sentenced to one month in prison.

On 16 November 1870 the Cortes voted for the next king and chose Amadeo of Savoy with 191 votes. Antoine only received 27 votes, and left Spain, only to return in 1874. His ambitions were fulfilled by his daughter Mercedes, who became Queen of Spain after her marriage to Alfonso XII, son of Isabella II. However, she died at the age of 18 without issue.

Despite never reaching the throne, however, through cognates, he is an ancestor of all Spanish monarchs since Juan Carlos I. His great granddaughter Mercedes, Countess of Barcelona, was the mother of Juan Carlos, who assumed the throne in 1975 and later abdicated in favor of his son, Felipe VI in 2014.

Early collector of photography

The Duke of Montpensier was an early collector of photography. His collection consisted of dozens of albums and hundreds of early photographs, mainly of Spanish, French and British photographers. The collection was dispersed after his death.[4]

Honours and arms

Honours

Arms

Prince Antoine did not have a personal coat of arms. He used the traditional arms of the House of Orléans, consisting of:

Azure, three fleur-de-lis Or and a label Argent

[In heraldic blazon, Azure is blue, Or is gold, and Argent is silver]

This coat of arms was first used by Philippe d'Orléans, nephew and son in law of King Louis XIV. As cadets of the French royal family, they bore the arms of France differenced by a label argent.

References

  1. Back to citation Le Figaro (6 February 1890): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2810289.item
  2. Back to citation Lane, Henry Murray (1911). The Royal Daughters of England and Their Representatives: Together with Genealogical Tables of the Royal Family from the Conquest to the Present Time. Constable, Limited.
  3. Back to citation Kirkland, Joseph; Kirkland, Caroline (1894). The Story of Chicago. Dibble publishing Company.
  4. Back to citation Carlos Sánchez Gómez & Javier Piñar Samos, 'La biblioteca fotográfica de Antonio de Orleans, Duque de Montpensier (1847–1890)' (in Spanish). In: I jornadas sobre investigación en historia de la fotografía, pages 104-131 (online text).
  5. Back to citation Base Léonore
  6. Back to citation "Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 146. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  7. Back to citation "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 148. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  8. Back to citation "Escalafón general de Caballeros existentes en la Gran Cruz de la Real y Militar Orden de San Hermenegildo". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 395. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  9. Back to citation "Caballeros Grandes Cruces de la Real Orden del Mérito militar designada para premiar servicios de guerra". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 387. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  10. Back to citation Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1850), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 33, 49
  11. Back to citation H. Tarlier (1854). Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi (in French). Vol. 1. p. 37.
  12. Back to citation "Grand Crosses of the Order of the Tower and Sword". geneall.net. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  13. Back to citation "Nichan ad-Dam, ou ordre du Sang, institué... - Lot 198".
  14. Back to citation Napoli (Stato) (1857). Almanacco reale del Regno delle Due Sicilie: per l'anno... Stamp. Reale. p. 403.

Bibliography

Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier
House of Orléans
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 31 July 1824 Died: 4 February 1890
French nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Prince Antoine Philippe d'Orléans
Duke of Montpensier
16 August 1830 – 4 February 1890
Vacant
Title next held by
Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans
Italian nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Maria Brignole-Sale
Duke of Galliera
9 December 1888 – 4 February 1890
Succeeded by
Infante Antonio